2022 Mid-Autumn Festival, a Date with the 'Most Beautiful Tidal Flats'...
Because of the "mask" (COVID restrictions), the New Zealand five-year visa I had obtained now only has just over two years left. The travel plans for New Zealand and the Balkan Peninsula that I had meticulously prepared lie quietly in my computer, unable to be put into action... (crying face) Also because of the "silence" (lockdown) of Shanghai in March 2022, the travel plans for Xinjiang and Northern Shaanxi along the Yellow River were once again shelved (covering face) (covering face). Since our self-driving trip to Inner Mongolia and Gansu in October 2020, in nearly two years, the farthest we have been is to Jiaxing and Haiyan in Zhejiang... Until the Mid-Autumn Festival, thinking of going to Haiyan to spend the holiday with my mother, why not bring her along to Xiapu, to see the most beautiful tidal flats at sunrise and sunset, and taste the plump and fresh seafood... However, my mother did not want to endure the travel fatigue. In the end, it was just my husband and I, on the eve of Typhoon Meihua (No. 12 of this year), who set off on this "Xiapu trip"! Who would have thought that after Meihua made landfall in Zhejiang and Shanghai, it turned into "Mei Chaofeng"! (That's a story for later)
1. Why Choose Xiapu?
The first self-driving "long trip" in two years, choosing Xiapu, is because I had seen photos of Xiapu online. It has the sunrise and sunset I love, tidal flats I have never seen before, and of course, plump seafood... I had been wanting to go for a long time... Moreover, during the "mask" period, a three-to-five-day trip is safer (covering face)! A slightly longer time risks "unexpected events" (awkward face). Xiapu — a county under Ningde, Fujian, established 288 years ago, located in the northeast of Fujian Province, on the northwest coast of the Taiwan Strait. According to the "Xiapu County Annals" compiled in 1929 by Luo Ruze and others, and edited by Xu Youwu: in the Qing Dynasty, Xiapu County was established. In the southwest of the county there is the Xiapu River, which flows east into the sea. There is also Xiapu Mountain. In the sea there are four islets: Qing, Hei, Yuan, Huang. The sun shines on them, and the river appears like rosy clouds. Thus the mountain is named after the river, and the county is named after the river. The long coastline and numerous islands and harbors form the geographical features of Xiapu. It is known as "Home of Chinese Kelp" and "Home of Chinese Laver", and has the reputation of "Key Passage between Fujian and Zhejiang", "Land of Fish and Rice", and "Coastal Confucian and Seafaring Culture". The fame of Xiapu soared after it was rated as "China's Most Beautiful Tidal Flats" by Chinese National Geography, becoming a paradise for global photography enthusiasts. This is closely related to "Teacher Zheng" — Zheng Dexiong, a native photographer of Xiapu! For over a decade, he has traveled all the coastlines of his hometown, using his camera to record the beauty of his homeland... As Teacher Zheng's works continuously won awards, the Xiapu captured in his lens became famous, entering the view of the global photography world... Thus, we had this date with the "Most Beautiful Tidal Flats"... Unexpectedly, during the National Day holiday after we returned, Xiapu actually ranked sixth among the top 10 niche popular destinations in the country, haha.
