The port at Fangchenggang city located deep in south China was built decades before the city itself came up on the drawing board. The port, old and graying now, was built in the late ‘60s with one focused purpose: to ship arms, ammunition, food and supplies to a war-torn country in the neighbourhood – Vietnam.
Chinese officials accompanying a group of journalists, including one from Vietnam, said the sole purpose of the port was to ensure that supplies to the Vietnamese fighting the invading Americans did not dry up.
The city – which actually is more of an upcoming town – came up in the ‘90s and is considered to be a gateway to countries in Southeast Asia.
With a population of a little more than half-a-million, Fangchenggang looks empty and desolate compared to other towns and cities in China. Like in many other upcoming towns, it has rows and rows of empty multi-storeyed apartments, huge plots of land where something new is being built and big, wide roads. Traffic is sparing.
As night falls, the town springs to life. Near the hotel – quaintly named International Seamen’s Club – I was put up by People’s Daily newspaper roadside vendors begin smoking seafood and locals and seamen gather around plastic tables to chat and wolf down shrimps, clams, oysters and beef over bottles of beer. Karaoke bars pull their shutters up. Smuggled phones and electronic gadgets are laid out in stores. Eager sellers promise more fulfillments.
A pair of pedestrian streets nearby led to the sea front. Young Chinese men and women strolled around. Clothes shops with glittering neon lined the streets; not too many people seemed to be buying anything.
Fangchenggang is a work in progress. It is city being built with an eye on the future. “During the 12th five year plan period, Fangchenggang city will build a modern iron and steel base, non-ferrous metal base, energy and chemical industry base, grain and oil food base, logistics base and coastal tourism resort,” said the matter-of-fact description in the information booklet handed out to journalists.
Near the town, we visited a sanctuary for egrets, a bird from the heron family. Huang Shu, 99, a sprightly man wearing straw hat, and his family look after the sanctuary and the thousands of egrets that have made it their home. In fact, four generation of Huang’s family is now involved in the conservation of the birds. By his estimate, more than 30000 egrets are found in the sanctuary. It’s quite a sight when dozens of these white birds sit on the top a green tree.
Earlier in the week, I had arrived in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR) after delayed three-hour flight from Beijing.
The Nanning airport had mouldy smell and it is the only airport I saw a fresh fruit being sold at a shop front inside.
The city itself is impressive. Very green – 40% of it covered in green – with gleaming skyscrapers.
It is also an important city for China’s connection ASEAN countries. “Since 2004, China-ASEAN Expo has been held in Nanning once a year, which makes Nanning one of the forefront cities for China’s opening up to the outside world,” said the government booklet.