莆田 英文简介

Good morning, Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Putian. My name is Xiao Gao.

You can call me Joan. I’m the local guide from China staff travel service Putian

branch.

Today

we’ll

visit

the

first

ancestral

temple

---Meizhou

Mazu

ancestral

temple.

As

we

go,

I’l

l

mention

places

of

interest

and

talk

about

their

history,

culture or political importance. It is going to be quite a day for you. I am glad to

be of service. I’m expecting your cooperation and eager to offer good service. I

wish your stay a pleasant one. Thank you.

Now please allow me to introduce the outline of Putian city.

Putian, located in the

middle of eastern coast of Fujian, including Putian and Xianyou Counties, covers

an area of 3781 km

2

and has a population of 3,000,000. It is on the west bank of

the Taiwan Straits, on the north of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province and the

south of Quanzhou and Xiamen special economic zone.

Putian, called Xinghua in the past, has enjoyed a long history; Putian county was

established in 568,the second year of Chen Guangda in the Southern Dynasty, and

Xianyou County in 699,the second year of Shenli in the reign of Wuzhou in the

Tang Dynasty. Later, both the counties were affiliated to Xinghua Region in the

Song and Ming Dynasties until 1949 when they were transferred to Jinjiang

Prefecture and later to Putian Prefecture. Putian City was founded in 1983.

Putian is well endowed with natural resources and has cultivated a large number

of talented personalities. In the past, men of letters came out from here in large

numbers, bringing to it a title “cultural center by the sea”. The scenic attractions

include Mazhu Temple, Guanghua Temple and Mulan Dam. Litchis are produced

in large quantity here in Putian, thus it was called “The Litchi City” in the past,

while sugar-

canes brought about the name of “poem of sugarcane” to the land.

With hosts of sports stars originating from Putian and wining their reputations all

over the world, Putian acquires the title of

Putian is unique for its custom and culture. The diligence of the people, the strong

local accent, the strange Mazhu costumes, the Putian Opera are all full of interest;

the traditonal rites and the architectural style are colorful. PuTian has special

dialect. It is said that the dialect of Putian is the official language used during Tang

Dynasty. After Tang Dynasty, in order to avoid the war in North China, many

people moved from the region of Yellow River to Fujian Province. They brought

the advanced technology and culture together with the official language. In Putian

City, it is isolated from the other cities. The ancient Tang language was able to

pass on without large changes there. In schools, some old Chinese teachers

especially prefer to read ancient poems in Putian Dialect.

Putian has a coastline measuring 343.6 kilometers, making up 10.3 percent of the

province's

total

length.

Meizhou

Bay

is

situated

between

Fuzhou

and

Xiamen

harbors, and also in the middle of Shanghai and Zhanjiang, and Manila and Tokyo

harbors. Xiuyu Harbor is a deep-water ice-free port capable of building more than

150 10,000-ton class berths. It is situated on a 30-kilometer length of coastline 10

meters

deep.

Ships

of

a

100,000-tonnage

come

and

go

freely,

as

do

those

of

a

200,000-tonnage

when

the

tide

is

high.

It

is

one

of

China's

four

international

inter-ports, as designated by the Ministry of Communications. The development

of

Meizhou

bay

and

the

Xiuyu

Port

reveals

this

place's

prospects-a

prosperous

port city.

Putian's

pillar

industries

of

shoe-making,

brewing,

electronics,

garments,

foodstuffs,

and

machinery

have

earned

the

city

its

epithets

“Shoe

City”,

“Beer

City”,

and

“Electronic

City”.

The

city's

foreign

-funded

Jiatong

Tire

Co.,

Ltd.,

ranks first nationwide in this trade in terms of sales volume, and the Fujian Xuejin

Beer Group Co., Ltd., is among the top ten in its field. Putian High-tech Industrial

Park, which houses 149 enterprises from 13 countries and regions, is the largest

electronic

calculator production base in

Asia. The Xinwei

Electronics

Co.,

Ltd.,

produces

400,000

electronic

calculators

daily,

and

its

products

are

sold

to

Southern

and

Western

Asia,

the

Middle

East,

Africa

and

Russia,

making

up

30

percent of the international market.

In 2002, Putian's GDP had an increase of 11.6

percent

over

the

previous

year,

making

it

second

in

the

province.

Its

growth

in

gross industrial output value and in the disposable income of its urban inhabitants

is top in the province.

Putian's agriculture has been industrialized, forming five major production bases

in aquatic products, fruits, livestock, edible mushrooms, and vegetables.

Putian

is famous for its fruits, in which the loquat, lychee and the longan are the most

famous. The longan features big core and thin skin, much juice anf delicious taste.

It

has

more

than

60

sorts.

In

the

ancient

it

is

one

of

the

best

contributes

to

the

emperor.

And

now

it

is

one

of

the

fruits

that

all

the

tourists

both

in

China

and

abroad would like to buy. The lychee is also the local product of putian. It is about

20

kinds.

In

2001

and

2002,

its

annual

output

of

loquats

exceeded

30,000

tons,

making up 40 percent of the national total, and ranking first in Fujian Province for

ten successive years. Putian also takes the lead in raising eels. China's largest eel

trading

center

is

located

in

a

street

in

Putian's

Hanjiang

New

Port,

which

also

serves as China's largest eel pricing and information center.

Putian is the famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Emigration overseas started

in

the

Northern

Song

Dynasty

(960-1127).

According

to

statistics,

overseas

Chinese and foreign nationals originating in Putian amount to 600,000, and reside

in more than 40 countries and regions on the five continents, 90 percent of them in

Southeast

Asia.

There

are

many

classroom

buildings,

science-technology

buildings,

outpatient

buildings

and

senior

citizens'

homes

named

after

overseas

Chinese

in

Putian.

Many

overseas

Chinese

have

invested

in

factories

in

their

hometown, thus making substantial contributions to Putian's prosperity.

Putian is also where the Mazu Culture originated, and is site of the South Shaolin

Temple. Every year on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (Mazu's birthday)

and on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (when she became an immortal)

grand sacrificial ceremonies are held on Meizhou Island. Mazu followers from all

over the world gather here to worship this goddess of the sea. Meizhou Island is

therefore called “Mecca of the Orient”. There are more than 3,000 Mazu temples

in more than 20 countries throughout the world.

China's Shaolin martial arts are in two schools: north and south. The Shaolin

Temple on Mount Songshan in Henan Province is famous for its leg techniques,