Eaches gaze skyward
igh-rises, while okers prefer the
viewing spots. beach you can h platform.” a balcony. He big moment fially went blank. t from what he re was no countmmentary from announcers or tense faces shown in the control room.
Suddenly with several booms — the children were right about that — the Long March 5B made its arc through the sky, leaving a long, white trail behind it.
“Everything just happened so fast, and before I realized it, tears were streaming down my face,” he said.
Even without rocket launches,
Wenchang has sites worth visiting.
Take Wenchang Stone Park for example, an ocean-side area also ideal for launch viewing. It is littered with thousands of giant granite rocks that were spit up from the earth tens of thousands of years ago.
The stones are in all kinds of shapes. Natural holes cover the stones like stars, as if they were hit repeatedly by cannonballs. The best part is that the park, not fully commercialized, doesn’t have the usual crowds and vendors marring the natural setting.
Wennan and Puqian old streets are another highlight of Wenchang. The streets are lined with unique houses called qilou, which were built mostly during the early 20th century by returning overseas Chinese. Though most of them are in Western styles, some have Chinese features.
Such old streets also exist in Sanya and provincial capital Haikou, but in these two cities, houses are painted to look new instead of keeping their original facades.
In Wenchang, by contrast, you can still see the qilou of yesteryear, with their dim-looking, mottled facades.
After an exciting, modern rocket liftoff, it’s a nice change of pace to roam old streets and enjoy a plate of simply seasoned yet always delicious boiled Wenchang chicken.