Across the ocean

A story has been given to a pile of rocks on Dongtou's coast. The higher rock on the left has a shape of the Avalokitesvara, who is taming a lion on the right. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 35-meter-tall tower is Dongtou's landmark and its top floor offers the best view in the county: a 360 degree view of ocean and islands.

It was first built in 434, by Yan Yanzhi, a writer and a local administrator. Yan was impressed by Dongtou's ocean view when he first visited the island and later built a tower so every time he visited the island he could enjoy the view. Four hundred years later, another writer, Zhang Youxin, who was also a politician, visited the tower's remains and wrote a poem: "What a stunning view of the green peaks surrounding by waters. The tower built by an ancient sage can't be found. What a shame! Endless waves are the only things left."

Zhang's poem was included in the A Complete Collection of Tang Poetry, the largest collection of poetic masterpieces written by poets in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and it spread Dongtou's name across China.

In 2003, the Dongtou administration decided to rebuild the tower to encourage tourism and when the tower opened to the public in 2007, it quickly became the most famous sightseeing spot in the county.

Compared with other island tourist destinations, including Hainan and Fujian's Xiamen, Dongtou is less known but increasingly attracting more visitors.