Beihai's rustic serenity

Golden bay mangrove park. [Photo by Pauline D. Loh/Shanghai Star]

Golden bay mangrove park

Any city that invests money in preserving its natural resources is worth applauding, especially when it's a stretch of mangrove that has very little to offer on the surface.

Visitors to Beihai's Golden Bay Mangrove Reservation are invited to get off the coach and stroll along the boardwalks among the mangroves. At low tide, mudskippers and fiddler crabs cavort among the exposed roots. At high tide, migrating egrets show up as flashes of white among the green.

It is a peaceful stroll, and a time to slow down and appreciate nature for what it is.

It is quite a hike in from the main gate, but bright lemon-yellow trams will drop visitors off at one end of the boardwalk and pick them up at the other end.

Wedding couples, too, appreciate the serenity and we chanced upon a happy pair posing for pictures.