Fuding 福鼎市

Setting and landscape

The city faces the East China Sea to the southeast. Cangnan County (苍南县) in Zhejiang lies to the northeast and Taishun County (泰顺县), also in Zhejiang, to the northwest, with Zherong County (柘荣县) to the west and Xiapu County (霞浦县) to the south. Its land area is 1,461 square kilometres, and its sea area is roughly ten times that. Chinese Wikipedia counts 88.1 percent of the land as mountain and hill, with the ground falling toward the southeast coast, a coastline of 432.7 kilometres, and 81 islands, among them the Fuyao (福瑶列岛), Xingzai (星仔列岛) and Taishan (台山列岛) groups. The city seat, Tongshan (桐山), lies between two streams, the Tongshan (桐山溪) and the Longshan (龙山溪).

History

Fuding became a county in 1739, when four rural districts were taken from Xiapu. Local gazetteers say the name comes from Fuding Mountain (福鼎山), a peak east of the county town that stays in view from tens of li (里) away. When the People's Liberation Army took the county in June 1949 it was briefly placed under Wenzhou (温州) in Zhejiang, before returning to Fujian in October that year, and on 13 October 1995 the State Council approved its conversion into a city. The coastal town of Qinyu (秦屿) was renamed Taimushan town in 2011.

What to see

The core of the Taimu Mountain scenic area covers 24.6 square kilometres of sharp peaks and odd-shaped rocks, with more than 100 granite caves linked in a grid; the summit looks out over the East China Sea islands. Offshore, Dayu Island (大嵛山岛) covers 21.22 square kilometres and rises to 541.4 metres. At about 200 metres up it holds two lakes, the larger of close to a thousand mu (亩), surrounded by grassy slopes, and the Fuding government calls it the largest island in eastern Fujian. Chinese Wikipedia also lists the Cuijiao old houses (翠郊古民居) among the city's sights.

Food and local products

Fuding meat slices (福鼎肉片) are made by hand from lean pork, ideally from the hind leg, minced and kneaded with sweet-potato starch at about one part meat to 0.7 parts starch, then pinched into boiling water and served with local rice vinegar, chilli and coriander. Fuding white tea (福鼎白茶), the Fuding four-season pomelo (四季柚) and Fuding taro (槟榔芋) are all national geographical-indication products.

Getting oriented

The Wenzhou–Fuzhou railway (温福线) stops at Fuding and Taimushan stations, and the Shenyang–Haikou expressway (沈海高速) has several interchanges in the city. Chinese Wikipedia places Taimu Mountain 150 kilometres south of Wenzhou and 250 kilometres north of Fuzhou.

Highlights

• Taimu Mountain 太姥山: Granite peaks and more than 100 linked caves; the core area covers 24.6 square kilometres and looks out over the East China Sea.
• Dayu Island 大嵛山岛: 21.22-square-kilometre island with two lakes at about 200 metres and a 541.4-metre summit.
• Fuding meat slices 福鼎肉片: Hand-kneaded lean pork and sweet-potato starch, boiled and eaten with vinegar, chilli and coriander.
• Fuding white tea 福鼎白茶: National geographical-indication product.