Putian 莆田市

Setting and landscape

The Daiyun Mountains (戴云山) rise in the north-west and the Xinghua Plain (兴化平原) spreads across the south-east; the Mulan River (木兰溪) crosses the middle of the city from west to east into Xinghua Bay (兴化湾). The 343.6 km coast has three bays, Meizhou (湄洲湾), Xinghua and Pinghai (平海湾), and parts of Meizhou Bay are deep, wide and free of ice and silt.

History

Putian became a county in 568 under the Chen, and Xianyou (仙游) was split from it in 699. In 979 the Song created Taiping Jun (太平军), renamed Xinghua Jun (兴化军) the next year, whose seat moved to Putian in 983; under the Ming and Qing the area was Xinghua Prefecture. Mazu, born Lin Mo (林默) on Meizhou Island in 960, died in 987 rescuing people at sea and was soon worshipped as a guardian of seafarers. Putian was named a national historic and cultural city in 2023.

What to see

The Mazu ancestral temple on Meizhou Island holds its annual rite on the 23rd day of the third lunar month, Mazu's birthday; the rite is national intangible heritage. Guanghua Temple (广化寺), founded in 558 at the foot of Nanshan 3 km south of the city, is counted with the Gushan, Nanputuo and Kaiyuan temples among Fujian's four great monasteries. The Mulan Weir (木兰陂) was completed in 1083 by Li Hong (李宏) to irrigate the plain after two earlier dams, by Qian Siniang (钱四娘) from 1064 and then Lin Congshi (林从世), were swept away; it has been a national key protected site since 1996.

The South Shaolin Temple (南少林寺) has been rebuilt since 1992 on a site found in 1986 in Xitianwei Town (西天尾镇). Jiuli Lake (九鲤湖), about 25 km north-east of the Xianyou county town, is a AAAA area known for its lake, caves, waterfalls and rocks.

Food and local products

Putian is one of Fujian's noted grain and fruit areas; longan, lychee, loquat and seedless pomelo are its four famous fruits, and Putian longan, Putian loquat, Duwei wendan pomelo (度尾文旦柚) and Nanri abalone (南日鲍) are geographical-indication products. Local dishes include Putian braised noodles (莆田卤面), Xinghua rice vermicelli (兴化米粉), qiangrou (炝肉) and hongtuan (红团). Puxian opera (莆仙戏), formerly Xinghua opera, grew from Southern Song Xinghua zaju; the national intangible heritage list (2006) calls it one of the oldest surviving Chinese opera forms.

Getting oriented

The government sits in Chengxiang District (城厢区). The Fuzhou–Xiamen railway and high-speed line and the Yong'an–Putian railway serve Putian, Hanjiang and Xianyou stations, and a ferry links Wenjia (文甲) with Meizhou Island.

Highlights

• Meizhou Island 湄洲岛: Island at the mouth of Meizhou Bay with the Mazu ancestral temple, birthplace of Mazu culture.
• Nan Shan Guang Hua Si 南山广化寺: Temple founded in 558, one of Fujian's four great monasteries.
• Mulan Weir 木兰陂: Song irrigation weir completed in 1083; national key protected site since 1996.
• Jiuli Lake 九鲤湖: AAAA area north-east of Xianyou known for its lake, caves, waterfalls and rocks.