East of Fujian (Mingdong) and Taiwan are close neighbors separated only
by a strip of water. Mingdong is also the nearest place in the southeast
of China from Taiwan. So the people have much in common such as the
origin, the language and the customs etc. Sansha port of Xiapu is 127
miles from Jilong Port of Taiwan. Going there in the morning and coming
back in the evening is possible. Xiyang Island of Xiapu is only 9.9 miles
from Taiwan. Shacheng port of Fuding City is 142 miles from Jilong Port of
Taiwan. Due to the geographical and the blood relation, Mingdong and
Taiwan have a long history of exchange in trade and culture. Since
Mingdong first received the ship of Taiwan at Sansha Port in July 1973,the
Taiwan fishermen have been arriving in Sansha in succession. Up to the
autumn of 1990,28 aged men who went to Taiwan realized their old dreams of
returning to hometown to have a look. In 1987, there are 1112 people from
Taiwan to look for their roots. Meanwhile the people who went to Taiwan to
visit their relatives have successfully opened up a channel. In the early
of 1987,more than 40 people from Mingdong went to Taiwan to visit their
relatives From 1987,People of Ningde and Taiwan have been getting more
familiar with each other. Up to June of 1999,there were 120,000 Taiwanese
who came to the motherland to visit relative, tour, inspect, look for
roots and worship forefathers, see doctors, avoid storms, repair ships.
6960 people came to Mainland to carry out trade, literature exchange,
academic activities, news reports, show, science, education, religion, and
sports.
As the number of ships entering Mingdong for arbitration and sheltering
was increased at the end of 1970s,many fishermen feeling grateful to the
care and help of people of mainland began to do some small-scale business
mutually. After 1987,the number of trading ships from Taiwan became more
and more. In recent years, our city carried out many favorable policies to
attract foreign investment. Up to the end of 2000, Taiwan businessmen ran
up to 149 factories with a contractual fund of $ 11, 350,000, and an
actual fund of $ 72,210,000. The Taiwan businesses cover agriculture,
forest, fishing, electronic, food, the process of stone, forests,
entertainment, real estate, port construction, reconstruction of old
cities, hydropower development. The investment forms vary from single
groups to unified groups, from labor-oriented to hi-tech oriented. Quite a
few products are exported and the benefit is good. In the past ten years,
the fine varieties of agriculture introduced from Taiwan were increasing.
In total the number has reached about 80 mainly of different kinds of
rice, vegetables, fruits etc. Since 1990, there have been more than 500
scientists visited Ningde to make an investigation on the economy,
commerce, and port business . At the invitation of Taiwan, Ningde also
sent economic and commercial organizations there to inspect 3 times, which
had a great effect on improving the relationship and other interchanges.
The cultural and academic exchange Since 1991, Ningde and Taiwan have
formed overall patterns of exchanges in many areas such as folk culture,
academy, news, photography, science, education, religion, sports etc. For
example, Fu'an City held"Fu'an Tea Culture Festival of Mingdong,
China", which was attended by countrymen both form two sides in 1991
and 1992. In August, 1993 Li Junjie, Chairman of
Board of Taibei Linshui Palace and 4 countrymen attended the exchange
meeting of"Cultural Study of Chengjingfu" and submitted their
thesis. On March 16,1994 our city held a seminar on Zhuzi's Idealist
Philosophy for the first time. Wei Yongzhu, a member of Taiwan's Documents
and Records Committee and 3 countrymen attended the meeting, submitted the
relevant thesis and gave us a book of"History of Taiwan" as a
gift. From March of 1993 to the end of 1994, Chen Yingzen, the famous
writer in Taiwan, and the young writer Lu Feiyi came to Fuding to give a
lecture on literature. In August, 1998,"Academic Seminar on Songshan
Mazhu Goddess " was held in Xiapu. During that time, Taiwan scholars
submitted 3 theses. On April 2nd and 3rd, 1999,"Fujian-Taiwan Chen
Jinggu Cultural and Academic Exchange Seminar" was held in Gutian.
Over 30 Taiwan scholars attended the seminar and submitted 12 theses.
Since 1993, 20 Taiwan journalists came to Mingdong for interviews,
including reporters from Industrial and Commercial Times, Union, Economic
Newspaper, China Times, etc. After returning to Taiwan,they carried out
more than 50 pieces of news reports describing the situation and economic
development in Ningde. From 1993 to 1995, a lot of cameramen from studios
such as "8,000-mile Road, Cloud and the Moon ", "Sister
Lintou", " The Taimu Mountains' Feelings", etc. came to
Mingdong to take exterior photoes. Taiwan's "Mass Video" also
filmed"Mosaic and Customs of the She Nationality". Due to the
reform and opening up policies, Ningde and Taiwan have a frequent exchange
of religion. Each year, people from Taiwan come to Mingdong to pay
respects to the important temples and palaces such as Gutian's Linshui
Palace; Xiapu's Songshan Mazhu Goddess Palace; Xiapu's Zhukou Taihou
Palace; Zhouning's Linfeng Temple; the Zheng's Clan Hall in Zhouning
County; the She Nationality Palace in Jinhan Village , Jiaochen District.
From 1995 to 1996, the spiritual name board of Mazhu Goddess in Zhukou,
Xiapu County was selected to take part in "The Exhibition of Mazhu
Goddess Folk Cultural Relics" in Taiwan. In October 1998, over 50
descendants of the Xue Clan from Taiwan returned to Liancun Village in
Fu'an City to pay respect to their forefathers. In January, 2000,53 people
from the Association of Taiwan's Linshui Palaces paid respect to the
Linshui Palace in Gutian and discussed to hold a parade of the spiritual
photo of Goddess Chen Jinggu in Taiwan. From 1999 to 2001, Ningde City
organized two groups to visit Taiwan's Linshui Palace, which improved the
exchange of culture of Goddess Cheng Jinggu between Ningde and Taiwan.