Danzhou

Danzhou, Known as Dan’er in ancient times, was established as city in Han Dynasty. Danzhou is located in the northwest of Hainan Province. It is the economic, transportation, communication and cultural center of western Hainan. The Yangpu Economic Development Zone, China Tropical Agricultural University and China Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, and the Danzhou Campus of Hainan University are all within its territory.

Danzhou is rich in tourism resources and has more than 20 historic sites, including mainly Dongpo Academy, Lanyang Hot Spring, Bayi Shihua Water Cave, Hainan Tropical Botanical Garden, and Songtao Tianhu Lake. Su Dongpo, a great litterateur of the Northern Song Dynasty, was exiled to Danzhou. During his three years here, he civilized local people with his literal talent and moral integrity. Many litterateurs from home and abroad came to Danzhou to take him as teacher. The cultural atmosphere brought by Su Dongpo greatly cultivated local people’s literary knowledge. Subsequently, a lot of folk poetry societies were established in Danzhou, which won this place the reputation of “Home to poems”.

There are many kinds of songs in Danzhou, among which the most popular ones are Danzhou folk songs and Diaosheng (an unique singing style in Danzhou). On January 16th and August 15th of the lunar calendar every year, young men and women in north-central Danzhou will hold a song contest on hillsides or beaches, wearing national dresses. They express their pursuit of love and praise of life in their songs. “Danzhou Diaosheng” was listed in the first national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006. Moreover, you can enjoy a variety of delicacies here, such as Luoji Rice Dumplings, Changpo Rice Noodles, Songtao Bighead, and Guangcun Sandworm.

Danyang Tower

Danyang Tower is located in Ma’an Ridge, Danzhou City. The whole tower is 57 meters high with nine storeys. Seeing from the top of the tower, you can see Hainan Tropical Botanical Garden on the north, Yunyue Lake on the south, the Danzhou Campus of Hainan University and China Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences on the west.

In accordance with the classical style of ancient tower, Danyang Tower was built in vertical layout with a total construction area of 13,600 square meters. As a new attraction of Danzhou cultural tourism, Danyang Tower is a part of the Danyang Forest Park Tourist Zone. Danyang Tower is the main scenery of the forest park, brightened by surrounding natural and cultural landscapes. Poets in Ming and Qing dynasties wrote poems to admire the glorious scene here. And Danyang Road, Danyang Street and other places named after Danyang are now well known by local people.

The Danzhou Tropical Botanical Garden

The Danzhou Tropical Botanical Garden is located in the west of Nada Town, Danzhou City. It is the plant specimen garden of China Tropical Agricultural University and China Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. With a reputation of “the kingdom of tropical plants”, it was established in 1958 and covers an area of 32 hectares.

In the garden, you can see more than 1000 species of trees from over 40 countries in the world. There are 7 exhibition areas, including tropical spice plants, tropical medicinal plants, tropical fruit trees, tropical oil plants and tropical ornamental plants. It is a treasury of world’s rare tropical trees and has high ornamental value.

Six scenic areas have been built in the garden, i.e., the Economic Forest, Palms, Tropical Fruit Trees, Spice and Medicinal Plants, Ornamental Plants, and Oil Trees.

Songtao Reservoir

Songtao Reservoir, known as “Tianhu (implied heaven lake) Lake", is 15 kilometers away from Nada. It was built in 1958 and put into operation in 1969. It consists of one main dam, ten auxiliary dams, Nanfeng Water Transfer and Power Generation Tunnel, Nanfeng Hydropower Station and irrigation area. The irrigation area is bordered by the left bank of the Yangtze River, the right bank of its tributary, the Datang River, and the Zhubi River on the east, south and west, and Qiongzhou Strait on the north. It is 131 km long from east to west, 64 km from south to north, and covers a total area of 5550 square kilometers. Danzhou city, Lingao county, Chengmai county, Qiongshan district and Haikou city are all within the irrigation area. And it has now become Hainan’s production base of grain, oil and sugar. Songtao Reservoir not only alleviates the pressure of flood control in the middle and lower reaches of the lake and the river mouth of Haikou City, but also plays an important role in improving the ecological environment. It is an important infrastructure in Hainan as it has made tremendous contributions to the economic, social and environmental construction and development of Hainan Province.