History of Human Influence

The millennial Keqiutou culture is a testament to the ups and downs of the Neolithic Age of the sea, leaving hints of a precious and mysterious ancient maritime civilization. The historical evolution of Pingtan Island is closely linked with the sea, where island survival, the Maritime Silk Road, and coastal defense culture all made a difference for the later generations of folk traditions and folk customs for thousands of years. Ancient Minyue customs, Mazu Culture, stone houses, cane shield dancing and many other wonders to be discovered at the cradle of world marine culture have been preserved and inherited through what later generations have seen and heard.

The 7,000-year-old Keqiutou culture

Situated on the hill slope northeast of Nanlong Village of Pingyuan Town, the Keqiutou culture can be dated back from 5,590 to 7,450 years before present. It represents the early stage of Fujian and Taiwan’s Neolithic culture and was listed as one of the key units for protection by Fujian Province in 1991.

5,000-year-old Austronesian influence

The Austronesian languages, the only large language family mainly dispersed across islands, contains 1,000-1,200 languages that are spoken by about 270 million people all over the world. Today, both international and Chinese archaeological communities consider Keqiutou as one of the first languages to branch from Proto-Austronesian.

Ancient Minyue customs dating back 3,000 years

As an ancient ethnic group in China, the Minyue people make up one of the least populous ethnic groups in the south of China, making them the only coastal fishery minority and the sole Chinese marine ethnicity. The current location of Haitan Ancient City in Pingtan is the original settlement of the Minyue people in Fujian, during which time Minyue shipbuilding technology reached an all-time high, allowing them to travel by boat from Pingtan to Taiwan and even Malaysia.

2,000-year-old Maritime Silk Road

Located on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait, Pingtan is the place where the famous Maritime Silk Road can be found passing through. In June 2005, Pingtan fishermen accidentally found several pieces of porcelain near the Wanjiao Reef waters at Pingtan. Wanjiao Shipwreck Site #1 was since discovered with more than 15,000 pieces of cultural relics, providing valuable never-before-known information from the sea floor for the research on the export of ancient Chinese blue and white porcelain and related important historical data.

1000-year-old Mazu culture

Pingtan, the closest place to Taiwan, is now an experimental zone for exchange and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. As another major channel for Mazu cultural exchanges across the strait, Pingtan takes Mazu beliefs shared by both sides as a medium for cultural exchanges, greatly deepening bonds on either side of the water.

640-year-old history of coast defense

Pingtan, by virtue of its special geographical location, has always been a strategic area for coast defense throughout several dynasties. Troops had been dispatched to be stationed in Pingtan during the Song Dynasty, and a naval base was built during the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Pingtan and Taiwan implemented a shift system for soldiers to guard the frontier by relieving a garrison between troops stationed at Haitan Town and the Penghu Navy at Taiwan Town once every three years. This lasted for 211 years. Tradition has it that Qi Jiguang originally invented and Zheng Chenggong then improved the cane shield dance, which is widely popular in Pingtan even today.

300-year-old stone houses

Since Pingtan Island is surrounded by the sea, houses in local coastal fishing villages are mostly built with granite stones to prevent destruction from typhoons and erosion from the sea breeze. Their roofs are often covered with stones to prevent the wind from lifting them, and their unique style contributes greatly to the unique local human-influenced landscape.

Haitan Ancient City built in 2015

Built as a carrier for the preservation and inheritance of Minyue culture, the business-friendly, habitable Haitan Ancient City is a large-scale tourism and cultural complex integrating the versatile functions of offering “food, accommodation, traffic, travel, shopping, and entertainment” specially built for Pingtan. In its architectural design, Minyue elements such as snakes, birds, navigation, blessing rites, and folkways have been incorporated, allowing more people to think about present days and focus on the preservation and development of ancient civilizations while still finding lost ancient civilizations.

Pingtan Marine Cultural Center under construction

Pingtan Marine Culture Center sits in the Lancheng business district, close to beautiful Zhuyuhu Park. With an area of about 120,000 square meters, a gross building area of some 500,000 square meters, and a total investment of approximately 3.3 billion yuan, it is intended to be built into a comprehensive cultural center containing Pingtan and Taiwan’s cultures with a unique marine style.