Corals are flowers in the sea, beautiful colors and strange shapes are distributed on the seabed, adding color to the monotonous dark sea world, corals are also known as "underwater gardens". Corals have higher requirements for the quality of water for survival, and at the same time, the requirements for land are also high, and it is difficult to have corals in areas where water and soil are suitable.
The temperature and humidity of the Sea in Zhanjiang are very suitable for the growth of corals, and there are a large number of houses built from corals as raw materials
Image source: Baidu
Image source: Baidu
Image source: Baidu
Xuwen Coral Reef Nature Reserve is located in the coastal area of Jiaowei Township and Xilian Town in the west of Xuwen County, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, with an area of about 109 square kilometers.
The corals in Zhanjiang Xuwen are currently the most extensive and well-preserved coral reef natural resources among all the corals in China
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Coral house is Xu Wen's characteristic building, in the most prosperous time as many as a thousand, but then because of a variety of factors of the times disappeared for a period of time, although no new coral house was built, but the old coral house has been well protected, the earliest one probably appeared in the Western Han Dynasty, thousands of years ago. In addition to the houses, the tables, chairs, benches, etc. in these houses are carved from coral, which has a very special historical significance.
corallite
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Before the 1980s, villagers stacked coral stones to build a house wall and a courtyard wall, which is unique. Coral has the characteristics of lime, wind and rain over time natural glue bonding, coupled with its own lightness, not much pressure, the wall of the building is quite strong. The coral stones used for housing here mainly include antler-shaped, horn-like, dendritic-like dendritic corals and head-shaped, honeycomb-shaped, and block-like corals. Coral limestone can be used as a good raw material for firing lime and cement.
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
Image source: Qingying Workshop Studio
At present, the state has also established the Xuwen Coral Reef National Nature Reserve in Xuwen, and has also built a coral specimen exhibition hall and a living museum to publicize the knowledge of coral protection to tourists.
In August 1999, the county-level coral reef nature reserve was established with the approval of the Xuwen County People's Government;
In July 2002, it was approved by Zhanjiang Municipal People's Government and upgraded to a municipal coral reef nature reserve;
In June 2003, the People's Government of Guangdong Province approved the upgrading to a provincial coral reef nature reserve;
In April 2007, it was upgraded to a national nature reserve with the approval of the State Council.