The Lost Tomb : Extras & Special Stories

(Extra: Wu Xie's Private Notes) Chapter 18: Qinglan Harbor & Yongxing Island

I had already set off from Qinglan Harbor, and there was no entertainment on the boat. Apart from watching the sea, I could only listen to the radio.

The only stations that would come in were from Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, but none from the mainland. I found it very strange. It may be because the radio was made in Taiwan. Sometimes the old-fashioned Taiwanese radios were welded to a few fixed frequencies.

Yesterday, I thought back over what that woman said to me and felt that something was off about the whole thing. I told myself to think more about it if I had a chance.

I didn't know why I was unable to concentrate. Maybe it was because the boat was rocking too violently. I really didn't get many chances to ride on boats, and several of the fishermen were impressed that I could get into the cabin without feeling nauseous.

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Yongxing Island is also known as "Woody Island" because of the dense forests there. Yongxing Island got its name from the warship that took over the Xisha Islands on November 29, 1946.

Yongxing Island is located at 16 degrees, 50 minutes north latitude and 112 degrees, 20 east longitude. The island is about 1,850 meters long from east to west, about 1,160 meters wide from north to south, and covers an approximate area of 2.1 square kilometers.

It is the largest island in both the Xisha Islands and in the South China Sea. Yongxing Island is flat with an average height of about five meters. There is a large sand dike about 870 meters long and 100 meters wide in the southwest of the island with a maximum height of 8.3 meters.

It is also surrounded by sand banks and has a depression in the middle that was formed after the lagoon dried up. It's convenient to dig a well there to get water, but the water is undrinkable due to the pollution of black manure. Despite this, it's still sufficient for washing.

Yongxing Island has a large surface area, lush vegetation, abundant fresh water, no stagnant water in the central lowland, and high sand dikes to block the wind. As a result, this is the most advantageous island in the South China Sea.

Since Yongxing Island happens to be in the middle of the Xisha Islands, it is considered the capital of the Zhongsha Islands in the southwest, and Hainan Province sent a government agency (equivalent to the county level) to reside there.

Yongxing Island is the transportation hub of the Zhongsha Islands in the southwest. It has a modern airport, which can take off and land Boeing 737 aircraft, and the dock can hold five-thousand-ton ships. Other infrastructures and reception facilities are also relatively complete.

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