Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Zhuhai will invest over 200 million yuan ($29 million) to build a 600,000 dwt wharf at Tangjia Port for the transport of tourists and goods to the Wanshan Islands. 

The plan has just been approved by the municipal authorities, according to the Zhuhai Development & Reform Bureau. Besides benefitting Wanshan’s multitude islands, the wharf is expected to also ease pressure on Xiangzhou Port, adjust Zhuhai’s functional layout, integrate port shoreline resources, develop land-island traffic, and promote economic development.

Typical passenger/freight wharf [File photo]

With highly piled beam-slab structure, the 200-m harbor includes two 1,000 dwt multi-functional berths and a newly built revetment with a length of 200 m. Channel dredging will cover 690,000 sq m and a new freight yard will be about 48,500 sq m with a 1,440-sq-m warehouse. A new dispatch center and ancillary buildings occupying 2,380 sq m will be constructed with support facilities of lanes, fences, water, electricity, and afforestation.

Islanders in the Wanshan archipelago have long depended upon crystal prawn and peeler crab fishing for income. Now tourism is paramount and several hundred thousand visit the islands annually, including to a Club Med resort on Dong’ao Island. The island towns of Guishan, Dan’gan, and Wanshan are part of the Wanshan Marine Development Experimental Zone.