KELP WANTED

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHEN FURONG (陳伏容)TEXT BY HATTY LIU

Join farmers for a bountiful harvest in China’s “seaweed capital”

福建霞浦：滿城盡“帶”黃金甲

E very May in Xiapu county,“kelp is the undisputed king,” writes photographer Chen Furong in an online photography forum.“Almost everyone revolves around it and perspires for it—including photographers from around China.”

Located in the northeastern-most part of Fujian province, Xiapu’s U-shaped, 400-kilometer coastline is the longest of any county in China.Its offshore seaweed farms produce nearly 80,000 tons of edible algae per year, most notably kelp, or haidai (海帶, “sea belt”), a type of large brown seaweed that thrives in the temperate and mineral-rich local waters. China is the world’s largest producer of this seaweed, and one of its biggest consumers, using it in dishes ranging from hearty pork-bone-and-kelp broth to emerald-green kelp salad.

At the start of each summer harvest season, farmers row out to sea in bamboo dinghies at high tide and return laden with heavy sheets of the tough marine plant, which are hung up to dry on the beach on bamboo poles until they lighten to a yellow hue. “The town is full of golden kelp,” cites Chen, a Xiapu native, comparing the sight to a Tang dynasty poem’s description of yellow chrysanthemum littering the then capital, Chang’an. “[My] memory of May is linked solely with the smell of seaweed.”

Apart from being China’s “home of seaweed,” Xiapu is known as a photographer’s haven for its picturesque mudflats, quaint fishing villages, and iridescent sunrises—the name of the county translates to“colorful cloud estuary.” In May and June, the two attractions combine as photographers like Chen join the farmers on the beach to capture their arduous work in the sun and surf,as well as their joy over the year’s immense haul. After all, for those who depend on the sea for their living,writes Chen, “the busiest days are the happiest.”

KELP IS FARMED OFFSHORE AND BROUGHT TO THE BEACH AT HIGH TIDE

EVERY INCH OF THE BEACH IS TAKEN UP BY THE DRYING SEAWEED IN MAY

ONCE DRIED, THE KELP WILL BE PACKAGED AND SHIPPED TO WHOLESALE MARKETS AROUND THE COUNTRY

THE GOLDEN HARVEST LENDS ITS OWN HUE TO XIAPU’S COLORFUL REPUTATION

Skiing may have been invented in China over 5,000 years ago, but only in the last 20 years has it started to become a pastime for the masses. Today, as the country prepares to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Chinese are heading up mountains (or to some of the largest indoor slopes in the world) in record numbers, while big business pours investment into new resorts, and the government tries to get the nation hooked on the white stuff. The enthusiasm—along with the realities of crowded slopes, a lack of natural snow and “ski culture,” and cost—makes for a blizzard of competition the fastest growing ski market on Earth.

滑雪早在五千多年前就已經存在于中國這片土地，

卻直到最近二十年才真正流行起來。

為迎接2022年北京冬奧會，

全國上下正努力打造中國的滑雪文化。