Administration Office For Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands - Transportation

Transportation

There is a road linking Yongxing Island and Shidao Island of Paracels.

There is a common saying in China that "traveling abroad is easy compared to a trip to the Paracels". Indeed, before the 1970s, the only means of transportation to and from the islands were by hiring fishers' boats, and even then only Woody Island was accessible, while the rest of the Paracels, the Zhongsha Islands and the Spratlys were only accessible to military personnel. The situation was improved in 1977 with the construction of a freighter given approval by then Premier Zhou Enlai. Having a tonnage of 2160 tonnes and a maximum load of 200 personnel, the "Qiongsha 1" (literally "Hainan-South China Sea Islands 1") freighter carried supplies and personnel between Woody Island and Hainan Island. In 1997, "Qiongsha 1" was destroyed in a typhoon while en route to Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province for routine maintenance and upkeep. A smaller "Qiongsha 2" freighter at 1410 tonnes and a load of 100 personnel was commissioned that same year. It operated for 10 years, and was decommissioned in January 2007.

As of 2008, the "lifeboat" of the islands is the "Qiongsha 3" freighter (Tonnage: 2500 tonnes; Load: 200 personnel; Payload: 750 tonnes in cargo; Length: 84 metres; Width: 13.8 metres). This is basically the only means of transportation to and from the islands for non-military personnel (mostly fishers and researchers). Its maiden voyage was on 10 February 2007, and it has been sailing regularly between Wenchang's Qinglan Port on southeastern Hainan Island and Woody Island in the Paracels roughly every 20 days. A normal trip takes 13 to 15 hours, navigating between dangerous reefs and banks, through a distance of 186 nautical miles (344 km).

Although all of the Paracels have been under China's control since the late 1970s, its strategic military position at the frontiers and its status as a disputed island with several claimants' military personnel nearby, have meant a low priority for the development of tourism. Nevertheless, since 2005, the provincial government of Hainan has instituted a small organising panel to investigate and discuss the possibility of opening up tourism to Woody Island and the rest of the Paracels.