Shepan Island is located in Sanmen Bay on the east side of Sanmen County. It has nothing to do with snakes. Instead, there are many grotto caves left by ancient quarrying that are as winding as snakes. There are three main scenic spots on the island: Pirate Village, Savage Cave and Mud Skiing Paradise. There are good resort hotels, which is a good choice for tourists in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to spend their weekends.
Since there is no fixed transportation between the scenic spots, the island is more suitable for self-driving or group tours. Starting from Sanmen, people usually take a ferry to the island from Shang’ao Wharf. The ferry runs about every half an hour and arrives at the other side in a few minutes. The area of Shepan Island is about the same as that of Macau. Tourists who drive by themselves may as well ferry their cars to the island for more convenient travel. If starting from Ninghai County in the north, you can also drive to the island along Shening Line. The wharf and several main scenic spots are concentrated on the south side of the small island. Savage Cave is only a few minutes’ walk from the wharf. The “savages” refer to quarry workers and islanders who once lived in caves. This cave is an ancient quarry. Walk through the cave entrance like the Water Curtain Cave along the waterside walkway and officially start the tour. Inside the cave, the walls are jagged shapes left by quarrying. Looking up, you can see the square cave entrance for transporting stones. The stairs for quarry workers wind up to the top along the stone wall. You can imagine the scene of transporting large stones out by manpower in those days. Walk along the walkway to a high place outside the cave and you can overlook the pool and waterside walkway below. The later caves are a collection of stone window art in southeastern Zhejiang. The auspicious patterns such as hollowed-out flowers, birds and coins on the stone windows, combined with the concave and convex cave walls and the green pool water, have a different kind of beauty. The landmark landscape here is a huge foot sculpture. On the back stone wall is engraved “Wild people live on the top of the divine snake, and the stone bones prop up the sky and shoot the sun”. It is said that this poem is the origin of the name of Savage Cave. After leaving Savage Cave, continue east to Pirate Village. Pirate Village is about 2 kilometers away from Savage Cave. It is an island cave with pirate culture as the theme and also a quarrying site. The cave bodies here are intricate and connected by small caves. They are crisscrossed like a maze. This place is roughly divided into parts such as “Overlords of the East China Sea”, “Alliance of Mountains and Seas”, and “Maritime Strategy”, etc. , which are developed based on the deeds of five representative figures in Chinese pirate history: Sun En, Lu Xun, Fang Guozhen, Wang Zhi and Zheng Zhilong. In addition to quarrying traces, there are many artificially added sculptures in the cave, such as lions and crocodiles. There are also pirate flags inserted on the top of the mountain, giving people a feeling of entering the pirate lair. However, in addition to these later decorations, the better scenery of Pirate Village can only be seen by walking to a higher place. Walk along the walkway to the top of the mountain and overlook the large and small square cisterns below, which is one of the landmark landscapes on the island.The evening sun casts a beautiful glow over the distant mudflats. Nestled between the two attractions lies Shepan Island Resort Hotel and the Mud Playground. The hotel’s standard rooms start at approximately 300 yuan and offer a garden-style environment with a pleasant atmosphere.
The Mud Playground on the island opens around mid-April each year. During summer, it’s a rare delight to bring children to play in the vast mudflats, digging for small razor clams and small scallops, creating joyful memories.
Opening hours: January 1st to April 29th, Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00; Saturday and Sunday from 08:00 to 17:00; April 30th to May 4th from 07:30 to 17:00; May 5th to December 31st, Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00; Saturday and Sunday from 08:00 to 17:00. Please refer to the on-site public service facilities for the opening times of individual attractions within the scenic area.
Parking facilities are available at the Shang’ao Wharf Parking Lot, with a reference price of ¥10 per entry, located near the Shepan Island Ferry in Sanmen County, Taizhou City, with a capacity of 100 spaces.
