Less Sand Beaches & Marine Life in China?

[ABCinChina]

In comparison with any coast in the US, beaches seem rare in China. It seems that the Chinese do not value sand beaches as do the West. Is it because Chinese people do not like tanning, thus beaches were cleared a long time ago so make room for other things? It's kind of sad if you ask me...

Also, it seems that it is rare to find piers and such where you can go saltwater fishing. In Shanghai, there seems to be no beaches even though it is right by the sea. I remember seeing the ocean in Fuzhou and the whole ocean was covered by nets. Is it because pollution is higher in China and thus there are less marine life? Can anybody enlighten me on what exactly is going on here?

Edited February 4, 2009 at 03:10 AM by ABCinChina

[imron]

I think another factor is that many Chinese people can't swim and view the sea as dangerous. I used to live in a coastal town that had beaches. Despite the school I worked at being 600 meters from one of these beaches, probably a good 70-80% of the students were unable to swim. The water wasn't even dangerous. Tiny waves and waist high water for 30 meters out.

[liuzhou]

Qingdao has many beaches which are highly popular.

Near here in Guangxi, is Beihai, where Silver Beach (银滩) is very popular.

"Silver Beach lies to the south of Beihai, stretches 24 kilometres west and varies in width from 30 to 300 metres. The beach gets its name from its soft and silvery quartz sand. It has a reputation as one of the best in China. The beach has an average seawater temperature of 23°C."

Guangxi Tourism

[ABCinChina]

I've also heard of 海南 which is supposed to have beautiful beaches. But my point is that even if you're along the coastline in China, you still have to travel quite far at times just to go to a beach. My guess is that they're only a few good beaches in China while there's hundreds all along the coastline in any other country. I guess it's just different cultures as there are far more Westerners that are beach-goers than Chinese.

Also, the beaches are different as there seem to be no regular fishing boat cruises or piers. Generally, it doesn't seem to be the same "beachy" feeling you get in western countries. Oh well, guess you can't have it all...

[liuzhou]

I guess it's just different cultures

Beaches aren't cultural artifacts. They are geographcal features. Where there are beaches, people use them.

[Shadowdh]

While beaches are geographical features and not cultural artifacts the usage of beaches can be attributed to culture... I know that people in the UK use their beaches (and piers) differently to the people in New Zealand and Australia...

[liuzhou]

the usage of beaches can be attributed to culture

Of course.

[ABCinChina]

Yes, I think that beaches are definitely used differently in China than in Western countries. In the US, anywhere with sand is turned into tourist destinations while China uses much of its coastline for other things like raising fish in mile-long nets. (Not sure if this is happening throughout China or just in the one instance I saw)

It is pretty sad but I have seen an entire ocean covered with nets in Fuzhou for either catching or raising seafood. Also, I don't think China does anything such as build piers and artificial reefs that support marine life as does the US.

[imron]

There was a pier out where I used to live, but again it was very different from the piers you see in Australia which are usually a hive of activity and see a lot of casual use by people not primarily involved in the fishing and maritime industries.

[AxelManbow]

I'm no geologist but here in a coastal city it seems like many other coastal cities - there just really isn't much that sand. And there may be a reason for that - China is pretty mountainous around the coast and much of the sea has obstacles before currents can really do their thing:

The Liaoning peninsula obscures Tianjin from stront currents, the Korean peninsula obscures Liaoning, Shandong and Jiangsu from much current, Taiwan obscures Fujian to an extent. I'd reason there's just not much in the way of nice beach because there's not much in the way of 1000s of years of strong currents grinding up rocks into smaller and smaller pieces of sand.

That's about beaches, about usage... larger ones here in Dalian get positively abused in the summer and are packed... but there are quite few beaches compared to coastline which is mainly industrial/cliff face.

[ABCinChina]

I'd reason there's just not much in the way of nice beach because there's not much in the way of 1000s of years of strong currents grinding up rocks into smaller and smaller pieces of sand.

That sounds really reasonable! Now I finally have this question answered which has been bugging me for a couple years.

[renzhe]

North Americans are really into sandy beaches.

There are very few sandy beaches where I come from, and I actually prefer it that way. I'd rather swim in crystal-clear water where you can see the bottom 10 meters below you, jump off cliffs and climb rocks than hop around with a million other people in a square kilometer of mud

Much of the northern Mediterranean cost is short on sandy beaches. As someone mentioned, both US coasts are exposed to huge ocean waves, which grind the terrain down and result in flat sandy beaches. Other areas are more hilly and are protected by archipelagos, which result in rocky coasts.

[roddy]

There's also the pressure of half a billion people living along a coast of eighteen thousand kilometers - that's the best part of thirty thousand people per kilometer. Eastern China's one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Use Google Earth to zoom in on any random stretch of coastline and I reckon you'll find aquaculture, housing, factories and on on.

Plus less leisure time, less private transport to get to beaches, less of a running-around-in-your-underwear culture. Oh, and the fact that sand is stolen and used in construction.

[AxelManbow]

Stealing sand. Yeah, beats buying second hand bottles to make glass. The sand in Xinghai (Dalian) was imported from another continent to make the beach. Though I'm not sure how that relates to China's geology opposed to making a splash for the local official who did so.

[Xiwang]

Many of the best beaches in the United are maintained artificially. The practice is controversial and is often done at high financial and environmental costs when artificial ocean barriers are built or sand is taken from somewhere else to replace otherwise natural beach erosion.

Moving sand around may be damaging to both the source of the sand (e.g., by dredging) and to the new location of the sand (e.g., when marine life is repeatedly buried because the sand naturally washes away season after season). However, most tourists may not care that the sand they're lying on on Waikiki Beach may actually be from San Diego.

Because China can't generally afford to do this, its environmental policies may be superior to those of the United States on this particular issue.

[flameproof]

There is lots of marine life in China! Just check the tanks outside the restaurants.

[gougou]

There is lots of marine life in China! Just check the tanks outside the restaurants.

More often than not, they don't contain marine life

[ABCinChina]

On a side note, has anybody eaten lobster in China? They are like ￥300 in my city but in the US, we can get a fully cooked lobster for $25-$30. Pretty big difference if you ask me and is part of the reason I haven't eating succulent lobsters for almost 3 years now.

Edited February 6, 2009 at 10:34 AM by ABCinChina

[zerolife]

I have to disagree ... there are a number of sand beaches in China ... Beidaihe (closest to BJ), Dalian, Qingdao, and the best of all Sanya.

beach near Sanya: http://picasaweb.google.com/haszerolife/HainanIslandSouthernmostProvince#5243349517777511154

@ABCinChina

I would say that depends on where in China you live

There are many areas in China, in particular Hainan I can think of where lobster and other sea food are dirt cheap. I can't remember the exact price but it's well below prices in the US or Germany. My Beijinger friend I went to Hainan with shipped a huge box full of crabs and lobsters home ... so it all comes down to the location.

Also the price you get also depend on your bargaining skill and most importantly, whether you are local. I remember that one restaurant we went in Hainan... we were going to have lunch with some local Hainaner friends but we arrived early and they gave us one price (yeah they swear it's their lowest price). Then when our Hainaner friends arrived, they had a short conversation with the restaurant manager in their local dialect and all of the sudden the price fell by 3/4! To keep the story short, they charge depending on what they perceive you are willing to pay. They know that their 4x inflated price is still cheaper than BJ and we probably would have paid for it if we didn't have the local friends.

btw here is a monster lobster we got for only around 500 yuan (if I remember correctly)

http://picasaweb.google.com/haszerolife/HainanIslandSouthernmostProvince#5243349458530784018

[ABCinChina]

^ Mouth watering upon sight of huge lobster.