Fuzhou is an ancient city with a history of more than 2,100 years. It is one of the fourteen open coastal cities in China. Situated by the East Sea and in the lower reaches of the Min River, this area of 12, 153 square kilometres is populated with 5.83 million people. The city tree is Banyan Jasmine flower is known as the symbolic flower of the city.

The city of Fuzhou is alternatively called Three Hills. The Yu, Wu and Screen Hills, all verdant with flourishing trees and grass, form a triangle inside the city. The White and Black Pagodas, elegant and slim as they are, face each other from the Yu and Wu hills. The Min River flows through the city, carrying along with it the reflections of trees and flowers. As it is said, "Three Hills, Two Pagodas and a River" constitute the unique landscape of Fuzhou City. The banyan is the symbolic tree of the city. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), this kind of trees have been planted all over the city, and as a local saying goes: "Green shade is the cover of the city, and no other is needed in summer." Ancient banyan trees, shaped like' umbrellas and luxuriant with all the youthfulness, offer a comfortable coolness to courtyards. Thus, the city is also called Banyan City. Jasmine flower is known as the symbolic flower of the city. The broad modern avenues and little ancient lanes are permeated with the sweet scent of jasmines, which contend with the Yulan magnolia, banana shrub and orchid, blazing the city with a riot of colour, brimming it with aroma and bringing about the name to the city "Hometown of Flowers and Fruits. "

Fuzhou has a honourable title "Civilization by the East Sea." Since the establishment of the city under the reign of Song Dynasty Gaozhu over one thousand years ago, the city has even served as the capital either to the king's prefecture or emperor's state or today's province. The rock-face inscriptions in the Drum Mountain, the Luoxing Tower in Mawei, the Great Iron Buddha in the Kaiyuan Temple and the Jinshan Temple amid the Min River, along with the hundred and more historic sites, have recorded the glory of Fuzhou City. The historical figures such as Lin Zexu, Yan F u, Sha Zhenbing, Zheng Zhenduo and Gao Shiqi, have always aroused the pride in the hearts of Fuzhou people. The "Treasure Land" Fuzhou has become more and more glamorous today.

Mount Drum

Mount Drum, a major scenic attraction in Fuzhou, has enjoyed a long history and reputation. As early as the Jin Dynasty, it was appraised as one of "The Two Matchless Scenic Beauties in Fujian Province." Lying 10 kilometres southeast of the city on the northern side of the Min River, the beautiful mountain with four peaks named Lion, White Cloud, Alms Bowl4*~ (of a Buddhist monk) offers over 160 sites of interest, centred by the Gushing Spring Temple. Since ancient times, men of letters and celebrities vied to visit the place, wrote poems and had their inscriptions carved on rocks, adding to the attraction of the mountain.

The Gushing Spring Temple , half-way up the mountain, proves the best of its kind in Fujian Province, with a history of more than 1,000 years. Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722, reigned 1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wrote the inscription: "the Gushing Spring Temple" on the lintel of the entrance. In front of the temple stand two earthen pagodas made in the 1080 of the Northern Song Dynasty. Each of the seven-metrehigh, nine-storey octagonal pagodas has 1,038 figures of Buddhas, 72 monks and warriors and same number of bells carved on its sides, all vivid and true to life.

Out of the rear of the temple, a path leads to the summit of Mount Drum, with an elevation of 925 metres, a place, which lends itself to a magnificent view of the sunrise. In front of the temple, a 2, 145-step flagstone path, accompanied by an 8.5- kilometre-long spiral highway, goes down to the office block at the foot of the mountain. To the west of the temple stand the famous Eighteen Caves. To the east, past the Rolling Dragon Pavilion, through a thick forest, a quiet path leads to the Lingyuan Cave, where jagged, grotesque rocks cover the ground and towering ancient trees give heavy shade to the deep, old pool. Connected with the place are many beautiful tales and myths. On the rocks are more than 300 inscriptions over the past nine hundred years since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), which deserves the title of a museum of Chinese calligraphy for the full variety of styles-from the regular script, cursive sript, seal character to official script .

Fungus-glossy ganoderma (ganoderma lucidum; used in medicine; formerly credited with miraculous powers and considered a symbol of good luck)

Lin Zexu Memorial Hall

Lin Zexu (1785-1850), a native of Fuzhou City, was a national hero in modern times. Since childhood, his diligence led to his success to become a candidate in the imperial examination. In his forty years' career as an official, he obtained great achievements, such as the reduction of crop taxes, harness of the Yellow River, the build-up of the coast defence and stationing troops to reclaim wasteland. The most outstanding of his deed was his resolute elimination of the opium trade in 1939, when he was acting as an imperial envoy to Guangdong on the mission, and had 1,185,000 kilograms of opium destroyed at Humen beach, thus greatly inspiring the Chinese people throughout the country and fiercely discouraging the American and English opium traders. To commemorate his tremendous contributions, people built the Hall of Master Lin on the Women Road in the city proper, which was renamed the Memorial Hall of Li Zexu in 1982. The Inscription Pavilion in the hall keeps three stone tablets on which are inscribed the imperial edict, funeral oration and biography of Lin Zexu. Emperor Daoguang (1821-1850) of the Qing Dynasty bestowed the tablets at Lin's death. Displayed in the hall are also Lin's poems, notes seals, five tablets of his copy of Huangpu's inscription written by a Tang-dynasty calligrapher Ouyang Xun (557-641), and other relics Lin Zuxu left behind.

West Lake

West Lake, at the foot of the Crouching Dragon Mountain in the northwestern suburbs of Fuzhou City, was dug in 282 of the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) by Governor Yan Gao. The project was originally meant for irrigation. In the Five Dynasties (907-960), King Min Wang Shenzhi's second son, who later succeeded his father as a king, built a royal park by the lake and declared it "The Crystal Palace" The small park consisted of some pavilions and halls. After the Song Dynasty, the lake experienced several silt-ups. But the dredging and restoration of it eventually shaped it into an entertaining place for celebrities and officials. Opened as a park in 1914, the area has been expanded five times (from 3.62 hectares to 18.37 hectares), enclosing the Mount Dameng and Guanjia Village. There are three islets such as Kaihua, Xieping and Yaojiao, with Jade Belt Bridge, the Flying Rainbow Bridge, and Walking-on-Cloud Bridge radiating from it. The bridges connect the several islets to make the park an integral unit. Around the lake are a zoo, a Provincial museum and a cinema, which have become an ideal place for visitors' entertainment.

The Yu Hill

The Y u Hill (also named Nine- Immortal Hill) , only 58.6 metres high and encompassing 11.9 hectares (29.75 acres), is situated in the city proper of Fuzhou. Legend claims that the name Yu Hill attributes to a branch of the "Yuyue" clan people lived here during the Warring States period (475- 221 BC). With the Wu Hill to its southwest and the Screen Hill to its north, the Yu Hill becomes a point of a triangle. Facing the distant peaks in the northwest suburbs, the hill helps to render a scene of "a city among the mountains and the mountains within the city ." The major attractions in the hill include the Dingguang Pagoda, Dingguang Temple from the 904 to 907 of the Tang Dynasty, the Nine-Immortal Temple obhe Song Dynasty, the Memorial Hall of Qi Jiguang (1528-1587), a famous general against Japanese invasion in the Ming Dynasty, and more than 100 rock-face inscriptions from the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties.