bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Xinhua

Bed-and-breakfasts are common on China’s tropical resort island of Hainan. But one B&B floating on the sea is anything but ordinary.
Just offshore from Xincun town in Lingshui Li Autonomous County, visitors board ferry boats with captain Li Yingyi, who shuttles them to a floating village where wooden houses rest on the waves.
Li, who began steering boats at the age of nine, now makes as many as 200 trips a day in peak season, carrying tourists eager to experience life on the water.
He is one of the Tanka people, or boat dwellers, whose ancestors lived for centuries on sampans and made their living fishing in coastal waters.

Many of the offshore homes, where the Tanka community lived for generations, now sit on floating rafts once used for aquaculture.
To build such a raft, thick, water-resistant planks are lashed together into a grid and fixed to foam buoys, secured with iron wire or thick nylon rope to form a stable base on the water.
More than two decades ago, local fishermen began turning those rafts into restaurants and, more recently, into homestays.

“We’ve taken idle rafts, reinforced them, and turned them into homestays that showcase the way of life of the Tanka people,” said Feng Bing, manager of one floating B&B that opened four years ago.
“All 24 rooms are fully booked throughout the summer. You’d have to wait until late August to find a vacant room,” Feng said, adding that reservations during peak season must be made two weeks in advance.
Guests can forage for crabs and starfish at low tide, ride in glass-bottom boats to watch tropical fish, or try their hand at squid fishing. Since opening, Feng said, the homestay has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors.

The venture has also created jobs. About 20 employees, most of them young Tanka people, each earn between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan (between about US$419 and US$699) a month, with salaries rising to 6,000 yuan in peak season, according to Feng.
Inside the homestay, a small, modest exhibition hall displays artefacts of the Tanka people’s life, such as woodworking tools, shell spoons, ship logbooks, handmade wedding fans and embroidered curtains. All these items were collected by the local fish raft association.
“These are all old stuff from the Tanka people, they are not valuable items, but we put them here to tell more about our history,” said Feng.
For visitors seeking a deeper dive into its history, the Hainan Tanka Museum, just 3km away from the homestay, provides a brand new option.
Opened as the first of its kind in China in September 2023, the 20,000-square-metre (215,278 sq ft) museum houses about 360 exhibits, from maritime relics to traditional crafts. VR technology, LED screens and digital sand tables offer an immersive look into the Tanka heritage.

For Cai Yongchan, 24, a museum guide and Tanka descendant, the work holds special personal significance, as she returned home to work at the museum after graduating from university.
“As a child, I only knew my grandparents lived by fishing. I didn’t understand the details of their life at sea,” Cai said. “Now, the more I learn about the Tanka history, the deeper my cultural identity grows.”
She said her goal is to connect young people with their roots. “As the Tanka people settled on land and integrated into onshore life, younger generations came to know less about their heritage,” Cai said. “We want to bridge that gap and ensure our culture is more widely understood.”
She remembered the words of 80-year-old Huang Jimin, a long-time advocate for the Tanka culture: “I never hoped the Tanka culture could be fully inherited. I only hoped people would remember the Tanka people were once here.”
“That is his wish,” Cai said, “and it has also become mine.”


New arts venues in Shenzhen and Guangzhou give Hongkongers more options for short visits

Vietnam’s Hoiana Resort & Golf: the perfect seaside escape with Instagram-worthy views

IndiGo flight chaos exposes risks of India’s aviation duopoly

This Japanese farm homestay lets you get involved in producing organic food

Asia travel

A floating village and a museum in Hainan are keeping the Tanka heritage alive

An aerial view of floating fishing village houseboats and fish farms in Lingshui. Photo: Shutterstock

Rafts in a fishing village in Lingshui, Hainan, China. Photo: Shutterstock

A fisherman transfers supplies on a fishing vessel in Haikou, in south China’s Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua

Fishermen in Haikou, in south China’s Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua

Visitors can learn more about Hainan’s fishing culture and history at the Hainan Tanka Museum. Photo: Xinhua

Why localisation is key to the continued global success of Korea’s pop culture

South Korean acts such as Blackpink – seen here performing at Coachella in 2023 – have driven the Korean wave, but it risks fizzling out, according to experts. Photo: Getty Images for Coachella

South Korean actors Park Bo-gum (left) and IU (right) as Yang Gwan-sik and Oh Ae-sun in When Life Gives You Tangerines. Photo: Netflix

Squid Game was a huge global hit – but Netflix’s ownership of the show’s IP limited revenue for Korean producers. Photo: Netflix

A staff member checks books by South Korean author Han Kang, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, displayed during an outdoor library event in central Seoul, in October 2024. Photo: AFP

South Korean writer Han Kang, the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, signs autographs during the 18th Pony Chung Innovation Award ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2024. Photo: AP

5 inspiring museums to visit in Guangdong for history, jewellery and more

The Guangdong Chinese Medicine Museum in Guangzhou, China. Photo: Getty Images

Guangdong Chinese Medicine Museum in China. Photo: Getty Images

Xuelei Fragrance Museum in Guangzhou, China. Photo: Handout

The Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum in Guangzhou, China, looks at the legacy of the area’s hongs, or merchant houses. Photo: Handout

Nanshan Museum in Shenzhen, China. Photo: Handout

The Zhen Museum in Shantou houses over a thousand pieces, including rare items from the Miao and Yao communities. Photo: Handout

How two contrasting cities tell the German story

The city wall at well-preserved medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in southern Germany, has an interior gallery that allows an aerial promenade around the compact city. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the south of Germany, is a well-preserved warren of medieval housing surrounded by a city wall with varied gate towers, where every turn on a random walk brings new pleasures. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

Chemnitz’s early 20th century industrialisation did not come without elegance, and this century-old former factory is now that Saxony city’s Industrial Museum. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

In Chemnitz, a giant bronze head of Karl Marx survived the end of East Germany and the country’s 1990 reunification. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

The house of composer Robert Schumann, in Zwickau, outside Chemnitz. The ancient town is part of the European Capital of Culture 2025 designation. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

The August Horch Museum, just outside Chemnitz, displays the sleek machines of the long-forgotten car manufacturers that fused to form Audi. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

Chemnitz’s Kaßberg Prison has now been partly converted into flats, but one wing houses extraordinary exhibitions about political prisoners held there before exchanges with the West. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

Rothenburg ob der Tauber’s Plönlein, a triangular open space with an ancient stone trough for watering cattle, outside a narrow, teetering, wedge-shaped house. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

The view from the top of the Town Hall tower in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley;

St Jacob’s Church in Rothenburg ob der Tauber is home to a 10-metre-high altarpiece featuring a depiction of the Last Supper, by 16th century woodcarver Tilman Riemenschneider. Photo: Peter Neville-Hadley

How do you Kakadu? Crocodile cruises and safari glamping in Australia’s Northern Territory

Glamping at Cooinda Lodge, in Australia’s Northern Territory, includes an outdoor bathtub in which to wallow and enjoy the sunset. Photo: Handout

The Yellow Water Billabong, Kakadu’s most famous wetland, is home to some 10,000 crocodiles. Photo: Handout

Encompassing nearly 20,000 square kilometres, Kakadu National Park enjoys Unesco World Heritage status for its blend of rich Aboriginal heritage and diverse, pristine wilderness. Photo: Tourism NT/Hello Emily

Who’s watching who? Wallabies in Kakadu National Park study the visitors. Photo: Karen Tee

Nawurlandja Lookout offers incredible views across Anbangbang Billabong to Burrungkuy and the Arnhem Land escarpment. Photo: Handout

Villas at Cooinda Lodge nestle beneath a canopy of trees beside the Yellow Water Billabong. Photo: Handout

Fresh farm-to-table food at Finniss River Lodge. Photo: Karen Tee

Finniss River Lodge, a working cattle station turned five-star retreat, sits on the edge of Litchfield National Park. Photo: Handout

Shirt (HK$6,640) by Courrèges at Mytheresa. Photo: Handout

Chanel earrings (HK$7,000). Photo: Handout

Zimmermann shorts (HK$4,616). Photo: Handout

Sandals (HK$1,290) by Ugg at Harvey Nichols. Photo: Handout

8 holiday destinations that embrace clean living and sustainable tourism

Sunbathers near the Royal Library in Copenhagen, beside a harbour that is clean enough to swim in. Photo: Getty Images

The CopenHill waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen is topped with an artificial ski slope, which is also used for hiking. Photo: Getty Images

A field of flowers in Tengchong, in China’s Yunnan province. Photo: Xinhua

Pico do Arieiro, in Madeira, Portugal, offers stunning views of the volcanic landscape. Photo: Getty Images 

A mist-shrouded forest landscape near Yotong La Pass, Bumthang district, Bhutan. Photo: Getty Images

Well-situated Freiburg is Germany’s sunniest city. Photo: Shutterstock

Visitors crossing the bridge of the Cloud Forest at The Gardens by the Bay, a nature park spanning 101 hectares in Singapore. Photo: Matilde Gattoni

Livadia, the port and main village of Tilos island, with its whitewashed traditional architecture. Photo: Getty Images

Ilsan Lake Park is one of the many green spaces in Goyang, South Korea. Photo: Getty Images

PostMag

Travel

A unique B&B and a new museum are preserving the Tanka people’s sea-dwelling heritage


A unique B&B and a new museum are preserving the Tanka people’s sea-dwelling heritage.


China

Chinese culture

Travel Destinations

China travel

A floating village and a museum in Hainan are keeping the Tanka heritage alive

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A unique B&B and a new museum are preserving the Tanka people’s sea-dwelling heritage

A unique B&B and a new museum are preserving the Tanka people’s sea-dwelling heritage