Within a few weeks of arriving in China, the school I was teaching English at was rewarded with a staff trip. I had just gotten to China at that point and really didn’t know what there was to explore there yet. It was a surprise when they said we would be going to an island off Shanghai called Shengsi Island.
I never pictured China having islands for some reason. Shengsi Island, located in the Zhoushan Archipelago off Hangzhou Bay, is only one of over a thousand islands. Granted, only about 100 of these are actually inhabited. But still, you don’t really picture China as having islands.
Getting to Shengsi Island
I had no idea what to expect and was only instructed to bring a swimsuit and be ready to leave at 6:30am. We had a 3-hour long chartered bus ride to the ferry terminal from ShaoXing in which none of the foreign teachers were prepared, on time, or had snacks for. But as soon as the bus started moving, all of the local staff brought out bags of cookies, cakes and anything else edible that was quickly passed around to share. I should have known…Chinese people always seem to have snacks.
From the ferry terminal, you have two options to get to Shengsi Island. You can take the slow ferry, which takes about an hour and a half, or the fast ferry, which takes about 50 minutes.
I wish I could be more specific but traveling as a foreigner in China is…an adventure. It’s hectic and stressful and I probably lost a lot of my already thin hair trying to travel through China. So whenever everything is taken care of for you, you tend to relax and not pay attention to the details.
Day 1 on Shengsi Island
We were set up with a tour company that picked us up at the ferry terminal and took us to a small hotel.
The Hotel
Our hotel was actually more of a Chinese version of a bed and breakfast or maybe even a hostel. It was hard to tell. When we first arrived, I thought we had just walked into someone’s house. We ate a traditional Chinese lunch upon arrival, which had an assortment of foods. Though the table was filled with about 10-15 dishes, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I only stuck with a few that I deemed safe for consumption. But also, try eating a whole fish with chopsticks while the table is spinning.
The Chinese teachers dug right in and us foreign teachers were still trying to determine what was what by the time things were halfway gone.
Shengsi Island Viewpoint
Our afternoon began with a guided tour up the mountains to see the views of the island. Once at the top, we were taken to a building that housed various pictures that photographers had taken of the impending view. The local staff seemed to enjoy walking around admiring the pictures. I stood there highly confused. Why IN THE WORLD were we looking at pictures of the view when the actual view was right outside? I bailed on the art gallery real quick.
Shengsi has some very beautiful views of lush rolling mountains and sandy beaches below. I almost felt like I was somewhere other than China for a brief moment.
The Beach
We spent the rest of the afternoon on one of the beaches. One thing about China (back in 2015) is that bikinis are not widely worn. At all. Not one person had on a two piece swimsuit. There were one pieces, swim dress type outfits and long sleeves. I felt highly exposed as I was the only one in a bikini. The Chinese teachers would have blushed and giggled if I would have asked them about wearing a bikini. And this could very well be because I was with people who were not from a city with very little western influence. I’m sure it differs between the bigger cities.
There were numerous activities to partake in. There were 4-wheelers zooming around on the beach, tubes and floats to rent and huge floating bikes that you could peddle around in the water. I don’t know what I was thinking to not have rented one of the floating bikes!
The beach was fairly long and nice to walk along. There was a little island towards the end that I was curious about. Another teacher and I tried to climb it but there wasn’t really a path up. Turns out, there was a golf hole on top and the golf course across the beach would try to make it on there! So watch out for flying golf balls.
Shengsi Seafood
Shengsi Island is known for its seafood, so we headed to a nearby restaurant to see how it held up. Nearly all of the restaurants have tanks of fish and creatures so the food is always fresh. Our table was outside facing the tanks. I must say, it was a little weird to see what you’re eating floating around in the background!
Just like at lunch, our table was quickly filled with a number of dishes. The verdict? Well, I’m a tough critic having lived in South Florida for the past 5 years. I have to say that it’s not even in the same realm and therefore cannot really be compared to western seafood. However, it was definitely a culinary adventure because it was kind of like eating right off the boat. Which is exactly what we did on Day 2!
Day 2 on Shengsi Island
After relaxing at the beach on Shengsi Island, I awoke the following day to rain clouds and gloomy skies. However, this suited me just fine since our second day would be out on the sea for a fishing excursion. Really I was just glad that it hadn’t rained on our beach time. And also because fishing excites me as much as being stuck on a tarmac for an extra hour because of ‘technical difficulties’.
Fishing on the South China Sea
Fishing skepticism aside, I was excited to get out on the water as my love for boating far exceeds my dislike for fishing. It had just started to sprinkle when we reached the port. We dove inside a gift shop that sold colorful plastic ponchos. We were then handed neon orange life preservers, required for our little outing, that we donned over our ponchos.
(I was actually really excited for this. One of my favorite times to photograph is right before or after a rainstorm. There is just something about dark and gloomy skies that puts intensity into a photo.)
The Boats
We walked down steps that led us right to the edge of the water where long fishing boats were waiting. They had long seats made out of bamboo and paint-chipped sides. They looked about 100 years old and I half expected them to sink while we were out at sea. Or at least have an engine failure. Luckily they held up fine and our sea captains maneuvered us right into the middle of the East China Sea.
The Fishing
Our view was filled with fellow fishing vessels, ships and ports as we swayed across the sea. After about 20 minutes, I realized that “fishing” turned out to be us enjoying a boat ride. The captain and his mate threw some nets overboard and were clearly the only ones going to fish. Periodically, they would drag them back in to see if we had caught anything.
The captain put our catch into a bucket and placed it in front of us to look at. It was filled with brown, murky water with various sea creatures in it. Rumor had it that our catch was going to be cooked as our lunch. I looked down into the bucket of sea creatures trying to imagine that. I’m pretty sure everyone else was doing the same.
Our Dinner
When we got back to shore, we met back up with our group in the other boat. They had caught an octopus and were carrying it around in a plastic bag. We took our catch to a restaurant and ended up with way more food than we caught. So they either added it to their own supply or just disregarded our offering completely (which probably would have been for the best). I didn’t end up eating much only because visions of sea creatures in murky water danced in my head.
However, the experience itself was really fun (even if I WAS craving a hamburger by the time we got back). The island’s quiet nature was a nice reprieve and a day out on a boat is a day well spent!
It’s interesting to see a different part of China like Shengsi Island. The island is much different than the big cities of the main land. It’s a nice place to get away and experience something new!
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