Kuotang Mountain Island

Kuotang Mountain Island

Kuotang Mountain Island

Kuotang Mountain Island is a continental island located south of Yanchi Township in Sanmen County, at the Port of Pubay. To the east, it connects to Maotouyang, while to the south it faces Nanshenkeng in Linhai City across the Baimen Waterway. To the north lies the Niutoumen Waterway, adjacent to the former Sanmen Salt Field — now the Sanmen Coastal Industrial City, an important manufacturing hub in Taizhou. It is also close to the under-construction Taizhou Coastal Expressway, which is 30 kilometers away. The island is composed of reddish-brown tuff breccia, and is known for its uniquely shaped reefs and distinctive rock formations. Its rare marine erosion landforms have earned it the title "China's Reef Museum."

On the northeast side of the island lies a reef and cave cluster stretching nearly ten li. Over centuries of wave erosion, these reefs have formed hundreds of pictographic landforms. The most representative ones include “Gate of Life,” “Dragon Emerging from the Sea,” “Cape of Good Hope,” and “Black Skin Reef.”

“Dragon Emerging from the Sea” is a green rock sandwiched within tuff breccia. This green rock is about 15 meters long, averaging 1 meter in width, with the upper part being 1 meter wide and the lower part 2 meters wide. Resembling a green dragon entering the sea, it is thus named “Dragon Emerging from the Sea.”

“Gate of Life” is located 200 meters south of “Dragon Emerging from the Sea.” It is a natural cave formed by wave erosion, measuring 4 meters wide, 8 meters high, and 3 meters deep, opening toward the northeast. Shaped like a gateway to life, it earned its name. “Cape of Good Hope” is situated on the southeast side of the island. It is a sea cape extending from the Kuotang Mountain Range into the East China Sea. Here, the island’s reefs have been eroded into a honeycomb pattern, and among them lies a sea turtle-shaped rock about 3 square meters in size, facing the southeast as if it has just crawled ashore.

“Black Skin Reef” is located on the southwest side, covering an area of several thousand square meters and standing at a height similar to that of the seawall. From a distance, it looks like a pile of coal, and locals also call it “Floating Reef.” During the onslaught of Typhoon No. 11 in 1997, seawater flooded over the seawall, yet Black Skin Reef remained “floating” above the surface.

There are five peaks on Kuotang Island with elevations exceeding 100 meters. The main peak, Zhanghuawan Mountain, rises 206 meters high. Among them, the Sky Spear Earth Shield Rock and the Eighteen Arhats Rock are the most iconic. The Sky Spear and Earth Shield Rock are located on the mountainside south of the island. A massive rock, over 200 meters high and 50 meters wide, resembles a shield “hanging” on the cliff, beside which stands a sharp, spear-like rock. The entire mountain resembles a mighty warrior. Between the Sky Spear and Earth Shield Rock grows a thousand-year-old ancient vine, clinging to the cliffside, twisting like a dragon and lush with foliage. The Eighteen Arhats Rock is located on the mountainside southeast of Kuotang Island. It consists of eighteen columnar rock formations standing in parallel, about 20 meters high, resembling eighteen arhats in meditation — hence the name.