If Xiamen, an urbanized coastal city, wants to find the original beauty of the island, you should visit the two islands of Xiang 'an-Datun Island and Xiaodeng Island.

Dagu Island is famous for its seafood. Thanks to its unique marine environment, the marine delicacies it produces are always tempting to eat; Xiaodeng Island, which is adjacent to Dagu Island, is beautiful in the simple cultural scenery of the village and islanders. It retains the sunrise, sunset, waves and stars at night.

The two-day and one-night short trip to Xiaodeng Island allowed me to re-recognize the new face of this island city.

1. Transportation

There are only two ways to get to Xiaodeng Island. For a self-driving tour by private car, the parking lot is 20 yuan per night; or you can also reach it from the island's International Financial Center and take the 756 Island Terminal.

This time I booked the Youth Hostel on the island, so when I arrived at the terminal, I took a battery car directly and went straight to the hostel to rest and straighten out.

When the weather is clearing, on Xiaodeng Island, the blue sky is very low, the ocean is green, the large open space for sand fixation is sparse with plants, and there is a desolate beauty next to the ocean with the left eye and the right eye. The sea breeze blew along the way and the enthusiastic chat with the big sister of the battery car had already relaxed half of my tense nerves.

2. Going to sea

The Youth Hostel booked was not the kind of literary and artistic Internet celebrity B & Bs common on the island. It was renovated from residential houses on the island. It was bright, clean and warm. The owner, Qiu Ge, was a simple and enthusiastic islander and a guide for this trip. After tidying up a little, Brother Qiu drove a battery car and took us to the dock to catch a boat to beg for Xiaohai.

In the past, begging for small seas was another way for islanders to make a living during the fishing ban. Taking a small boat to go out to sea, relying on casting nets and cages to catch some greedy fish, shrimp and crabs, relying on luck to feed the whole process, and surviving the fishing moratorium without income.

Nowadays, begging for the small sea has become a favorite program for tourists on the island. A boat of 10 people costs 800 yuan per boat. Whatever fish catches are owned by the guests, whether they are taken home or handed over to the islanders for cooking. The most charming thing about this kind of activity should be the excitement of fishermen playing games with the ocean.

Taking a boat out to sea, the boat owner does a good job of safety, and everyone has a life jacket and a small bench. The sea is not stormy, and the sufficient sunshine penetrates the sea and makes the waves shine. The brightness and vastness make people feel comfortable.

Before reaching the fishing cage, the boat owner began to introduce Qiaohai's fishing gear and Kinmen Island, which is just a short distance away.

Finding and setting up fishing cages is a very interesting thing. Even GPS is useless. The boat owner is like visiting his own vegetable garden, accurately finding his own fishing cage in the sea. As the machine runs, the fishing cages that have stayed on the seabed for a day gradually emerge from the water surface, and the captured prey gradually emerge.

We had good luck on this day. There were surprisingly many flower crabs, big and small, very lively, fierce eels, little tiger eels with twisted twist, extremely large old head fish, and a pearl grouper. Starfish, large and small, became trophies that a boatload of people competed for.

By the time I got off the boat, I was already hungry. Lunch was at Ah Feng Restaurant arranged by Brother Qiu. The table was full of local dishes, including cold seaweed, seaweed pot, miscellaneous fish soy sauce water, steamed squid, roasted duck... The table was full, and we ate all of us from overworked. The food after labor is really fragrant.

Holding my round belly, I walked along the path back to the hotel. There was no car whistle or noise, and the nap was really beautiful.

3. Catching the sea

I slept until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the sea was at low tide, and there were always many delicious small seafood hidden in the seabed above the water. Brother Qiu prepared a small bucket of shovels and rain boots and gloves for us. These are the tools we must bring when we catch the sea.

The battery car rounded the complex alleys and headed straight for another beach. The receding seabed exposed shelves for raising seaweed and oysters, and the small boat ran aground on the sand. Brother Qiu said that he contracted this place. In addition to doing some breeding, he also did various outdoor activities, such as summer camps, group building, parent-child tours, etc. Although they grew up on an island, many children have forgotten how to get along with the sea. However, this kind of outdoor activity allows them to see the courage and hardships of their fathers.

Catching the sea is a very test of luck. Walking hard in the mud wearing rain boots and carefully looking for the small seafood in the cracks in the rocks. This is a kind of labor that emphasizes luck and takes time and effort. I used my old nose to collect some conch. Fortunately, Brother Qiu planted the ground under the beach in advance, so that our harvest was more abundant ~(Don't take off your gloves, the oyster shells are as sharp as knives)

Carrying a small bucket and leaving a childish back on the beach in the sunset, the joy about childhood seems to be slowly revealed.

4. Barbecue

After returning to the hotel, I took a pleasant shower and fell into a short sleep again. When I woke up, it was already half dark outside. Lao Qiu sat in front of his house and set up an iron pot to cook the crabs we harvested. There were already several friends waiting around the pot, and I couldn't wait to rush down.

The pot is full of cooked crabs. Although they are small, they are sweet and fat. They are like chewing melon seeds. Crab shells are piled up next to them in a while. Then the seafood noodles in the house were cooked again, and I held a bowl and stood by the stove. It was like eating them behind my mother's butt when I was a child. It was interesting and fragrant.

As night falls, BBQ's home court is home. Grilled fish, grilled meat, and roasted corn, paired with cold beer, it's really comfortable to eat and fart in the courtyard. The fly in the ointment is that my whole body smells like roast meat, hahahaha ~

5. Night sky, sleep and sunrise

Wash off the smell of barbecue and go to the balcony to dry your hair. I noticed the starlight in the night sky. Because there were not many lights on the island, the stars were bright and numerous. This was a sight that could not be seen on the island.

The deeper the night went, the entire island seemed to fall into sleep, and only the faint sound of waves in the distance remained in the peaceful environment. I wanted to sleep until dawn, but I couldn't resist the temptation of sunrise.

It was still dark, so Brother Qiu drove a battery car to take us to Moon Bay before dawn. Before sunrise, Moon Bay was very quiet and a little cool. The sky was slightly blue, and the night had not completely faded. It was originally the sunrise at 5:30, but we waited left and right but couldn't wait for the salted egg yolk to appear. Fortunately, by 6:00, the orange-red glow finally filled the sky. Gradually, the golden broken light sprinkled all over the sea, dyeing us and everything on the beach orange.

If you want to describe how beautiful the sunrise is, it is surrounded by flames, dazzling, vibrant but not scorching.

"Three days are doomed and seven parts are hard work." This is not only a true portrayal of the residents of Xiaodeng Island, but along the way, I experienced the joy of playing with the sea, the disappointment and joy of harvesting the amount of sea goods, and the delicious food after labor.

People always complain that the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan is people. In fact, the most beautiful thing on Xiaodeng Island is also people and the sea they have lived with all their lives.