James Baquet

    AS you speed along Binhai Boulevard, you may notice a peculiar sort of glass wall between the highway and some trees, and carloads of people preparing to have a good time. This is the Mangrove Nature Reserve.

    The red mangrove is called in Chinese hongshu (红树, red tree), which has caused it to be confused with the majestic redwood. It is not.

    It is no less interesting, however. It grows with its feet in salty or brackish water, and it drops its “seeds” (actually, propagules, small living trees) into the water, where they can float for a year or more before taking root in another place.

    China used to have about 100 times as much mangrove swamp as it has today, which makes our nine-kilometer patch quite precious.

    This habit of growing in seawater makes mangrove swamps throughout the tropic habitats for aquatic birds, fish, and even, in some places, crocodiles!

    Our park is, then, an excellent place for bird watching. It also offers the only place in town where you can take a stroll along Shenzhen Bay, and it affords spectacular views of Hong Kong, Nanshan (both the district and the mountain), and back towards Futian and Luohu. (There are also dense plantings of other trees in the park, including coconut palms).

    So do yourself a favor: take a walk by the bay, especially at sunrise or sunset, and enjoy Nature’s beauty.

    Many buses, including J1 and 382, stop at Hongshulin (红树林).

    The park also has a beautiful Web site, http://szmangrove.com/ (alas, in Chinese only, but click the pictures at the bottom of the page).