A Trip to Nanji Island is Worth all the Trouble 南麂岛
A Trip to Nanji Island 南麂岛
Having been to Hainan, where seas and beaches are said to be the most beautiful in the country, I wasn't really much excited about going to Nanji Island for a
trip. The island wasn't well known after all, and I had this fickle weather to
worry about. My previous adventure to the Source of QianJiang River has turned
me into a real shutterbug, and photographing in rain won't be fun.
Actually we had two destinations, one Nanji Islang and another YanDang Mountain. I happen to have been to YanDang Mountain nearly 15 years ago, but memories
of its views have begun to slip away. It was not bad to review the mountain, I
thought, and who knows, we might have fair weather as well as bad.
It started raining in the early morning and kept drizzling during the entire journey. My colleagues were all excited and restless, though. After nearly 5 hours of bus ride, we boarded on the ferry boat to the island. Soon after we left
the harbor and got into the sea, the wind picked up, and the rain became harder
. Another half hour later, it became a real storm and the boat began to shudder
like mad. It was when this shake turned into an out-of-control heave that the
passengers began sweating badly and vomiting violently. The sound of the wind and the boat banging the sea waves was threatening enough, while this chorus of more than 20 people throwing up simultaneouly made it a bit funny. Gee, you should have seen them burying their heads in the plastic-bag-covered bucket wowing and pouring out everything in the belly. Surprisingly, I didn't feel the urge to
lose my dinner, but I sure didn't enjoy the journey either. I sweat like I was
caught in a rain and all I could do was sitting tight, closing my eyes, and praying.
The nightmare finally ended after two hours of this life-threatening sea voyage, and the storm still didn't subside. We headed for the hotel, all looking like a ghost, and swearing. Later we discovered I was the only one that had survived the storm (I mean hadn't vomited like others). It never rains but pours. Because the storm was still on, we had no choice but cancelled the day's schedule.
Talk about bad luck!
For the whole night I kept praying to the God of weather to show his mercy for
the next day, and believe it or not, it actually worked - Perfectly. The next
morning we got up early, heading for the major spot on the island that had been
open to tourists. For the first part of the journey, say, 20 minutes or so, it
was still drizzling and my heart began sinking. It could ruin my trip. But much to our delight, soon after we arrived at the spot a rainbow appeared at the end of the sea. It hung there, looking so lonely and beautiful. We sure had the
best time of our lives for the rest of the sightseeing on the island. The sun emerged like a shy girl and before long we could feel the warmth. The best island views were the incredibly blue sky and snow-white clouds, and of course, the quiet sea and the greenery of the islet. Indeed, it was not a big island at all.
Sitting on the weird-looking rocks, appreciating this picture-perfect view of
sea and sky, we were all amazed at our luck here. It was tourism off-season, so
there were only few tourists. Actually most of the time it was only my friends
and I reveling in photographing. Given this wonderful weather and bewitching scenery, the rain, the typhoon, and the awful seasickness, all just seemed worth
the trouble.
One thing that was unexpected was because of the previous day's storm, we were
informed that the ferry would not be available until there was sure sign that the weather would turn up. We were almost grounded on the island for the next day, and a few of my friends and I took a walk around almost half the island. It
was obvious that the life of the local fishers wasn't easy. Most of the residents' houses were very low, probably due to this typhoon-prone climate, and were made of island roaks rather than modern constructional materials. After conversing with a few locals, we could tell their plain, busy yet serene lifestyle.
The sea ride returning to inland was, unexpectedly, eventless. After it was sure we were standing on the earth, we all uttered a good sigh of relief. Trust
me, you won't wish to have this experience of seasickness! The trip to YanDang
Mountain was half spoiled by this non-stop raining, most of the time we just having to carry an umbrella. The mountain peaks were hidden deeply in the thick fog, looming only far away. This put a unique air of mystery to the scenes, which
sure looked charming. The only complaint we could have was that this foggy beauty could hardly be recorded and reappeared by cameras.
Also important for its military value, Nanji Island is ranked one of the Top Ten Beautiful Islands in the country and is officially rated as one of the first
five National Natural Preserves. If you enjoy natural, tranquil beaches and
islands, make a point of visiting Nanji Island. A word of warning, though, only go there in fair weather days, and avoid national holidays.
Panpanpan.
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