海山 Hǎishān is an island off the coast of 饶平县 Ráopíng xiàn, the easternmost county of 潮州 Cháozhōu, and it is a working fisherman’s place rather than a resort. Here the fishing boats come in with the tide to a small harbour, the 紫菜 zǐ cài is dried on the shore, and the seaweed beds that give the island its modest fame are a short walk along the coast. A homestay here is a family house near the water, and spending a night or two on 海山 is a way to see a quiet, unglamorous side of the 潮州 coast that the tourist towns to the west do not have.
The homestays are simple family houses given over to a few rooms. A typical one has a room with a bed, a bathroom and a window that may look over the water or the lane, and the owners are usually the fishermen themselves or their families, who can tell you what came in that day and where the good seaweed is. The best rooms face the sea, so you can lie in bed and hear the boats and the water. It is not luxurious; it is a home on a fishing island, and the appeal is the people and the place rather than the fittings.
The island rewards a slow day. In the morning you can walk to the shore where the laver is spread to dry and see the fishing boats unload; at midday you eat the day’s catch at a small shore-side restaurant; in the evening you can sit by the harbour and watch the boats go out, with the sea all around. There is a small and unpolished beach, and the coastline on the island’s quieter side is worth a walk. It is not a place for nightlife or shopping, and that is precisely the charm. Come for a night or two, eat the island’s seaweed and its fish, and leave feeling you have seen a working coastal place rather than a stage set.
What the Rooms Are Like
Expect a room of ten to eighteen square metres, a firm bed, a fan and usually air conditioning, and a small en-suite bathroom with a shower. The finish is simple and homely, and the space is the waterfront and the harbour rather than the room. Some rooms share a bathroom; most have their own. Wi-Fi is usually present but can be patchy. The sea-facing rooms are the ones to ask for, and there may be no lift in these small houses.
Practicalities
Price. A double at a 海山 homestay runs ¥120 to ¥280 a night in the shoulder season, and more over the October week and Chinese New Year. The sea-facing rooms cost more, and breakfast is often the family’s own.
Address. The homestays are in the villages on 海山 island, 饶平县, on the eastern coast of 潮州. The island is reached by road and causeway from the mainland, about an hour from 饶平 town and an hour and a half from 潮州 city.
Rooms. Ask for a sea-facing room, and confirm whether the bathroom is private and whether air conditioning works. Ask the owner where the seaweed is dried and whether the boats go out in the morning, because these are the two things worth getting up for. Check how you will eat, as the island has a handful of restaurants but they are not all open.
Getting there. From 潮州 city, 海山 is about an hour and a half by road; from 饶平 town about an hour. The high-speed 饶平站 Ráopíng zhàn is the nearest station, from which you take a taxi or a bus across the causeway to the island.
Where to stay: the homestays in the villages of 海山 island in 饶平县, reached by road and causeway from 饶平 town. Book a sea-facing room, expect a simple, honest stay, and come for the seaweed, the boats and the quiet rather than for comfort.
flowcloud would say that a night on a working fishing island, where the boats and the seaweed beds are the day’s real business, is a reminder that the coast is lived on before it is visited, and that the absence of anything to do is what makes it worth doing.