Every spring a village at the mouth of the Wanquan River hosts statesmen and executives from across Asia, in a county that also raised the women’s company behind the Red Detachment of Women and gave Hong Kong a paper tycoon.
每年春天,万泉河入海口的一个村镇都会迎来亚洲各国的政要和企业家,而这个县也养出了”红色娘子军”的原型连队,还给香港送去了一位造纸大亨。
The county is mostly pepper, rubber and areca nut, with a small airport built for a conference and a river that runs from a revolution to a boardroom.
这个县主要种胡椒、橡胶和槟榔,有一座为开会而建的小机场,还有一条从一场革命流向一间会议室的河。
Qionghai has made a habit of hosting things much larger than itself.
琼海有个习惯,总是接待比自己大得多的东西。
The Village at the River’s Mouth
河口的村镇
The Boao Forum for Asia was founded on 27 February 2001 at Boao, where the Wanquan River meets the sea, when representatives of 26 countries declared it open, according to China Economic Net and Learning Era. It was the first international conference organisation to have its headquarters in China, and it meets every spring, according to the same sources. The idea came in 1998 from former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke and former Japanese prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa, according to China Economic Net.
据中国经济网和《学习时代》介绍,博鳌亚洲论坛二零零一年二月二十七日在万泉河入海口的博鳌镇成立,二十六个发起国的代表宣布论坛成立。据同一来源介绍,它是第一个把总部设在中国的国际会议组织,每年春天举行年会。据中国经济网介绍,这个构想一九九八年由菲律宾前总统拉莫斯、澳大利亚前总理霍克和日本前首相细川护熙提出。
The village needed an airport, and in 2016 it got one. Boao airport lies 12 kilometres from the town of Qionghai and 15 kilometres from the Forum’s permanent site, and the Civil Aviation Administration called it Hainan’s third international airport and a key support for the Forum, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Its first commercial flight, a Hainan Airlines Boeing 737 from Beijing, landed on 17 March 2016, and it was renamed “international” in April 2024, according to Wikipedia.
镇子需要一座机场,二零一六年有了。据中国民航局介绍,博鳌机场距琼海市区十二公里、距论坛永久会址十五公里,是海南省第三个国际机场,也是博鳌亚洲论坛的重点配套项目。据维基百科介绍,二零一六年三月十七日,一架海南航空的波音737从北京飞抵,完成首个商业航班,二零二四年四月机场更名为”国际机场”。
It was planned for 480,000 passengers by 2020, and in 2023 it handled 951,277, though the figure fell to 848,808 in 2025, according to the Civil Aviation Administration, Baidu Baike and Wikipedia. According to Baidu Baike, the airport normally operates to 4C standards but can accommodate larger aircraft under 4E arrangements during the Forum. It serves eastern Hainan, and Wanning, with its surf beaches, lies next door to the south, according to Baidu Baike and Chinese Wikipedia.
据中国民航局、百度百科和维基百科介绍,机场原本预测二零二零年旅客吞吐量为四十八万人次,二零二三年实际达九十五万一千二百七十七人次,但二零二五年降至八十四万八千八百零八人次。据百度百科介绍,机场平时按4C标准运行,博鳌亚洲论坛期间可按4E标准保障更大机型起降。据百度百科和中文维基百科介绍,它主要服务海南东部,有冲浪海滩的万宁就在南边相邻。
Paper from Pepper Country
胡椒之乡的纸
The most visible Qionghai businessman left as a boy. Patrick Lee, chairman of Lee & Man Paper, comes from Tansha village in Boao and moved to Hong Kong as a child, according to Huanqiu and Chinese Wikipedia. His grandfather was known as Hainan’s shipping king, and Lee started out making cassette tapes, then handbags and cartons, according to Chinese Wikipedia and Huanqiu.
最知名的琼海商人是少年时离开的。据环球网和中文维基百科介绍,理文造纸主席李运强是博鳌潭沙村人,少年时去了香港。据中文维基百科和环球网介绍,他的祖父被称为”海南船王”,他自己起家做录音带,后来做手袋和纸箱。
Lee & Man Paper was set up in Dongguan in March 1994 by Patrick Lee and his son Lee Man Chun, and its first line did not start running until 1998, in the middle of the Asian financial crisis, according to the company and Sina. It listed in Hong Kong in 2003 and now has a capacity of more than 7.165 million tonnes, according to the company and Futu. Lee Man Chun, now chairman, is a standing member of the Qionghai political consultative conference, according to Baidu Baike.
据公司网站和新浪财经介绍,理文造纸一九九四年三月由李运强和儿子李文俊在东莞创办,到一九九八年才开出第一条生产线,恰逢亚洲金融风暴。据公司网站和富途牛牛介绍,它二零零三年在香港上市,如今产能超过七百一十六万五千吨。据百度百科介绍,现任主席李文俊是琼海市政协常委。
Back home, GDP reached ¥38.72 billion in 2025, up 2.2 percent, with the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors accounting for 32.4, 12.0 and 55.6 percent respectively, according to the 2025 communiqué. The county grew 46,000 tonnes of areca nut, 31,000 tonnes of rubber and 8,500 tonnes of pepper, and hosted 11.0988 million visitors, up 8.0 percent, who spent ¥10.99 billion, according to the same source.
回到家乡,据二零二五年统计公报,二零二五年琼海市生产总值三百八十七点一八亿元,增长百分之二点二,第一、二、三产业分别占百分之三十二点四、十二点零和五十五点六。据同一来源介绍,全年产槟榔四点六万吨、橡胶三点一万吨、胡椒零点八五万吨,接待游客一千一百零九万八千八百人次,增长百分之八点零,游客总花费一百零九点九四亿元。
The Red Women
娘子军
In the same county the revolution gave women rifles. On 1 May 1931 the women’s special company of the Third Regiment of the Second Independent Division of the Red Army was formed in Leyue county, now Qionghai, with 103 members, of whom 100 were young village women, according to Baidu Baike. They became the Red Detachment of Women, and the Red Army had no other company made up wholly of women, according to the historian Xu Yan on the Communist Party’s website.
同一个县里,革命把枪交到了女人手里。据百度百科介绍,一九三一年五月一日,中国工农红军第二独立师第三团女子军特务连在乐会县,即今琼海成立,全连一百零三人,其中一百人是农村青年妇女。据共产党员网上学者徐焰介绍,这就是”红色娘子军”,而红军中再没有第二支全由女性组成的建制连队。
The company lasted fewer than 500 days and fought more than 50 actions before it was broken up, according to Ctrip. Its first captain, Pang Qionghua, was the model for Wu Qionghua in the 1961 film directed by Xie Jin, which was followed by a ballet in 1964, according to The Paper and Baidu Baike. The Red Detachment of Women Memorial Park opened on 1 May 2000, according to Baidu Baike.
据携程介绍,这支连队存在不到五百天,参加过五十多场战斗,后被迫解散。据澎湃新闻和百度百科介绍,第一任连长庞琼花是一九六一年谢晋执导的电影中吴琼花的原型,一九六四年又有了芭蕾舞剧。据百度百科介绍,红色娘子军纪念园二零零零年五月一日对外开放。
According to China Civilization Net, the company was founded in a small village ringed by coconut groves on the banks of the Wanquan River, the same river that now runs out to the forum’s village.
据中国文明网介绍,这支连队成立在万泉河畔一个椰林环抱的小山村,就是如今流向论坛所在村镇的那条河。