This South Chinese village has existed on this site since the 14th century. Its inhabitants are known for their achievements in navigation (even in the Middle Ages they reached the Indian Ocean) and in fishing at great depths. Over the centuries, they have even compiled their own navigation manual. The original history and location on a tropical island famous for its resorts has given the village a considerable tourist potential.
The Yujiao Cultural and Tourism Development Authority held a closed competition in 2011, which was won by the OAC Bureau. The task of the participants was to plan 65 hectares of territory, where new houses of fishermen, housing and hotels for everyone, as well as museums and other cultural institutions should appear. The total area of the buildings should be about 325 thousand m2.
The development will be located on the bank of the river near its mouth. The future center of the village is planned in the bend of its channel: there will be built a museum of ancient fishing boats, itself resembling a ship with its streamlined shape and wood-sheathed facades, as well as the undulating volume of the museum of fishing culture. A Center for Culture and Fisheries Research with a museum of marine ceramics will appear nearby (meaning vessels found in the waters of the South China Sea on wrecked ships of the 15th – 19th centuries). The center will be adjacent to the area of currently existing traditional fishermen's houses (they are planned to be restored).
A boutique hotel, a “fishing” shopping street with souvenir shops will be erected along the river bank from the sea side, and this part of the development will be completed by the streamlined volume of the Ocean Fishery Culture Museum, which also contains a conference and cultural exchange center. An open-air amphitheater is planned nearby.
Also, the OAC project envisages the construction of housing for fishermen ("new socialist fishing village"), villas and residential towers (up to 100 m high), a yacht club and hostels for staff. Residents and tourists are expected to travel within the new area on foot or by environmentally friendly means of transport (including electric vehicles), so a spacious parking lot will be built at the entrance.
N. F.
