Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Sanzao Town featuring Lingnan Water Village was recently designated as one of the first 12 Provincial Pilot Forest Towns by the Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province. The only one of its kind in Zhuhai, the Jinwan District town will set a province-wide example. 

View in Sanzao Town [File photo]

Located on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, Sanzao has rich forest, green landscapes, and wetland resources. It has been developing ecological tourism built upon abundant natural resources. These include ecological landscapes and tourism projects such as Lanlang Mt-Maotian Mt Forest Cultural Corridor Eco-Tourism Area, Wutoulong Reservoir Agricultural Eco-Garden, Huanglvbei Reservoir Greenway, Golden Beach, Silver Beach, and Maotian Mt Shanggu Health Preservation Park. 

The town has also carried out rural afforestation and beautification combined with the New Countryside Initiative. It has done much regarding trees planting, ecological landscape and forest belt cultivation, channel dredging and renovation in villages, and laying sewage pipelines. 

Moreover, it has taken actions to protect cultural relics with Lingnan style, having preserved the Mutouchong Village Lingnan Stone House, Caotang Bay Sand Dune historic site, and Sanzao Lingyan Cave Rock Carvings. The town has been cited as National Beautiful Environment Town, National Hygienic Town, and National Civilized Town over the years. 

According to a government official, Sanzao will continue to implement the concept of greenery and coordination. The town has set goals for protecting characteristic Lingnan water village features and styles, and reconstructing a green, ecological water network. Sanzao is further becoming a place of unique homeland feelings, humanistic atmosphere and featured culture by means of wetland conservation and restoration, water networks and river bank afforestation, channel dredging and improvements, and wetland communities.