Private paradise(2)

Lin Dong, the owner of 26 private islands, poses with his family on Jialan Island. (Photo: Courtesy of Lin Dong)

Private paradise

Lin said that one of his favorite islands to go for recreation was Jialan Island, which lies in the middle of Wanlü Lake in Guangdong.

Lin bought the island in 2009 for 680,000 yuan and said it made for a perfect escape for him and his family from the ordinary stresses of life.

"There's no noise, no traffic jams, no crowds. We can just sit back and take in the mountains around us and the clear water," said Lin. "We can dive into the lake if we want to go for a swim, or bike along the roads with crisp breeze against our faces. It's almost surreal."

Lin has built a wooden holiday home on the island for his family, a stone castle to entertain friends, and a viewing platform for guests, and paved maple-lined roads on the island to make getting around easier. Electricity on the island is generated by solar power.

"I bought Jialan Island because it's really beautiful. The island is around 3.3 hectares, shaped like a rectangle," said Lin. "It's far away from shore, so it's really serene, and the lake is surrounded by a view of mountains."

Another advantage, said Lin, was that it is usually cooler on the island in the midst of Guangzhou's torrid, hot summers.

"The temperature is few degrees lower on the lake," Lin explained. "My friends and I often take a boat to visit other islands on the lake, and then come back to mine to rest."

Lin said that he and the other members of the association he founded sometimes get together to spend time on each other's islands.

"We sometimes sail out to some sea islands our members own, such as Baili Island near Zhuhai, Guangdong Province," Lin said. "With lake islands, the appeal is the natural beauty and serenity of the water and surrounding green mountains. With sea islands, there is nothing around you but endless ocean. The view is more open and magnificent."

Tourism on private islands

For those who can't afford to buy their own private islands, it is possible to visit one.

According to UK-based newspaper The Telegraph, among the most beautiful private island tourist destinations in the world are Coco Privé Kuda Hithi in the Maldives, featuring five one bedroom guest villas with private infinity pools, Dolphin Island in Fiji, which boasts a "luxury castaway experience" in a thatched, open air love shack, and Great Stirrup Cay, in the Bahamas, featuring an aquatic park and snorkeling facilities.

In China, Lianhua Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, and Fangji Island in Hainan Province, can be visited by tourists.

Liu Xiao, a 25-year-old woman from Chengdu, spent her honeymoon in January this year on Lankayan, a private island in Malaysia that she stumbled across while searching for holiday destinations on TripAdvisor.

She said the island has only 26 guesthouses, and that there were only two other couples on vacation there during her stay.

"It's very quiet compared to other popular tourist spots. My husband and I went diving at 6 am each morning. Then we'd just lie on the beach outside the house we were staying in, and look the water and the sky, or go for a long walk."

According to Liu, organizing her trip to Lankayan was no different to making travel arrangements to any other tourist destination. She said she booked the trip through a travel agency on Taobao.

"We first arrived at Sandakan [a city on the northeastern coast of Malaysia], and then took a boat, which can only carry 10 people, for one and a half hours to Lankayan," said Liu.

Liu was interested in visiting other private islands in the future, but was worried that as more people found out about them, they would become overrun with crowds like other popular tourist destinations.

"When we were deciding where we wanted to go [for our honeymoon], we also considered another private island [in Malaysia] called Kapalai," said Liu.

"But we gave up on it because there were too many people. It was impossible to book a room."