Xiapu Mudflats 霞浦滩涂

About Xiapu Mudflats

Xiapu has roughly 500 km of coastline and more than 400 islands and reefs, and its shallow inshore waters have long been farmed for kelp, laver, oysters, large yellow croaker and other species; the county is officially styled the home of Chinese kelp and of laver. The stakes, nets and rafts of those farms, exposed and covered by the tide, are what give the flats their graphic patterns, and county officials describe photography-plus-homestay as the local tourism model.

The county has developed eleven designated photography points, among them Xiaohao, Dongbi, Huazhu, the Shajiang S-bend and Beiqi. Huazhu, a high village in Sansha town, is promoted as a sunrise viewpoint looking over flats, islands, stone-built fishing hamlets and fish-farm rafts; Dongbi to its south-west is the sunset counterpart. Xiapu carries the title China Photography Creation Base and is widely called the country's most beautiful tidal flats, drawing several hundred thousand photographers and visitors a year and supporting local photo guides and fishermen who pose as models.

What to look for

• Sunrise over the flats and islands from the high village of Huazhu in Sansha town
• Sunset from Dongbi village, south-west of Huazhu
• The Beiqi and Xiaohao flats, two of the county's eleven designated photography points
• The S-shaped tidal channel at Shajiang
• Working kelp and laver farms whose poles and rafts create the patterns on the water

Location & getting there

Getting to Xiapu Mudflats

Confirm ferry arrangements where needed, weather and any local restrictions on water access. A beach listing does not establish that swimming is permitted.

• Search for 霞浦滩涂 with 宁德市 and 霞浦县.