A sunset view of Putuo Mountain Scenic Area in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: pts_china]

Putuo district in Zhoushan has made huge strides in environmental conservation in recent years. 

A water quality assessment by the marine environment monitoring station in Zhoushan showed that the sea area with first or second-class water quality in Putuo increased by 12.7 percent in 2019, accounting for 61.8 percent of the total sea area in the district.

In addition, local authorities have made great efforts to tackle pollution, and pollution caused by local shipbuilders has decreased significantly.

For instance, Wangbang Yongyue Ship Repairing & Building Co Ltd, based on Mashi Island, has completed its technical transformation. Ecofriendly technologies have allowed the shipbuilder to operate at full capacity this year, with revenue doubling from the same period last year. Its current backlog of orders will not be finished until September. 

Meanwhile, fishing boats of all sizes in the district have been installed with oil-water separators and domestic sewage treatment devices, and the district has established a special fleet to collect garbage throughout its water bodies.

These increased environmental preservation efforts are beginning to see results.

Zhang Yibiao, who runs a homestay on Chaishan Island, which has a permanent population of less than 200, said that his homestay's business is increasing, especially during holidays when it is often fully booked.

Zhang, who was born in the 1990s, returned to his hometown of Chaishan in 2018 after working elsewhere for many years. He then opened the island's first ever homestay. 

Catching crabs on pristine beaches and observing the sunrise over the newly built highway around the island have become popular pastimes among visitors. 

Chaishan is not the only place to see huge changes. In Putuo, an 8.7-kilometer-long coastal ecological corridor has been built along the sea, and a red hiking trail has connected three island ecological parks with each other. 

At the end of last year, the district was designated a national demonstration zone for ecological civilization, and it is now developing itself into a national "all-for-one" tourism demonstration zone, an official from the district government said.