Shenjiamen Port

The famed fishing port of Shenjiamen, at the southeast end of Zhoushan Island, has long been marked on China's food maps for its bountiful and unusual seafood and its seafront promenade of open-air seafood restaurants with basins of swimming, wriggling dinner – and nearby strolling musicians.

And, its convenient location makes it a perfect hub for traveling and island-hopping in the archipelago. Together with the neighboring island of Zhujiajian, the fishing town has been developed into a transport center for the whole archipelago. The administration of Putuo District is located in the town.

The famous Buddhist pilgrimage site Putuoshan is just a 10-minute fast boat ride away. Shenjiamen is just a half-hour flight from Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport (to Zhoushan Airport on Zhujiajian Island, linked with Shenjiamen by a cross-channel bridge), or a six-hour direct tourist bus from Shanghai Stadium.

Base yourself in Shenjiamen – you can find a pleasant hotel on the long bund where fishing boats rock at anchor, and explore the region. You can spend the day on nearby islands (in some places you can stay over), and come back to enjoy supper and nightlife in this vivid town.

As night casts her veil, the port lights up in with riotous neon along the five-kilometer-long bund, the busiest part of town. While nothing compares to Shanghai’s historic bund of grand neoclassical architecture, Shenjiamen has its charms, colors, bazaars, and a fishing fleet. It is the country’s biggest fishery port.

There’s a large modern port outside town, but the Shenjiamen’s piers and wharfs are still busy. There are fleets of rusty and rigid fishing boats awaiting repairs, some blown in by the last typhoon. Boats set sail and land with their catch.

Some lie quietly at anchor in the calm waters created by a natural breakwater, the small hilly isle Lujiashi which lies just off the bund of Shenjiamen.

Because of its calm water and great climate – mild in winter and less hot in summer when China swelters – Shenjiamen draws gourmets from around China. It’s a favorite weekend getaway from Shanghai, and no wonder: about 320 species of fish, 33 types of shrimp and nearly 100 crustacean species swim in the nearby waters, crawl about or inhabit the rocks.

The style of cooking is Ningbo-style, a bit saltier and less oily than Shanghai-style. Much of the seafood is steamed and healthy for you -- you can ask for anything to be steamed. You can even eat raw octopus, it’s recommended, if you like the sensation of tiny tentacles in your mouth.

The most prominent feature of Shenjiamen’s seafood culture is a string of about 70 orange-tented seafood stands, buzzing with laughter and the hiss of frying woks. Food vendors boast home-made dishes using the freshest fish, crab, shrimp and shellfish, some just caught in coastal areas in the afternoon. They are still swimming or squirming in basins or displayed on ice, decorated with bright red tomatoes and green and yellow peppers. Some fish look quite bizarre, especially the meter-long red, eel-like duck-billed fish.

Port banquets can last until 2 or 3 am, toasted with Zizhu beer, local plum spirits, and, of course, the infamous bai jiu, clear potent grain alcohol. The extremely strong plum spirits are believed by locals to have an anti-bacterial health benefit – they are said to kill any active bacteria that may be in raw seafood.

Such banquets are further heightened by street entertainment. Strolling singers and musicians – guitarists, erhu players, even a man with an intriguing antique saxophone – serenade the diners and accept requests at 10 yuan (US$1.26) per song and 20 yuan for three. They are required to perform in an annual music and singing competition organized by the local cultural authority to obtain their licenses, and some wear badges showing their high place in the contest.

Enjoy the wonderful flavor of fresh, healthy seafood and vegetables, the aromas of food and salt air, the voices of the singers and sounds of the waves lapping just meters away.

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