Xuwen County 徐闻县

Setting and landscape

Xuwen is a country of low hills and tableland shaped by Quaternary lava flows and the sea, and basalt covers almost the whole county. The ground is highest in the north, at 100 to 150 metres, and falls towards the coast on the east, west and south; Shiban Ling (石板岭) is the highest point at 245.4 metres. The coastline runs for 378 kilometres, with inlets, bays, islands and tidal mudflats. The climate is tropical monsoon, and on average about 3.5 typhoons a year affect the county, mostly from July to October.

History

Xuwen County was founded in 111 BC, after the Han conquered the Nanyue kingdom, and at first covered the whole Leizhou Peninsula (雷州半岛), making it one of the earliest counties in Lingnan. Its first seat was Taowang village (讨网村) on the south-west coast, which also served as the seat of Hepu commandery (合浦郡). The county government presents Xuwen as the departure port of the Han-dynasty Maritime Silk Road and quotes Su Shi (苏轼) calling it the "throat" of four prefectures. The county was renamed Leinan (雷南县) in 1958 and took back the name Xuwen in 1960.

What to see

Denglou Cape (灯楼角) in Jiaowei township (角尾乡) is the southernmost point of the Chinese mainland, a spit of sand that marks the meeting line of the South China Sea and the Beibu Gulf, 12 nautical miles from Lingao Cape in Hainan. A Qing navigation light was put up here in 1890 and a French steel lighthouse in 1894; today's lighthouse dates from 1994. In 1950 the People's Liberation Army set out from the cape to take Hainan, and the departure point became a provincial protected site in 2022.

Off the west coast of Jiaowei, Maichen (迈陈镇) and Xilian (西连镇), the Xuwen Coral Reef National Nature Reserve (广东徐闻珊瑚礁国家级自然保护区) protects what the county government calls the largest and best-preserved continuous coral reef along the mainland Chinese coast, with 82 coral species; it became a national reserve in 2007. Inland, the Sea of Pineapples (菠萝的海) in Qujie town (曲界镇) is open tableland planted with pineapples as far as the eye can see, named one of the new Eight Views of Zhanjiang in 2013. Dahan Sandun (大汉三墩旅游区), in Nanshan town on the north shore of the strait facing Haikou, is built around the site of the Han-era Xuwen port, with three islands, fishing villages and a mangrove reserve.

Highlights

• Denglou Cape 灯楼角: Southernmost point of mainland China, where the South China Sea meets the Beibu Gulf.
• Xuwen Coral Reef National Nature Reserve 广东徐闻珊瑚礁国家级自然保护区: National reserve since 2007, with 82 coral species.
• Sea of Pineapples 菠萝的海: Pineapple-covered tableland in Qujie town; one of the new Eight Views of Zhanjiang.
• Dahan Sandun 大汉三墩旅游区: Scenic area built around the site of the Han-era Xuwen port.