 The best place to watch birds -- the Mangrove Nature Resort |
|
The Mangrove Nature Resort originated as a dream: to bring the natural environment to the city by developing a wildlife sanctuary where the animals could roam free. It has tunred out to be one of the area's most popular public beaches.
The clear waters here offer an ideal place to cool off on hot summer days. The protected waters, lawn and shaded grounds are great for going on walks, whatever the season. You don't need to travel far to be rewarded with one of the most unspoiled beaches in Shenzhen. At Mangrove Nature Resort, you can stroll along the beach with laughing gulls and sandpipers. Or you can use a camera or paintbrush to capture the green grass that grows along the coast. It's also possible to spend the night among the sand dunes, or simply bask in the sun and do nothing at all.
This 1.4-square-kilometer oceanfront park doesn't just offer fantastic sea views in an urban area but also plays a major role in preserving the natural environment of Shenzhen. It includes some of the finest wetland habitat on Shenzhen's Binhai Road. From the Xinzhou River to the Beach Ecological Park, the nine-kilometer-long strip of beach not only offers a pleasant place for the public to take a stroll, but it has also earned itself the nickname as a "mini nature reserve" with its abundant birdlife. At various levels, birds make their homes: big white egrets, bowerbirds, lewin's honeyeaters, crimson rosellas, white browed scrub hen, and brown pigeons.
There are plenty of opportunities for bird watching. This place offers what birds are after: food, water and shelter. The imaginative use of even the smallest place will invite birds - trees, flowers and shrubs in containers with enough fresh air will do. The Mangrove Nature Resort has them all.
The location has meant the Mangrove Nature Resort has a rich bio-diversity, with diverse landscapes found in one cohesive region. Orchards, fish pools and natural woodlands are all found here, as the area features natural anti-pollutant substances and sea defenses. The variety of flora is as fascinating as the colors of the landscape, which continuously change as the day progresses.
When visitors set foot on this magic wetland, they cannot help applauding the Mangrove Nature Resort as a "green pearl" that decorates the already-charming Shenzhen Bay. It isn't difficult to imagine that thousands of years ago mangroves extended to the present Shenzhen Airport and red forests lined both sides of the Shenzhen River.
Fortunately this precious natural resource has been revived, as the local government established the Mangrove Nature Resort in 1984 after collecting suggestions from many biological and environment experts.
In 1999, an ecological park was built at the western part of the reserve, offering an array of opportunities for the nature enthusiast. Hundreds of species of birds can be spotted along the many miles of trails that traverse the park. While the resort is gaining more tourist appeal, it has also become a place of increasingly important ecological significance, as a diverse assortment of birds, animals and plant life thrive here, and the area serves as an important stopover for countless migrating birds.
Secluded and tranquil, free from intruding commercialism, the Mangrove Nature Resort is a retreat for people who welcome the challenges (and pleasures) of the ever-present sun, sand, sea and sky.
|
