Clockwise: Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, has government buildings and banks. Sansha city will replace the county-level administration office on Yongxing as the center for the Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands. Residents have been fishing the waters around Sansha since 1681. Residents have been fishing in the waters around the island for several hundred years. Meng Fulin / for China Daily Hou Jiansen / Xinhua Liu Wei / for China Daily