The Qiongtai Academy is situated at Wenzhauang Road in Fucheng County, Qiongshan. Construction of the academy was first initiated in 1705, the 44 th year after Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty ascended the throne. It is said that Qiongtai Academy was built in memory of Qiu Jun -- the most gifted scholar of Hainan, who was a Grand Academician of the Ming Dynasty. Now 280 years have passed, but the academy is as elegant as it was in its prime days. Exquisitely ornamented with carved beams and painted rafters, the Tower of the God of Literature (Kuixinglou) in the academy still stands calmly under the cooling shade of green trees. From its graceful beauty and serenity, one can still get much of the feeling of the past. The Qiongtai Academy, once the highest center of learning in Qiongzhou, was a necessary threshold over which men of learning needed to pass to seek an official post.