From Sea Fish Rafts to Floating Islands — The Ultimate Revelation of the "Sea Palace" Case (Part 4)

[2] This article is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Administrative Procedure Law and its first major revision!

Part One: "Tuhao" Guo Moumou and His "Sea Palace"

3. From Floating Fish Rafts to Floating Islands

Shenzhen, once the forefront of reform and opening up, has always been a land of innovation, holding a special appeal for those with dreams and aspirations. Guo XX started his entrepreneurial journey in Liaoning, Northeast China, in 1988, initially focusing on building decoration before venturing into commercial real estate. After accumulating sufficient capital and experience, he established Shenzhen Fashion Group Co., Ltd. in early 2003, using Shenzhen as the group's headquarters to begin a nationwide business layout. It was also in Shenzhen, in 2003, that Guo XX found the perfect intersection of his artistic sensibilities and entrepreneurial spirit—Dongshan Bay in Nan'ao, Dapeng Peninsula, Shenzhen.

Figure 5: Location map of Dongshan Bay in Nan'ao, Dapeng Peninsula, Shenzhen (Image source: Baidu Maps screenshot)

The Dapeng Peninsula has long been Shenzhen's largest and best-preserved ecological sanctuary, with a forest coverage rate of 76%. It features multiple peaks such as Mount Qiniang, Paiya Mountain, and Hengtou Ridge, mostly composed of granite, with steep terrain, deep valleys, and numerous unique rock formations. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, the Dapeng Peninsula is also Shenzhen's "Golden Coast," boasting a 133-kilometer coastline dotted with over a dozen beaches, including Jinsha Bay, Xichong, Dongchong, and Juediao Sand. With golden sands, clear waters, blue skies, and white clouds, its natural beauty is enchanting. Dongshan Bay, located in the middle of the dumbbell-shaped Dapeng Peninsula, is surrounded by mountains on three sides, offering stunning scenery and serving as one of Shenzhen's rare excellent fishing ports.

Besides its unique natural scenery, Dapeng Peninsula is also renowned for its profound cultural and historical heritage, with the representative being Dapeng Fortress, one of the "Eight Sights of Shenzhen." Built in the 27th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1394 AD), covering an area of about 110,000 square meters, it served as a coastal defense military stronghold in southern China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. With over 600 years of history resisting foreign aggression, it produced a group of outstanding national heroes such as Lai Enjue, Liu Qilong, and Liu Heizai, and is a key cultural relic protection unit and patriotic education base in Guangdong Province. Shenzhen, now also known as "Pengcheng," derives its name from Dapeng Fortress and its history. On the other hand, "Dapeng" is also a giant bird in ancient Chinese mythology, which, through the embellishment and praise of literati, gradually became a symbol of lofty aspirations and bold spirit in traditional Chinese culture, representing a spirit of daring to explore and innovate. This aligns well with the urban character of Shenzhen, the "City of Innovation."

Figure 6: The well-preserved gate and tower of Dapeng Fortress. (Image source: Internet)

"Having traveled all over the world, Dongshan Bay is the best place here." Guo not only appreciated the picturesque scenery of Dongshan Bay, seeing it as the ideal setting to realize his artistic dreams, but also noticed the fishermen's sea rafts and the huts on them, drawing inspiration to create a new model that perfectly combines art and architecture to form a commercial space on the sea.

The so-called "inspiration" refers to a sudden, creative train of thought that emerges after long-term hard research and exploration, and the continuous accumulation of experience and knowledge in activities such as literature, art, science, and technology. It is based on abstract and concrete thinking, closely linked to other psychological activities, and is characterized by suddenness and rapid disappearance. Inspiration is the result of creative thinking, possessing novelty and uniqueness, and is accompanied by distinct emotionality. When inspiration strikes, a person's mood is highly tense and excited, even reaching a state of ecstasy. Inspiration is the starting point and source of innovation, as well as its core and soul.

Though it sounds so mystical, in reality, everyone has experienced inspiration and creativity. However, a common trait among truly successful entrepreneurs is that they not only tirelessly pursue inspiration and creativity but, more importantly, once they have them, they immediately put them into action, mobilize various resources, take significant risks, turn inspiration and creativity into reality, and never give up until their goals are achieved.

Following the inspiration from the sea rafts and the huts on them, Guo conducted online research and discovered the new concept of "floating islands on the sea." A plan to expand living and commercial spaces on the sea gradually took shape in his mind.

Humanity's attempts and efforts to expand living space into the sea have a long history. However, with the explosion of the global population and the sharp increase in competitive pressure for survival on land, especially the threats posed by global warming and rising sea levels, the urgency of these efforts has intensified.

The most direct and primitive method is undoubtedly land reclamation, but this is merely an extension of humanity's terrestrial way of life. Even the novel, luxurious, and grandiose artificial islands that Dubai has built or is building are products of conventional thinking, and their innovativeness cannot compare to that of "floating islands."

Figure 7: Completed artificial Palm Islands in Dubai (Image source: Internet)

Figure 8: Artificial World Islands in Dubai under construction (Image source: Internet)

The sky is vast for birds to fly, and the sea is wide for fish to leap. Compared to land reclamation or island building, "floating islands" can undoubtedly better satisfy humanity's innate desire for free and unrestrained living spaces. However, even as this book is being written, most globally influential "floating island" projects remain mere dreamscapes in the minds of visionaries or castles in the air on designers' blueprints, let alone more than a decade ago in 2003. At that time, the reference materials available to Guo were nothing more than a vague concept of "floating islands."

Figure 9: Schematic diagram of the floating island on the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. Completed in 2011, it became the world's first floating island, though not yet a true "sea" floating island. (Image source: Internet)

As mentioned above, global warming and rising sea levels will force people to expand their living space onto the sea. Building "floating islands" will be a matter of life and death for Pacific island nations like Kiribati. In 2011, Kiribati President Anote Tong announced that to ensure the survival of its citizens, the Kiribati government was considering constructing artificial "floating islands" similar to large drilling platforms. Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one island, located in the South Pacific between Hawaii and Australia. Most of its land is no more than 6.5 feet (about 1.98 meters) above sea level. Based on current rates of sea level rise, it is estimated that most of the country's land will be completely submerged within 100 years.

Figure 10: Aerial view of present-day Kiribati (Image source: Internet)

Figure 11: Future floating island of Kiribati (Image source: Internet)

Figure 12: The Lilypad, an artificial floating island designed by a French architect, perhaps a futuristic Noah's Ark? (Image source: Internet)

Figure 13: The Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation facing the same fate as Kiribati, commissioned a Dutch architecture firm to design a residential area called "Ocean Flower," including 185 floating luxury villas (Image source: Internet)

Today, human society's creative designs for "floating islands" have blossomed in a myriad of forms. However, given the current level of economic and technological development, turning these creative designs into reality still faces enormous challenges and difficulties. Let us go back eleven years to 2003. What kind of courage and pioneering spirit must Guo Moumou have had to turn a then very vague concept of "floating islands" into a living reality?

　　(待续)