Zhousan Archipelago

The Zhoushan Islands lie off Ningbo at the southern entrance to Hangzhou Bay. Their waters sheltered fishing communities and seafarers, while Putuo Island became a place of Buddhist pilgrimage after a statue of Guanyin was placed there in the ninth century. In the sixteenth century Chinese and Japanese pirates used the islands as a base for raids along the coast. After their suppression, Zhoushan became a port of call for foreign traders, until European commerce was confined to Guangzhou in 1760.