The Xisha Archipelago lies in the northwest part of the South China Sea. The most attractive feature of this group is that there are two arrays of islands;in the east lie the seven islands of the Xuande group,including the main island of Yongxing and the Dongdao Island(Bird Island);in the west are the eight islands of the Yongle group, including Jinyin, Ganquan and Jinqing islands. There are also reefs, sandy beaches and shoals. This island group is known to local fishermen as the "seven easts and eight wests." From the air, they look like two strings of white-ringed sapphires, set into the vast blueness of the South China Sea.

There's a saying to the effect that if you haven't seen the South China Sea,you can have no idea of vastness of the ocean, and if you haven't seen the Xisha Archipelago you can't appreciate the mystery of the sea. As the Xisha  Archipelago is far from the mainland and rarely visited. the surrounding seawater is so clear that you can see 40 meters down.

The South China Sea is located in the tropical zone, its southernmost sector close to the Equator, making the annual average sea temperature a warm 26 C. The temperature, salinity and transparency of the water are ideal for the growth of corals. Therefore, almost all the islands in the South China Sea are encircled with coral reefs. It is China's main area of reef-building corals and the coral resources are particularly rich in the Nasha and Xisha archipelagos. Indeed the Xisha group alone boasts 127  types of coral belonging to 38 species.

Reef-building corals are formed by reef-building stony polyps and calcium-rich algae, with chinks and cracks filled with shells and masses of polyps. Stony polyps enjoy the reputation of "ocean architects." They are bottom, dwelling tiny tube worms living in tropical and sub-tropical seas. A single polyp is as small as a needle head,but a great colony of them secretes a great deal of calcium carbonate,over time gradually forming huge corals of different shapes and colors. Zooxanthella live inside the stony polyps and if the environment changes, they abandon the polyps,causing the corals t0"bleach"and die.

The Xisha boasts over 100 species of stony corals, often named after their shapes-

staghorn, brain,rose and mushroom corals.They also vary in color-from red,orange and purple to green and yellow.

Apart from the stony corals, the Xisha islands are noted for their dozens of species of patterned and colored soft corals that cling like sponges to coral rocks. They feel softer than thick carpets under foot. Then, living in the cracks of coral crevices or wherever algae gather, are colorful sea urchins and mollusks of every shape and size, including conches and egg-shaped cowries. often seen drifting in the Xisha waters are blue "coin jellyfish " because it looks like a coin, blue jellyfish with tentacles, no bigger than two centimeters, resembling the shape of the caps worn by Portuguese sailors in the past, so they are known as "Portuguese soldiers."

In the coral garden beneath the sea, the most attractive and startling thing is the hundreds of different types of fish. Angel fish,huge schools of them,swim about, darting here and there,then "dancing" in the most captivating way. Butterfly fish, he most numerous of all,always swim in pairs. "Clown fish" live together with sea anemones, cleverly using the latter as a protective umbrella to evade predators. Of course they also share their food with the sea anemones. Damselfish and grouper, among others, are very territorial and will not hesitate to attack intruders. The rich bio-resources and the vast area of the Xisha Archipelago complement each other so well. it's no wonder people say "Xisha-one half seawater, the other half fish. "In fact, without any interference from man. the natural world would live on and on according to its own laws.

On the coral reefs, every living thing seeks to grow and develop according to the principle of "the survival of the fittest." If there were just the corals, without other life forms. it would directly harm the thriving coral reef. These "seabed gardens"-the coral reefs-are an important link in the chain of ocean ecology. a food larder and breeding ground for marine life. These marine creatures are mutually complementary, together maintaining the balance, viability and development of the ecosystem. Between them they create the vitality and beauty of the Xisha Archipelago.

Of the 32 individual islands of the Xisha, the Bird Island deserves special mention. Countless numbers of birds are drawn to the Xi sha by the rich resources of marine life such as fish and shrimp: for them the Bird Island is paradise. Boobies,tern and gray-spotted birds love to mix with human beings.

The island is only 1.4 square kilometers in area but is rich in vegetation cover; it stands out as the best-protected natural ecological island of all the Xisha group. It is also a sanctuary for the red-footed booby, whose population amounts to more than 100,000, constituting the largest single group of island residents. In the morning glow or the setting sun, if you sit on the pure-white sand beach, watching these birds darting around like snowflakes, listening to the waves beating against the sand, you will experience the sensation of being as vast and broad as the sea itself.

The red-footed booby is an exceptional flyer. Its light, honeycomb bones give it a reduced body weight for flying. It follows a highly regular routine, going out to sea for food in the morning, returning to the nest in the evening. Its fixed flight times and flight directions are a great boon to fishermen who rely on this bird to get their bearings when out at sea. Thus,the bird has a nice name: "the navigator."

The Xisha islands are on the sea route on the South China Sea and were part of the "Ocean Silk Road." As early as the Sui Dynasty(581-618), Chinese envoys sailed to what is now Malaysia by way of the Xisha islands. In the Tang Dynasty(618-907), the monk Yijing also went to India via the Xisha. The exploratory voyages by the Song-dynasty(960-1279) navy to the Xisha islands were recorded in the Song Emperor Renzong's "Imperial Preface" to the official histories. In fact, sovereignty of these islands was maintained by China throughout the Song Dynasty and the Yuan(1206-1368), Ming(1368-1644) and Qing(1644-1911)dynasties that came later. Ceramics and coinage from all these dynasties have been discovered here. The Solitude Soul Temple on Yongxing Island, the Earth God Temple and Queen Mother Temple on Jinqing Island and the Bird Island respectively are strong historical proofs of the fact that Chinese fishermen lived and worked on these islands.