The Tidal Forest at Dongzhai Port

Dongzhai Port’s mangrove reserve is located in Yanfeng Town in Haikou’s Jiangdong area. The local account describes visitors moving by sightseeing boat between stands of mangrove, a route that makes the wetland’s narrow channels and close vegetation part of the experience. The shore here is not a static line between land and sea. Tides shape the habitat, and the roots and channels support life adapted to that changing boundary. Boat routes pass through narrow channels where changing water levels, mangrove roots and intertidal life meet.

The 2022 account names jumping fish, tree-climbing snails and crabs with claws of different sizes. These are vivid observations, but their value is more than novelty. Each suggests that mangroves are inhabited across several zones: water, trunk, mud and exposed roots. A visitor looking only at the canopy would miss much of the wetland’s life. Jumping fish, tree-climbing snails and crabs occupy different parts of the tidal forest, from water and mud to trunks and exposed roots.

A 2025 Haikou report describes restoration that began in 2013, including clearing abandoned aquaculture ponds and planting mangroves. The sequence matters: the wetland’s present condition is connected to human use and later repair. Restoration is not an abstract promise here; the report describes machinery flattening pond banks before planting could proceed. Clearing pond banks before planting changed how water could reach the recovering mangrove stands; the 2025 report records the work as part of a restoration effort begun in 2013.

The 2025 report also recorded a trial opening of a marine-science boardwalk and observation tower. From the marked route, visitors could look across the wetland from above; a boat journey through the channels offers a closer view among the mangroves.