General Introduction

Fujian Province on the south- eastern coast faces Taiwan Province across the Taiwan Straits. It has an area of more than 120,000 square kilometers. Of its 25.18 million people, 12 per cent live in the cities and 88 per cent in the rural areas -- mostly concentrated in the coastal regions. The home province of many overseas Chinese, Fujian has been authorized to adopt special policies and flexible measures in its foreign economic activities under a decision made by the Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council in 1979.

Scenic Spots

Fuzhou -- City of Banyans
Quanzhou -- City of Coral Trees
Zhangzhou -- Ancient Port City
Xiamen -- Egret Island
Wuyi Mountain -- Scenic Wonder

Topography

Fujian has the highest elevation among the coastal provinces, its mountains and hills 90 per cent of its total land mass. The general outline of its topography is a staircase descending from the northwest to the southeast seaboard. Its principal mountains run in a northeast-southwest direction. The Wuyi Mountains straddle the Fujian-Jiangxi border in the west. Most of the ranges in its central part run parallel with each other, including the Jiufeng, Daiyun and Bopingling mountains. There are long, narrow plains along the coast. Its rugged, 3,300-kilometre-long coastline has many harbors and offshore islands, the better-known being Pingtan, Xiamen, Dongshan, Jinmen and Mazu.

Fujian's rivers flow short distances--each with its own outlet to the sea--through the mountains where there are treacherous gorges and rapids. Among its numerous rivers, the better-known are the Minjiang, Jiulong, Jinjiang and Tingjiang. The Minjiang, the largest of them all, drains half of the province's land.

Climate

Fujian has a sub-tropical climate, warm and humid. There is marked difference in climate between north and south, coastal and inland regions, and valleys and mountains. It has a mean annual temperature of 17ºC-21ºC. and a mean annual precipitation of 1,100-2,000 mm., both increasing from northwest to southeast. Typhoons occur frequently from July to September.

Communications

Land communications were inconvenient in Fujian in the old days, and there were no rail lines there. Fujian now has the Yingtan-Xiamen, Waiyang-Fuzhou, Zhangping-Longyan, Meishuikeng-Fude and Fuzhou-Mawei railways totaling 1,009 kilometers, and a highway mileage of more than 30,000 kilometers. Its fine harbors include Xiamen, Mawei in Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Sanduao in Ningde. The Minjiang is the major inland navigation channel.