’s original “ Sea World ” is a cruise ship called Minghua Lun ; now speaking of “sea world”, it mostly refers to an international coastal cultural experience center with a total construction area of more than one million square meters and an annual reception volume of 36 million people. In any case, for Shenzhen people, this is a "world" from the sea
□ Jingbao reporter Lin Fei
My father used to be a photographer, and my mother likes to take photos, so there are many old photos of the old ones in my home. Since I was a child, I have loved to read it repeatedly, and most of the scenes I have never experienced in the photos are imprinted in my mind.
so that when I first came to the Haitian block of Shekou. Looking at the giant ship that was already old, my memory had automatically searched for the corresponding old photos - the very young mother was wearing a white sun hat with a small brim, with one hand on her waist and the other holding the waist of the still very young father. My father put his hand on his shoulder and smiled shyly. Behind them was a magnificent white cruise ship, with the sign "Sea World" hanging in the middle of the top.
I know that they had been to Guangdong from Hainan for their newlywed honeymoon trip, but this was the first time that their memories shone into my present moment.
Due to the epidemic, my parents who originally planned to come to Shenzhen in Mid-Autumn Festival had to postpone their trip. I was a little depressed that I had always wanted to take them to visit again in the old place. I was browsing Weibo and accidentally saw the "spoiler picture" of the Sea World Station on Metro Line 12 that was about to be opened. I suddenly felt a move in my heart. Why not go and check the spots myself first.
Name
Nowadays, people talk about "the world on the sea", and they are talking about more than just a ship. But in 1985, when my parents came to Shekou from the city center at that time on a bus, against the vast sea and sky, only the huge ship was shocking.
The boat is 9 stories high, 168 meters long and 21 meters wide. It has 3 names, and behind each name is an amazing history.
962, it was born "ANCEEVILLA" and was launched by then French President Charles de Gaulle as its special luxury cruise ship, used for the Marseille-Monaco-Canary Islands- Dakar route.
973, it became a Chinese nationality and renamed "Minghua", and then put into the China- Tanzania route. In 1979, Liao Chengzhi, then vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress and president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, led a delegation to visit Japan and became a China-Japan Friendship Vehicle.
983, it sailed from the sea and stood at the forefront of Shenzhen's reform and opening up. "World on the Sea" is its new name.
Shekou’s “first shot” resounded throughout China, and the construction of industrial zones was in full swing. At that time, more than 10,000 investors came to inspect and visit every day. What is not matched is the backward living facilities - the total number of beds in the Shekou Hotel is only about 600, and there are no entertainment venues. Many foreign businessmen come to Shekou during the day and go to Hong Kong at night.
Someone suggested, "Is there an old boat for global travel? You can live and play!" This idea was supported by Yuan Geng. Therefore, the retired Minghualun was bought by the industrial zone.
But how can such a large ship dock in Shenzhen? I found a report from the Shenzhen Newspaper Group database on November 28, 1983 by Shenzhen Special Zone Newspaper : "To drag the 10,000-ton passenger ship that barely entered the narrow and shallow Wuwan, to the Liuwan shallow, is tantamount to the 'land boating'. The Guangzhou Rescue and Fishing Bureau rescue team, which undertakes this arduous project, first dug out a 30-meter-wide and nearly three-meter-deep channel, and then the working barge took advantage of the daily sea water climax to drag the 'Minghua' ship upwards, with an average of more than 20 meters per day. After more than 50 days of hard work, the 'Minghua' ship was finally dragged to the Liuwan Wharf. The 10,000-ton passenger ship was dragged to the beach and converted into a special "Sea World" for tourism. This is the first time in our country."
The first general manager of "Sea World", Wang Chaoliang, was the first "recruitment cadre" in Shekou to break the rigid employment mechanism, and the first "recruitment cadre" in China after the reform and opening up. At that time, Wang Chaoliang was 45 years old and often went to Shanghai for business with a salary of 50 yuan. When he passed by International Hotel , he saw the hotel doorman wearing a snow-white French suit, which was very elegant. No one in his companion dared to approach. It is such a self-deprecating person who "has never entered the gate of a high-end hotel and has never had a decent meal" who wants to manage the hotel. Although he feels deep pressure, he faces difficulties.
Renovation and decoration is the first step. Yuan Geng originally thought it was very simple: there are many ready-made devices on the boat that can operate on its own, and as long as it is connected to water and electricity, it will be opened soon. In fact, it is far from that simple, "It's like my plane floating in the air, and the boat floating on the water. According to our engineering standards, their stress points need to be evenly distributed. "Wang Chaoliang, who majored in aviation design, "refuted" Yuan Geng's statement, and was once angry that Yuan Geng wanted to remove him, but in the end, Yuan Geng listened to Wang Chaoliang's words.
water and electricity, paint, and surrounding greening. At the same time, he had to deal with the aftermath of crew members, recruit new employees, and formulate management systems... When he was nervous, Wang Chaoliang even lived on the ship for several days and nights and did not go home. Finally, from the "beach" of the ship to the local opening, he only used About a month.
"Time is money, efficiency is life", which is not only a slogan on your mouth, but also a code of action for Wang Chaoliang and his colleagues.
Legend
"I have always had confidence in myself, no matter what I do. Even if I haven't done it, I can do it well, as long as you give me time. "This sentence is rich in the spirit of Special Zone "dare to be the first in the world" throughout Wang Chaoliang's life.
Today, on the wall of Wang Chaoliang's living room, there is still a photo of Comrade Deng Xiaoping when he visited the "Sea World" in 1984. The "young guy" in a suit on the far left of the picture is Wang Chaoliang. There is also an oil portrait of Comrade Deng Xiaoping on this wall, which is one of the works of Wang Chaoliang who suddenly wanted to draw oil paintings when he was 80 years old, and went to Nanshan Bookstore to buy paint, and "self-taught".
The new name "Sea World" Weird, it starts with Deng Xiaoping writing down the precious stroke.
Perhaps because that past is the highlight of his life, or because he has been talking over and over the years, Wang Chaoliang, who is already 84 years old, remembers almost every detail of that year.
On the evening of January 23, 1984, Yuan Geng boarded the ship to check his work and explained to Wang Chaoliang alone: prepare for the major reception task. When Yuan Geng came to inspect again on the 25th, Wang Chaoliang realized that Deng Xiaoping was about to come. After reporting on the work, Wang Chaoliang asked: "Can you ask the leader to write a word for us? "Yuan Geng replied clearly: "No, this time the leader is on vacation, not speaking, not writing inscriptions, just listening, only watching. "At the end, he added: "You can adapt to the situation." "
The meeting was 11 o'clock in the evening, and the store had already closed. Wang Chaoliang hurriedly borrowed four treasures of the study from his colleagues and prepared them on the desk next to the main table of the Longfeng Restaurant.
6 at around 10 o'clock on the 126th, Comrade Deng Xiaoping slowly boarded the boat amid the warm and polite applause of all the employees of the "Sea World". After listening to the report, Comrade Deng Xiaoping and his party entered the restaurant for dinner. During this period, he drank 3 cups of Moutai liquor , and seemed very excited. Wang Chaoliang felt that there was a chance, so he signaled to the deputy general manager Zhao Yanhua, who stepped forward and said, "Please write a word for us." "Deng Xiaoping happily agreed, and the old man picked up the pen and asked, "What are you writing?" "Everyone present looked at Wang Chaoliang, and he instinctively shouted "Sea World". Deng Xiaoping waved his hand - the four vigorous and powerful words "Sea World" were vividly displayed on the paper. Seeing the old man stop writing, Wang Chaoliang said again, "Please sign the leader, it's not worth it if he doesn't sign it. "Deng Xiaoping smiled and wrote "Deng Xiaoping's Question January 26, 1984".
Since then, this day has been designated as the opening day of "Sea World".
▲In 1984, Comrade Deng Xiaoping visited the "Sea World" and took a photo with his employees. Wang Chaoliang stood behind the old man.
At that time, the signboard of "Sea World" had long been entrusted to a Hong Kong design company to produce it. Wang Chaoliang immediately called and asked to use the inscription to redesign it. Later, he was worried, and Wang Chaoliang rushed to Hong Kong in person. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a designer from Germany lying on the ground and working hard. He did not have the magnification machine . He could neither write Chinese characters nor calligraphy. He could only use dense grids to distinguish the length and distance between different strokes. "No, I'll do it." Wang Chaoliang pulled away the designer and started copying directly with his previous experience in making painting exhibition boards. Finally, the first sign of "Sea World" was the draft he drew.
After 155 days of office, Wang Chaoliang was transferred to another position and left the "Sea World". One night shortly after leaving office, he quietly returned alone. "The sign of the 'Sea World' is lit and can flash, so after leaving..." Wang Chaoliang recalled, suddenly unable to speak, his lips trembled uncontrollably, and tears slowly moistened his entire eye sockets. After several sobs, he turned his face away.
I can imagine that night, the sign of "Sea World" echoes the stars above my head, the sea breeze blows Wang Chaoliang's clothes up, and he stares at the ship, like a farewell.
▲Old photos of Comrade Deng Xiaoping when he visited the "Sea World" in 1984 were hung on the wall of the living room of Wang Chaoliang's home.
Get ashore
Back then, my parents met a girl of about the same age in Shenzhen. At that time, Shenzhen was still in the early stages of reform and opening up. With the model of ", three, one, one, supplement ", it attracted many foreign capital to build factories here. That girl is the first generation of "working girls". "She said that her monthly salary was hundreds of yuan, but we were less than fifty yuan at that time, so we were so envious." My mother couldn't remember the girl's name, but she remembered her income very clearly.
is that girl, recommended "World on the Sea" to my parents. As China's first maritime recreation center, "Sea World" received more than 3 million tourists in 1984 alone. At that time, there was a saying: "If you haven't been to the 'Sea World', it means you haven't been to Shenzhen."
My parents came to the "Sea World" and saw buses coming and going, and round after round of tourists boarding the ship excitedly, a noisy and prosperous scene. Although they were eager to go up and open their eyes, considering that they were short of money, they just took photos in front of the boat and left.
Because they have never been on the ship, they do not know that there is a very avant-garde disco dance hall introduced from abroad, which is one of the earliest in China.
When renovating the original ballroom dance hall of "Sea World", the decoration company invited by Wang Chaoliang shook his head, "Your dance hall is not good now, it's out of date." Wang Chaoliang was puzzled and asked why it couldn't. The other party told him that everyone is dancing disco now, and the dance hall requires four 400-watt speakers to play music, and the sound is so loud that it makes people jump up and can't sit still. In this way, Wang Chaoliang learned about this new term and bargained with the decoration company. From morning to night, he cut from the disco hall decoration plan of HK$600,000 to HK$190,000.
"There is an Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong, which is the favorite place for foreigners to go. There is a 'Sea World' in Shekou, Shenzhen, which is also the favorite place for foreigners to go." Wang Chaoliang said that "Sea World" was to create a leisure and entertainment center that can attract international tourists from the beginning.
After leaving the "Sea World", Wang Chaoliang is still concerned about it. He knew that later, more and more shopping malls, restaurants and bars appeared around the "Sea World", and people's entertainment activities had expanded from ships to land.
998, due to aging facilities and poor management, "Sea World" suspended business until it ushered in the second renovation in 2000.If the first transformation brought it from the sea to the beach, then this transformation was to let it "get ashore" with people. The transformed cruise ship not only looks brand new, but also integrates with the sinking square in front of the ship, forming a comprehensive scenic spot with international characteristics and a variety of commercial formats.
However, there are unexpected situations. In 2007, a heavy rainstorm fell from the sky, and torrents rushing down from Danan Mountain rushed into the sea world with mud and sand. In an instant, sludge and sand blocked the underground drainage ditches, and the accumulated water flooded the sinking square, causing serious economic losses. The entire area was once in a downturn. The third transformation is coming soon. In 2010, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone , as one of the 60 projects in the five major areas to start the construction of the Special Economic Zone in the next 30 years, the construction of Maritime World City Complex kicked off.
Today, the sea world refers to the International Coastal Cultural Experience Center with a total construction area of more than 1 million square meters and an annual reception volume of 36 million people, including Huigang Phase I and Phase II Shopping Center, Hilton South China Sea Hotel, Culture and Art Center, China Merchants Square , Shuangxi Garden, etc.
In order to distinguish, people began to call the cruise ship's former name - Minghua wheel. It still stopped in its original location. As the area of reclamation construction continued to expand, it had completely left the sea and became a boat on land, becoming the core landscape of the sea world.
set sail
9 at noon on November 20, after saying goodbye to old man Wang Chaoliang, I went to the sea world. A "spoiler picture" was taken at the location where my parents took photos back then and sent it to my mother. She actually asked me, "Where is this?" I compared the two photos and found that except for the boat, the entire body of the cruise ship was not on the sea because of partial obstruction of the surrounding buildings, the whole body of the cruise ship can no longer be seen. In addition, the appearance of the hull was slightly different from that time, so no wonder she didn't recognize it.
In recent years, Shenzhen has been committed to building a universal, high-quality and sustainable urban public cultural service system, planning and building the "Top Ten Cultural Facilities of the New Era", improving and transforming the "Top Ten Characteristic Cultural Blocks", and forming a mutually echoing urban cultural community.
After Shenzhen launched the construction of the "Top Ten Characteristic Cultural Blocks" in 2018, the re-started world of the sea was awarded the first batch of "Shenzhen Characteristic Cultural Blocks" at the beginning of 2021 with its rich mountain and sea resources advantages, profound historical and cultural imprints of reform and opening up, unique scenes and the presentation of special cultural activities.
Tang Yi has been the deputy general manager of Shenzhen Maritime World since then. After chatting with Mr. Wang Chaoliang, I naturally hope to understand the present and future of the sea world from him.
"In the future, the Maritime World will launch further upgrades and transformations to create a more international and distinctive coastal complex." Tang Yi said that in the past two years, the Maritime World has combined the natural resources, humanities and arts of the area and has flourished related night consumption themes such as "night tour", "night entertainment", "night food", "night shopping", and "night stay". This year, the Shekou Creative Cultural Belt where the Maritime World is located has also been successfully selected into the second batch of national night cultural and tourism consumption clusters.
Tang Yi recommended the music fountain to me. In addition to Monday, there are 3 wonderful "water dance shows" every night. He also introduced the specialty restaurants and bars of Sea World, and there are many old stores that grew up with Sea World.
I went to the Haiyan Restaurant he recommended. There are many old photos of the restaurant hanging on the stairs wall. I heard that it has been open for more than 30 years and the boss was once the first employee of Minghualun. The terrace on the second floor of the restaurant has a wide view, and you can see the entire hull of Minghua Wheel. There is a large pool around the cruise ship, creating the artistic conception of the boat in the water. The music fountain is set here.
Suddenly, Minghualun made a long whistle sound, looked down at the time, at 6 o'clock. The restaurant staff told me that the Minghua wheel will honk the whistle every night at this time, just like setting sail. At this time, the signs and colored lights on the boat have already lit up, and the waiter can vaguely walk through the dining table and on the deck, making business preparations. This sound declares that the nightlife of the sea world has begun.
Night is falling, and there are more and more pedestrians in the sea world, with many faces in various colors. Although it has not yet recovered from its most lively appearance before the epidemic, such fireworks always make people feel at ease.
▲In 1985, the parents of this article took a group photo in "Sea World".
I am also one of them, an ordinary diner waiting for the music fountain. At 7:30 pm, the "Water Dance Show" was staged on time. The blending and changes of music, lights and water columns are like dreams, as if the years have passed, the world has changed, and the bright and bright wheels are still standing there quietly, like the eternal and unchanging spiritual coordinates.
I think that when I have the opportunity to take my parents to revisit the old place, I don’t have to be obsessed with making up for the regrets of that year. It’s great to watch it here. Under our feet is the world on the sea.
(Intern Guo Yu also contributed)
Copyright Statement:
All content published in this column, copyright or licensed right to use belongs to Jingbao. Reprint, copy or alteration may not be made without authorization, otherwise legal liability will be pursued.
If you need to reprint or use it, please contact Jingbao's official WeChat account (jingbaosz) for authorization.
Coordination: Li Min
Reporter: Lin Fei
Diagramming: Goute
Editing: Li Huifang
