Itwas August when l went to the Nanji Island, a time of year when the island is at its most beautiful. It was around the time of the full moon and friends who had been there before told me that this was the best time to visit; that the seawater then was clear and blue, that it was the best time for lying on the beach listening to the waves and gazing at the round moon, or looking at the distinct water levels on the reefs at low tide and examining the richly colored shells. When autumn and winter come, the water turns a little yellowish and turbid. For most of the year, this part of the sea is influenced by the Warm high-saline Kuroshiro Current and the cooler and 1ess saline waters of the South China Sea; in winter it also comes under the influence of low-temperature and low-salt water from the northern part of the East China Sea.

Naturally, the warm current from Taiwan and the coastal waters along Zhejiang Province to the west also affect the nature of the Water. As a result, as soon as autumn and winter arrive, the number of tourists drops off and business people depart, leaving behind only some 2,000 locals who earn a living from fishing. Occasionally, scholars studying ecology may come for research. This is the time when the Nanji lsland "goes into hibernation." quietly waiting for prosperity to come around again next summer.

When I got off the ferry at the Nanji Island dock, I immediately rushed to Dasha'ao Beach, a stretch of fine and soft shell sand 800 meters long and 600 meters wide. It is the only sand of this type in China; indeed it is a rare phenomenon anywhere in the world.

The southern cape of Dasha'ao is the core area of the beach reserve area. Facing the beach is the famous Longchuan Reef. A kind of black-leaf sargassum, the only kind in the world, is found here at the core reserve on this reef island.

In l990,the Nanji Island was among China's first batch of five national marine nature reserves. In December l998, the area became China's only marine life reserve designated as a part of UNESC0's world network of bio-sphere reserves.

Tropical mollusca such as pearl oyster and tortoise-shell that are common around Hainan Island are not found along the coast of Fujian, but they do live among the Nanji Island off the coast of the more northerly Zhejiang. The strange thing is that these tropical mollusks cannot be found in the waters either north or south of the Nazi Island£®Similarly, tropical algae not found in more southerly waters are present in the Nanji Island, but do not exist to the northern areas of the Najin. There are many such examples, the reason lying in the fact that warm currents from Taiwan mix with offshore currents along the Zhejiang coast, making this region rich in tropical sub-tropical and temperate marine life.

In the l990s, a major survey was made of the Nanji Island, which found 421 kinds of mollusks and l74 kinds of algae. Of the latter, 19 kinds were discovered for the first time in Chinese waters and 22 kinds have been classified as rare species. Recently another four species of algae have been found. There may well be even more types of marine life to be discovered here.

While the Nanji Island is famous in particular for its mollusks and algae, it deserves equal acclaim for its beauty. What lures most holiday-makers here are the rippling seascapes, the natural bathing, a large stretch of lawn with an area of almost a thousand square meters, the grotesque reefs and rocks, nature¡¯s murals and beautiful fairytales that let your imagination soar. There is Bird Island that is packed with red-billed gulls in June, Snake Island and Wild Water Lily Island permeated with the fragrance of these flowers. It was here, too, that Zheng Chenggong trained his navy and where Mme. Chiang Kai-shek stayed when she visited Kuomintang soldiers stationed here. The place has even been selected as a national sea fishing base; it hosted fishing festivals in 2002 and 2004, drawing many fishing enthusiasts from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The Nanji Island is divided into the Dasha'an, the Sanpanwei and the Zhucaibaiyu scenic areas.

The large piece of natural lawn, the strange-shaped rocks, the thought provoking natural murals and beautiful fishing villages are all at Sanpanwei Island. This is the best spot on the Nanji Island from which to view the sunrise.

The island lawn is a magical thing; it looks like a man-made creation as if meticulously cut and trimmed. It is green all year round and grasses are so densely rooted that it¡¯s hard to pull them out. It is strewn with rocks of various size looking just like grazing cattle or sheep.

There are two screen-like stones acclaimed as natural murals; the one on the left looks like a landscape painting-some people even see a meandering Great Wall in it; the right-hand stone seems to have life-like images of children, loving couples, fish and shrimp¡­Close by is a rock 5.5 meters tall and 4 meters in diameter, and many more nearby whose shapes resemble those of animals and objects. Each one has an interesting myth attached.

Asking myself what particular aspect of the Nanji Island's beauty most impresses people, I realized that it was the beauty of natural mystery.

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