Putian

Putian, 莆田 in Chinese, also known as "Xinghua"is a city at the prefecture level in Fujian.It borders Fuzhou to the north, Quanzhou to the south, and the Taiwan Straits tothe east. With its 343. 6 kilometers of deep water coastline, the city is rich in seafood like eels, prawns, and swimming crabs among others. Meizhou Bay of Putian is one of the best natural deep water harbors in the world. Putian is well known for its fruit production of lichee, longan, loquat and pomelo, and its especially abundant lichee production has hence gained the city a nickname,"Lichee City”.

Settled in 568 A. D., the city boasts many cultural and historical heritages, including Mazu culture, an influential folk belief in south China, the Puxian Opera, one of the ancient operas in Fujian, and the Sanqing Palace, a well-preservedTang Dynasty Taoist Temple. Meizhou Island, most famous for being the legendary birthplace of the Sea Goddess-Mazu, is located closely offshore of Putian. Starting 1000 years ago, Mazu worship is very popular in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Since the original Mazu Temple-the Heavenly Queen Palace sits right on the island, the island has thus been taken as the Mecca for Mazu worshippers.

Here in Putian, you can visit Guanghua Temple, one of Fujian's largest monasteries; Sakya BuddhistPagoda, a five-story, 36 meter high pagoda with wildest assortments of carvings; the Nine-Carp Falls, with its picturesque lakes, springs, forests, and of course the nine waterfalls, and Putian's little Hanjiang Township, the Venice of China, where town folk navigate their "streets" in small rowboats beneath the ancient granite arched bridges crossing the canals.

Putian's tourist attractions also include Mulan Dam and Memorial, an ancient engineering miracle, Southern Shaolin Monastery, a Buddhist monastery believed to be the source of al southern Chinese martial arts; an ancient watchtower of the Song Dynasty; the tomb of Cai Xiang, a famous calligrapher and tea expert, and the relics of a porcelain ware kiln. Besides, you can also find an ancient lichee tree that is believed to be over 1200 years old!