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Top 10 Islands in China w. Google Earth links (II)

Aug 10, 2010

This post continues a previous post “Top 10 Islands in China w. Google Earth links (I)

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. An archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. — wikipedia

[image sources]: 6. lotour | 7. jingqu.cn | 8. hudeson | 9. 阿里山 | 10. yanmin

You can view all Top 10 Most Beautiful Islands in China in Google Earth here.

6. Miaodao Islands 庙岛列岛 – Fairy mountains on the sea
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Yantai, Shandong

image

Miaodao Islands: Fairy Mountains on the Sea | by {link:http://36.la/space/1653/do/blog/id/73883}宋文婧{/link}

Miaodao Islands

Miaodao Islands, aka. Changshan Islands (or Long Island), sits in the Bohai Strait between Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula. Reefs change in many styles because of long term erosion by the sea water. Among them, “The Sisters Reef”, “Lighthouse Island” are very famous coastal rock sceneries.

In the ancient times, Miaodao Islands are known as “Three (Penglai, Wanzhang, Yingzhou) Fairy Mountains on the Sea”. According to “Records of the Grand Historians”, great emperors such as Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han had endure the long journey to come here and worship towards the fairy mountains and beg for longevity. And its famous sea mirage attracts lots of tourists.

7. Mount Putuo Island 普陀山岛 – Buddha Kingdom Between the Sea and Heaven
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Zhoushan, Zhejiang

Mountain Putuo Island is located in the Lianhua Sea within Zhoushan Islands. It is famous in Chinese Buddhism, and is considered the bodhimanda of Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin), a revered Bodhisattva in many parts of East Asia. Mount Putuo is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism. The wonderful scene here integrates the beauty of Temples, Sea, Sand and Rocks.

In Tang Dynasty (863 A.D.), Japanese Monk Master Hui’e took a ship back to Japan with a Guan Yin Statue from Wutai Mountains. The ship encountered storms at Lianhua Sea and could not proceed. After several failures, people believe Guanyin is not willing to go east (to Japan). So they stayed at Mountain Putuo and build a temple to worship the “Unwilling to Go Guanyin”. After several dynasties, numerous temples were built here. In its best time, the whole island has 4 major monasteries, 106 temples, 139 Grass houses and 4654+ monks, known as the “The No. 1 Buddhist Kingdom in China.”

A monk by the sea

A monk by the sea | by {link:http://www.foyin.com/plus/view.php?aid=65833}foyin{/link}

8. Mount Dayu Island 大嵛山岛 – Mountain, lake, grass, sea… all condensed here
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Fuding, Fujian

Mount Dayu Island, about 5km in diameter and 541.4 meters high, is the biggest island in East Fujian. In the boundless expanse of blue water on the East China Sea, 200 meters above sea level, there sets two lakes, which are known as “Heaven Lakes on the Sea”.

On the gentle slopes around the lake, there is vast grassland crowned as “Southern Tianshan”. Here you feel like you were on the great northwestern prairie. You can hardly imagine such a magical mood exists on the sea !

9. Linjin Islet and Nanding Island 林进屿、南碇岛 – Remains of precious ancient volcanic landscape
Google Earth Linjin, Nanding | Wiki | location: Zhangzhou, Fujian

Located in Zhangzhou, Fujian Coastal Volcanic National Geological Park, Linjin Islet is only 0.16 square kilometers in area, 72.7m above sea level. Nanding Island is “floating” southeast to Linjin Islet, about 6.5 km from the coast, smaller, only half of Linjin Islet.

Overlooking from Xiangshan Peninsula, Lin Jin and Nanding Islands like a pair of sister islands, sit one after the other on the sea. Solely formed by basalt lava, the islands’ most famous volcanic landscapes are craters and gusting vents groups and ancient lava groups. Especially, Nanding Island is formed by hexagonal columnar basalt stone composition. There are as many as 1.4 million of them, which twist northeast to form a Hurricane rhythm. Locally known as “Hairy Rock Forest”, or “Lava Coral”.

10. Hailing Island 海陵岛 – Silver beach by the South China Sea
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Yangjiang, Guangdong

image

Mawei Island of Hailing Island | by {link:http://www.cnzozo.com/pic/yangjiang514/2008/p010937480.shtml}cnzozo{/link}

Mawei Island of Hailing Island

Hailing Island is famous for its superior “ten mile long silver beach”. The sand is fine, smooth, and snow white. The water is clean and clear, no worry about sharks, reefs, or sea plants.

It is also rich in cultural heritage. Besides the Song Dynasty style touristy city, there is a Navy Silk Road Museum. In the museum sits a thousand year old ancient sunk merchant ship “No. 1 South Sea”. More than a hundred thousands
pieces of chinaware, gold ware, and jade ware from the ship are also exhibited in the museum. They will tell you the prosperity of ancient Navy Silk Road.

[Scenic Splendor of China Series]

This is one post of the Scenic Splendor of China Series. In 2005.10, Chinese National Geography (CNG) selected 114 “most beautiful places” covering 17 different types of scenic patterns. The complete list is here. In Chinese. These scenic places will be covered individually in future.

[Chinese Keywords]
中国最美的地方 海岛



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