Chongming Island: Not Just An Island

The project, linking Pudong New Area and Chongming Island via Changxing Island, extends 25.5 kilometers. It comprises a tunnel running under the south channel of Yangtze River and a cable-stay bridge over the north channel.

Chongming Island is part of the municipality of Shanghai. It is formed by the sediment deposit washed down from the upstream of Yangtze River. Since the flow rate of Yangtze at the mouth where it enters East China Sea is slow, more and more sediment is being washed down and depoisted here, it is a continuously growing island. Currently the size of Chongming is about 1200 squre kilometer, slightly smaller than the the Oahu Island of Hawaii Island chain, and Chongming is the third largest island in China after Taiwan Island and Hainan Island.

Traditionally the traffic communication between Shanghai and Chongming is by ferry boat, which is extremely time consuming and weather dependent. Foggy weather presents the greatest challenge to the safe transportation of both passengers and vehicles. Chongming would become an isolated island at any time. Now with the tunnel and bridge system opens to traffic, a ride to cross the tunnel and bridge takes only 20 minutes, reducing the total travel time by as much as three quarters of the travel time by ferry.

Transportation
Shen-Chong Line 1
Start Time:
6am – 7pm (every 15 mins)
Route:
The line starts from Shanghai North Long Distance Bus Station which is also served by Shanghai Metro Line 1, crossing a tunnel underneath River Huangpu to Pudong, and then through Expressway A30 and Shanghai-Chongming Tunnel Bridge system to Nanmen Town, which is the town of administration for Chongming County.
Bus Fare:
RMB 12
Fast Fact:
A short version of Shen-Chong Line 1 will also be introduced to provide service between Shanghai and Changxing Island. Currently Shanghai-Chongming bus services require ferry ride to cross the Yangtze.

Shen-Chong Line 2
Start Time:
6am – 7pm (every 15 mins)
Route:
starts from Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Metro Station on Metro Line 2 in Pudong, through the tunnel bridge system to another major town on Chongming Island.
Bus Fare:
RMB 12

Shanghai Tourist Distribution Centre (Hongkou Football Stadium)
Start time:
7.30am (once a day)
Bus Fare:
RMB 100 (Terminal – Dongping Forest Park)
RMB 120 (Terminal – Qianwei Eco-village)

Private Automobile
Price:
RMB 50

Hot Spots
Dongping Forest Park
Entrance Fee:
RMB70 pp
Entertainment Items:
- Stropping Down:
 It’s exciting and appealing to the young, which offers an experience of speedy flying. It’ll go through the grassland and creeks, 160m long and 16.5m high.
RMB 30 pp
- Grass Skating:
Dongping Grassland is the only area for grass skating in Shanghai, with an area of over 10,000sqm, with a slope of 10m high. It offers all the necessary equipment required by the sports.
RMB 30 pp
- Horse Riding
Professional instructions on offer. If experienced enough, you could rent a horse to wander along the forest, enjoying natural beauty.
RMB 15 pp
- Go-kart
RMB 15 pp
- Onsite Shooting
You could enjoy the simulated military manoeuvres with the war field.
RMB 60 pp
- Rock Climbing
RMB 20 pp
- Boating
RMB 30 pp

Qianwei Ecological Village
Time:
9am – 5pm
Entrance Fee:
RMB 40 pp (20% off for team)
To enjoy the farmhouse pleasure, it’s better to leave the traditional guided walks behind and strike out at your own pace with an audio guide.
With its scenic setting and calmer pace of life, this spot is a world away from the urban bustle. The area is home to about 700 villagers. People in Chongming County usually describe Qianwei Village as “a pearl on the island.”
- Yinzhou Ancient Town
In the village, you can see displays of the waterwheels, spinning and weaving machines and other farm equipment and artifacts; some people traveled by sedan chair in the old.
Accommodation and food
So far there are 62 village families providing accommodations, divided into 1-star (RMB 80),2-star (RMB 90) and 3 -star (RMB 100-110), including a homemade meal, with fresh organic ingredients (Chongming specialties): Chongming hairy crabs (thin shell but yummy meat), rice wine (sweet, don’t be drunk), goat meat, Chongming cake and zongzi.
- Shanghai Wild Animal Domestication Farm
With a beautiful setting and fresh air, the farm is home to grackles, nonpoisonous snakes, pigs, dogs, birds, monkeys, eagles, chickens and deer, among others. It is here that you will especially sense the harmony between humans and animals.
- Ecological Agricultural Model Base
It demonstrates the rational ecological arrangement of crops and plants and the recycling of resources. The main crops are fruits and vegetables, as well as organic rice.
Apart from that, it desplays the development and use of clean and renewable energies -- solar energy, wind energy, marsh gas energy, straw gas energy and geothermal energy.
- Ecological Science Garden
It consists of the Butterfly Garden featuring a grand glass room that imitates a virtual ecological environment of nature for various breeds of butterflies; and the Flower Garden, dozens of imported aromatic and medicinal plants including rosemary, lavender, roman chamomile, thyme and geranium, made into soaps or aromatic bags as your souvenirs (DIY).
- Dongtan Nature Reservation
Its rich soils and extensive estuarine wetlands—abundant with fresh and saltwater marshes, tidal creeks and inter-tidal mudflats—offer haven for a diversity of birds and fish along spawning or migration routes. 312 species of birds in record migrate to its home for winter. Aquatic species like the Japanese eel and Chinese sturgeon linger here before traveling upriver to their spawning sites. Millions of swans, geese, and shorebirds like the Dunlin, Great Knot and Whimbrels, traveling along Asia’s north-south migratory route — from as far away as Alaska and New Zealand — use Chongming as a destination for staging and wintering.
Time to watch birds and fish:
March – November (change with the climate)   

Concern
Since the development of the tourist industry in Chongming Island is still in the initial stage, many tourist attractions haven’t been well-equipped, making trouble for the tourists, including the shortage of toilets, traffic congestions, etc.

For another, previously Chongming Island was just a remote village, with its scenic setting, natural reserve and calmer pace of life, which makes it as a pearl in the world. However, the exploding tourist numbers have threatened to ruin what it used to be. What’s more, booming tourism will also attract more businesses. No one wants to see Chongming Island, awash with tour groups and dominated by garish souvenir shops, neon signs, noisy restaurants and hotels. In the long run, tourism authorities should not only take the positive measures to control the mass tourism and to protect the natural conservations for eco-tourism, but to promote public awareness of that as well.