Dongji Islands

In August 2005, a group of British visitors, most of them elderly, arrived at some small islands on the eastern edge of Zhoushan Archipelago. They didn’t come as tourists. They came with flowers to remember their family members or their comrades-in-arms who died in a tragedy that occurred in the nearby waters more than half a century ago. They came to express thanks to islanders (or to their descendants) who risked their lives to save British troops in World War II.

These isles are collectively called the Dongji Islands. They are the easternmost inhabited islands where China first meets the sun every day. At dawn October 2, 1942, Dongji islanders heard huge explosions and shouts of drowning men to the northeast. They set sail and found many struggling men in the waters around a sinking Japanese transport ship, the Lisbon Maru.

The ship, carrying 1,800 captured British troops from Hong Kong to Japan, had been mistakenly torpedoed by the American submarine the USS Grouper. As the ship was going down, the Japanese abandoned ship and tried to drown all the POWs. Some British soldiers broke out of the holds where they were imprisoned but they were fired on by the Japanese.

The islanders bravely rescued 384 British POWs and gave them their clothing and food, which were in short supply during the war. However, the Japanese recaptured all but three men, who were concealed in a cave on the coast. Those three were eventually returned to London.

In gratitude, the British government of Hong Kong gave a motorized fishing launch to the people of Dongji in 1949 and invited the key rescuers to settle in Hong Kong. But after a short time in the city, they returned to their home islands - they preferred their simple and rustic lifestyle.

Today, Dongji’s residents live a life that hasn’t changed dramatically. The scenery is serene - stone fishermen’s cottages rise against the hills, with goats scampering about the rocks and seabirds soaring above. The rocky landscape has a Mediterranean look with the stone houses, blue skies and seas crashing in white foam against the rocks.

With a major reef teeming with marine life nearby, the islands’ fishery is splendid, its ecology unspoiled by the traditional red, white, green, blue and yellow “dragon’s eye” fishing boats that still can be spotted in the waters. The “eyes” ward off evil. They look much as they did centuries ago, still crafted of wood, but they use engines and no sails at all.

You can go fishing, though only from shore or standing on a rock, with a rod and reel. You can explore the island and take boats to other islands and hike about.

Finally, rough it and spend the night in one of those fishermen’s lodges on the main island, eating seafood cooked by fishermen’s wives – crabs, shrimp, fish you’ve never seen before, such as a red three-foot-long duck-billed fish (it tastes like sole). After the dinner, which is toasted with local spirits (or whatever you care to buy), you can just fall asleep to the sound of the pounding waves. An exhilarating day. The place is charming, but it lacks many amenities. Check with the tourist bureau and pack accordingly.

The next morning before dawn you can climb a hill to greet the first rays of the sun. A special pavilion has been built for sunrise observations, the Dongxiang Pavilion on Miaozihu, Dongji’s central island.

Around the islands you can see vivid folk art, so-called “Eastern Picassos.” There’s also a gallery at the Culture Center on Miaozihu where you can buy some. Painting is a cottage industry and the painters are overwhelmingly women. Though they are busy with chores, many fishermen’s wives still find time to paint delightful and much-sought-after colorful semi-abstract pictures of daily life. There are scenes of fishermen casting their nets, housewives cooking in woks, people weaving nets, schools of fish, seas of starfish and crabs, dragon’s eye boats, and many other scenes from fishing and daily island life.

War memorials of the Lisbon Maru incident are on the northeastern island of Qingbang. You can visit the cave where the three survivors escaped the Japanese search. And beneath the waves, miles off the island, lies the Lisbon Maru, and more than 1,000 British souls.

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