Golden September marks the return of the school year. Setting out from campus and meandering along the northern shore of Hangzhou Bay, a single day unfolds into three coastal study routes: morning birdwatching, afternoon fishing, and evening beachcombing at low tide.

The Bihai Jinsha · Yisheng Marine Ranch and its surrounding tidal flats form a key stopover for migratory birds heading south, with 259 species of wild birds recorded to date. Each September brings the autumn migration to its peak. Binoculars in hand, visitors can spend the early morning observing dunlin, Kentish plover, and other shorebirds. The interplay of tides and bird activity is a highlight in itself: as the rising tide floods the mudflats, the birds retreat to higher ground to rest; as the waters recede, they descend again to feed, offering a vivid outdoor lesson in ecology.

The marine ranch also serves as a hands-on nearshore fishing education base. By afternoon, the rising tide draws fish closer to shore to feed, creating the prime window for learning. Visitors can pick up the basics of lure fishing, learn about the habits of local species such as sea bass, and use changes in tide and current to track fish movements, gradually mastering the essentials of casting, reeling, and setting the hook.

A stroll along the seawall offers a striking visual contrast between two very different forms of coastal protection. On one side stands the traditional, single-structure concrete seawall; on the other, an ecological green seawall reinforced by low-crest breakwaters, beach-protection bio-reefs, and salt-marsh wetlands. Walking the embankment, visitors can also identify native plants such as reed, Scirpus mariqueter, and smooth cordgrass, and trace Hangzhou Bay's evolution from large-scale land reclamation to ecological restoration.

At low tide, visitors can consult the tide tables and head out onto the mudflats to search for fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and a variety of shellfish, observing how these creatures have adapted to the rhythm of the sea. The study day ends with a stunning sunset over the Fisherman's Wharf.