FUJIAN PROVINCE, on
China's southeastern
coast, is well off
the beaten track for
most Western
travellers, which is
a pity because the
province possesses
not only a wild
mountainous
interior, but also a
string of old ports,
including
Xiamen
, China's most
attractive and
interesting coastal
city. From Hong Kong
the well-trodden
routes head directly
west towards Guilin,
or north to
Shanghai, but a
detour to Xiamen
makes an excellent
introduction to
mainland China -
boats from Hong Kong
come here, as does a
spur of China's rail
network.
Culturally and
geographically, the
province splits into
distinct halves. One
is made up of large,
historical seaports
and lush,
semi-tropical
coastal stretches,
whose sophisticated
population enjoy
warm sun and
blossoming trees
even in January. The
other is a rugged,
mountainous and
largely inaccessible
interior, freezing
cold in winter, home
to around 140
different local
dialects and with a
history of poverty
and backwardness -
it is said that when
the Red Army finally
arrived in the 1960s
they found
communities unaware
that the Qing
dynasty had been
overthrown. However,
while inland Fujian
knew very little of
China, contacts
between the coastal
area and the outside
world had been
flourishing for
centuries. In the
Tang dynasty, the
port of Quanzhou
, considered on a
par with Alexandria
as the most
international port
in the world, teemed
with Arab traders,
some of whose
descendants still
live in the area
today. So much
wealth was brought
into the ports here
that a population
explosion led to
mass emigration, and
large parts of the
Malayan Peninsula,
the Philippines and
Taiwan were
colonized by
Fujianese. In the
early eighteenth
century this exodus
of able-bodied
citizens became so
drastic that the
imperial court in
distant Beijing
tried,
ineffectually, to
ban it.
Today little
seems to have
changed. The
interior of Fujian
remains largely
unvisited and
unknown, with the
exception of the
scenic Wuyi Shan
area in the
northwest of the
province, and the Hakka
regions around
southwesterly Yongding
. The coast,
however, is booming,
with colossal
investment pouring
in both from Hong
Kong and, in
particular, from
neighbouring Taiwan
, many of whose
citizens originate
from the province
and speak the same
dialect, Minnan Hua.
The cities of Fuzhou
and Xiamen
are among the
wealthiest in the
country,
particularly Xiamen,
whose clean beaches,
charming streets and
shopping arcades,
it's hoped, bear the
face of Chinese
cities to come. The
proximity of Taiwan
to Xiamen accounts
not only for the
rapid economic
development and the
proliferation of
first-class tourist
facilities, but also
for the occasional
outbreak of tension,
such as during the
1996 Taiwanese
presidential
election when the
mainland authorities
suddenly decided to
hold large-scale
military exercises
just off the
Taiwanese coast, as
a gentle reminder to
the Taiwanese people
not to vote for
separatist
candidates.
