Chongming Island lies at the mouth of the Yangtze, an alluvial island roughly the size of Greater London, and since 2009 it has been joined to the mainland by a road tunnel and bridge. Administratively it belongs to Shanghai, but the character is entirely rural: flat farmland, reed beds, canals, small towns, orchards and open sky.
Dongtan Wetland
The island's eastern tip is a tidal wetland where the Yangtze meets the sea. A boardwalk and raised paths run out through reed beds and mudflats, with hides for watching birds, and the flat, open landscape gives the kind of long horizontal view that Shanghai proper barely has. The wetland is a stopover on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, one of the world's great migratory bird routes, and thousands of waders, ducks, herons, egrets and raptors pass through it. The winter months and the spring and autumn migration seasons are the best times for birds.
What else the island offers
Away from the wetland, Chongming is farm country. There are farmstay guesthouses, orchards, vegetable fields and canals that can be cycled along, as well as several forest parks and a network of small towns. The island is famous locally for its produce - tangerines, crab, freshwater fish, reed shoots and rice - and for seafood restaurants along the northern coast. Local crafts include woven reed and cloth goods sold in the island's markets.
A legal and practical note on the wetland
Parts of the eastern wetland have been subject to protection and restoration policies that restrict public access to core zones, and some areas have been closed for ecological reasons and for the reclamation of former wetlands. Access arrangements change, so check what is currently open before travelling out to the far east of the island, and expect the inner core to be off limits behind a fence.
Getting there
Buses and private cars reach the island through the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge from the Pudong side, taking roughly an hour and a half from central Shanghai depending on traffic. Direct buses leave from several points in the city. A day trip is possible but long, and staying overnight in a farmstay is a far better way to see the island, particularly if you want to be at the wetland for early morning bird activity.
