Weizhou Island

Island in Guangxi, China

Weizhou Island

Native name:

涠洲岛

Weizhou Island

Location in the South China Sea

Show map of South China Sea

Weizhou Island

Weizhou Island (China)

Show map of China

Geography
Coordinates| 21°03′N 109°07′E﻿ / ﻿21.050°N 109.117°E﻿ / 21.050; 109.117
Area| 24.74 km2 (9.55 sq mi)
Length| 6.5 km (4.04 mi)
Width| 6 km (3.7 mi)
Coastline| 15.6 km (9.69 mi)
Administration

China

Autonomous region| Guangxi
Prefecture-level city| Beihai
The Pig Rock and Xieyang Island from Weizhou Island Church (涠洲天主教堂) in Shengtang Village

Weizhou Island (simplified Chinese: 涠洲岛; traditional Chinese: 潿洲島; pinyin: Wéizhōu Dǎo) is a Chinese island in Beibu Gulf in the Gulf of Tonkin. The largest island of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Weizhou is west of Leizhou Peninsula, south of Beihai, and east of Vietnam. Administratively, it is part of Weizhou Town, Haicheng District of Beihai City. The name derives from Chinese 潿 wéi ("still water") and 洲 zhōu ("river islet").

## Geography

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Its north–south length is 6.5 km (4.0 mi), east–west 6 km (3.7 mi). The coast is 15.6 km (9.7 mi), with 6–10 km (3.7–6.2 mi) of sandy beach. Weizhou rises in the south, where Nanwan Port (南灣港; pinyin: nánwān gǎng) is located. Coral reefs have been established around the island.

## Climate

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Climate data for Weizhou Island, elevation 55 m (180 ft), (1991–2020 normals)

Month  | Jan  | Feb  | Mar  | Apr  | May  | Jun  | Jul  | Aug  | Sep  | Oct  | Nov  | Dec  | Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)  | 18.8
(65.8)  | 20.2
(68.4)  | 22.9
(73.2)  | 26.8
(80.2)  | 30.0
(86.0)  | 31.4
(88.5)  | 31.6
(88.9)  | 31.2
(88.2)  | 30.5
(86.9)  | 28.4
(83.1)  | 25.1
(77.2)  | 20.8
(69.4)  | 26.5
(79.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)  | 15.7
(60.3)  | 16.8
(62.2)  | 19.5
(67.1)  | 23.5
(74.3)  | 26.9
(80.4)  | 28.9
(84.0)  | 29.1
(84.4)  | 28.7
(83.7)  | 27.8
(82.0)  | 25.5
(77.9)  | 22.0
(71.6)  | 17.6
(63.7)  | 23.5
(74.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)  | 13.6
(56.5)  | 14.8
(58.6)  | 17.4
(63.3)  | 21.4
(70.5)  | 24.8
(76.6)  | 26.9
(80.4)  | 27.1
(80.8)  | 26.6
(79.9)  | 25.6
(78.1)  | 23.4
(74.1)  | 19.8
(67.6)  | 15.5
(59.9)  | 21.4
(70.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)  | 27.7
(1.09)  | 25.8
(1.02)  | 48.2
(1.90)  | 50.0
(1.97)  | 97.3
(3.83)  | 201.7
(7.94)  | 259.4
(10.21)  | 341.0
(13.43)  | 216.4
(8.52)  | 103.4
(4.07)  | 42.1
(1.66)  | 31.5
(1.24)  | 1,444.5
(56.88)
Average precipitation days  | 7.3  | 7.8  | 9.6  | 8.7  | 8.1  | 10.5  | 12.5  | 14.5  | 11.6  | 6.7  | 5.7  | 5.5  | 108.5
Average relative humidity (%)  | 82  | 85  | 88  | 87  | 85  | 83  | 81  | 83  | 81  | 76  | 76  | 75  | 82
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 118.8  | 104.7  | 118.5  | 161.0  | 237.9  | 232.5  | 248.5  | 226.3  | 218.4  | 226.7  | 187.4  | 148.0  | 2,228.7
Percentage possible sunshine | 35  | 32  | 32  | 42  | 58  | 58  | 61  | 57  | 60  | 63  | 56  | 44  | 50
Source: China Meteorological Administration[1][2]

## Geology

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Weizhou Island is China's youngest volcanic island.[3] Its origin is probably from a mantle plume that rose 50–32 million years ago, as a result from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. When the plume reached the asthenosphere, it helped to create the South China Sea by the plume's lateral flow. An evidence that the plume still exists is that a lot of basalt has since the Pliocene erupted in the South China Sea and its adjacent areas, for example the Yandunling (烟墩岭) and Yantouling (烟头岭) volcanoes, Leiqiong (雷琼) volcano group, Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island.

The mantle below the Weizhou island has an average temperature of 1,661 °C, which is between the corresponding values of the Hawaii hotspot and the Iceland hotspot. [4]

There have been four periods of volcanic activity on the site, the first one occurred in the early Pleistocene, when mainly ash began to erupt from the bottom of the sea. The second time, between 9–225 million years ago, started with basaltic magma eruptions, and ended with pyroclastic eruptions. This was the time with the heaviest eruptions on Weizhou and Xieyang. The third time began with large amounts of volcanic bombs and ended with basaltic magma, this was from 200,000 to 15,000 years ago. The fourth time, from 10,000 to 7,100 years ago, a few intermittent eruptions happened, first mainly with volcanic bombs, and in the end volcanic ash.[5]

## History

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From 1869 to 1879, the French built a Gothic-style 15 metre Catholic church (涠洲天主教堂) in Shengtang Village (盛塘村; pinyin: shèngtáng cūn), Weizhou. Weizhou Chengzai Church (城仔教堂) was built in 1880, also by French Catholics.

## Wildlife

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Along with smaller Xieyang Island, Weizhou island is a nature reserve named Beihai Weizhoudao Volcano National Geopark to preserve its volcanic features, and protect rich local ecosystem engulfing 147 species of migratory and non-migratory birds, including threatened species such as black-faced spoonbills. An autonomous region-level bird nature reserve was established in 1982, and a bird ringing station for migratory birds was established in 1985. The protected area is located between 20°54′-21°05′N and 109°05′-109°13′E, including Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island, with a total area of 26.3 km2 (10.2 sq mi).[6][7] Weizhou, along with nearby Xieyang, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of Chinese egrets and fairy pittas.[8]

Calm and shallow waters around the two islands have shown recoveries in recent years, resulting in sustaining varieties of marine life from coral reefs[9] to megafaunas that are becoming increasingly common in the area. These include such as sea turtles,[10] whale sharks, and several species of cetaceans including endangered Indo-Pacific finless porpoises,[11] nationally protected Chinese white dolphins,[12] and even a blue whale appeared in the waters in 2017.[13] Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve established in 1992 covers nearby areas and which is the only sanctuary for dugongs in China.[citation needed]

Since 2015, seasonal presences of Bryde's whales around Weizhou and Xieyang Islands have been recognized, making the discovery the first confirmed case of large cetaceans regularly inhabiting mainland coasts of China.[14] To protect whales, the local government set a new regulation to prohibit fishery within 6 km of the island. Additionally, the fishery administration has begun patrolling to monitor the public not to engage in whale watching activities until the condition of whales have been thoroughly and scientifically assessed.[15]

## References

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1. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
2. ^ 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
3. ^ "Weizhou Island, youngest volcanic island in SW China - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
4. ^ "Hainan Mantle Plume and the Formation and Evolution of the South China Sea" 鄢全树 (Quan-Shu Yan);石学法 (Xue-Fa Shi) pg. 311-322
5. ^ "Information from the volcano museum, on Weizhou Dao"
6. ^ 林林辑 (2001). "涠洲岛鸟类保护区". 广西林业(Guangxi Forestry). Retrieved 2009-03-07.
7. ^ "濒危候鸟黑脸琵鹭飞临北海涠洲岛". Guangxi Environmental Protection Bureau. 2002. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
8. ^ "Weizhou Dao and Xieyang Dao". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
9. ^ Zhou Q.L.. Yang S.Y.. Chen B.H.. 2005. Studies on Marine Biodiversity in China (pdf). 科技导报 - Science & Technology Review. 第23卷第2期. 本栏目由中国解剖学会,中国海洋学会协办. Retrieved on Marhch 07, 2017
10. ^ 来源. 2011. 国家地质公园之——广西北海涠洲岛火山地貌. 广西地质矿产勘查开发局网站.
11. ^ 印太江豚现身涠洲岛海域，集体捕食等行为被首次记录
12. ^ 涠洲岛攻略, 2019, 涠洲岛海域有海豚吗
13. ^ Observation.org, Archive - Yasutaka Imai
14. ^ Bingyao Chen, Lin Zhu, Thomas A. Jefferson, Kaiya Zhou, Guang Yang, 2019, Coastal Bryde's Whales' (Balaenoptera edeni) Foraging Area Near Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, Aquatic Mammals, Vol.45, Issue 3
15. ^ Institute of Hydrobiology, 2021, Dancing with the Whales, Chinese Academy of Sciences

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weizhou Island.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Weizhou.

* Local website (in Simplified Chinese)