Dongtan Wetland in Chongming. The region is to be developed into a "world-class ecological island" by 2040. [Photo by Lu Yi/China Daily]

It is part of Shanghai municipality and only about 70 kilometers from downtown as the crow flies, but Chongming district is so distinctly different that it could just as well be at the other end of the country.

Located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, it consists of three alluvial islands: Chongming, Changxing and Hengsha.

Past the 25-kilometer-long Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge that connects both regions, visitors to Chongming island－it is the third largest in the country after Taiwan and Hainan－find an idyllic space where nature reigns.

Instead of the shiny skyscrapers, glitzy shopping malls and high-rise apartments that are ubiquitous in Shanghai, the island has lush farmlands, forests, wetlands, lakes and waterways.