Orchid Island, Gulangyu Island, Jiangxin Island, Dongmen Island and called "China's Four Famous Islands", of which Orchid Island is in the western Pacific Ocean in the east of Taiwan Province, China, with an area of about 45 square kilometers. This is an island formed by the eruption and uplift of an undersea volcano, named "Lanyu" because of the abundant phalaenopsis orchid on the island, which belongs to the jurisdiction of Lanyu Township in Taitung County.
China's Orchid Island scenery
Lanyu Township is mainly composed of lanyu island and xiaolan island in the south, xiaolan island area of only 1.5 square kilometers, is an uninhabited island.
Orchid Island is located in the southeast of Taiwan Island
Because Orchid Island is located in the western Pacific Ocean, it is often affected by typhoons in summer and autumn, and the coast is also eroded by waves all year round, forming a unique sea erosion terrain, the coastline is very tortuous, and there are uplifted coral reefs surrounding Orchid Island. The island is also full of natural caves and strange cliffs, the more famous ones are warship rock island, tank rock, jade girl rock, double lion rock, dragon head rock, lover's cave and so on.
Lanyu Sea view
Lanyu Island is strategically located 49 nautical miles from Taitung in the northwest, 45 nautical miles from Green Island in the north, and 41 nautical miles from Eluanbi in the southwest. Because this is an island, so the external traffic is mainly by air, Lanyu to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taitung and other places have flights, of which Taitung to Lanyu flights are the most, about 25 minutes can be reached.
Orchid Island Airport
In addition, Kaiyuan Port, located on the seashore in the northwest of Lanyu Island, also has passenger ships to and from Lanyu Island, Green Island and Taitung Port, and the voyage takes four or five hours. Kaiyuan Port is the main port of Lanyu Island for external transportation, and it is also an important fishing port.
Map of Orchid Island
The total population of Orchid Island is about 3,000 to 4,000 people, and the island's residents are mainly Dawu people, whose ancestors are inextricably linked to the Philippines. Due to the lack of arable land on Orchid Island, the island democracy should grow some sweet potatoes, taro, vine beans, melons, ginger, citrus, pineapple, longan, mango, coconut, betel nut and other crops. But the arable land is so small that the locals cannot sustain their daily lives by farming.
Orchid Island scenery
Therefore, the lanyu islanders who rely on the sea to eat the sea mainly fish, and in lanyu, fish is the main source of protein for people. The Dawu people used to divide the fish into old man fish, man fish and woman fish by color.
Lanyu Dawu people
The old man eats the worst black fish, the man eats the gray-green fish, and the best is the red and black pattern or white fish, such fish to be left for women to eat.
The reason is that the Dawu people believe that women have to go to the fields to farm and raise their children, and their work is the most arduous, so they need to eat the best fish. The elderly are old and frail, unable to engage in labor production, and can only eat the worst fish, and the Dawu people believe that this distribution of food is very fair.
Orchid Flying Fish
However, there is one kind of fish in Orchid Island that can be eaten by men, women and children, that is, flying fish. From April to June every year, Lanyu is the peak season for flying fish, and it is also the busiest time for the Dawu people. At the dawn of their collective fishing, they hold the annual "Flying Fish Festival", which is the most solemn and solemn sacrifice of the Dawu people, and only after the sacrifice is completed can they go out to sea to fish.
Fish dried on Orchid Island
Lanyu fishermen catch flying fish at night, and people light torches in fishing boats and then put their fishing nets into the sea. Flying fish will fly up from the sea when they see the light and jump into the net. When it is almost over, the fishermen will work together to collect the nets and return with a full load.
Fishing boats on the shores of Orchid Island
People waiting on the shore saw the fishing boats return, everyone flocked to help, and the powerful prime-age pushed the fishing boats onto the beach, and women and children helped to cut, scale, and dry the fish, which were dried into dried fish for a year.
Fish dried by lanyu fishermen
Orchid Island scenery
The people of Lanyu Island live a carefree, leisurely, simple and indisputable life, living on such a small island, really like a paradise.
Dusk on Orchid Island
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