(A Tour for Fun in Pingtan: A Special Episode of Faraway Guests / Video: SETV)

A tour for Fun, a special program produced and released by SETV invited Ms. Chen Xiaozhen as a guest hostess to interview the Taiwan compatriots from living or doing business in Pingtan. In the show, Ms. Chen also talked about the history, natural scenery, the economic development and opening-up policies of Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone as well as its future plans.

In the TV show, Ms. Chen praised Pingtan International Tourist Island as the 'Maldives' in Fujian. With its beautiful beach and unique culture, Pingtan enjoys a long history of cross-straits contacts and has become a paternity park, a new tourist destination, an ideal venue for sport events. Ms. Chen also explored the relics of the thousand-year-old Minyue people and the coastal defense facilities, the history of Maritime Silk Road in Pingtan. She was quite amazed by Pingtan's drastic change and recent developments.

Creative Art Space in Pingtan

(Stone-houses in Beigang, Pingtan / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

"Oh, my Pingtan Island!

With only stones without grass!

Sandy days is gonna hurt us.

Windy days wanna kiss us.

We could do nothing, but

Just hiding, hiding, hiding

in the stone-houses!"

The folk song tells the story of Pingtan folks' life on the island decades ago. To resist the strong wind, people built stone-houses like blockhouses with granite from local mountains.

(The Beigang Village of Pingtan / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

Located on the northeastern Pingtan Island, Beigang Village keeps the typical stone-houses that are well arranged while the main buildings of the houses are almost in cyan and grey. Orderly arranged, the colorful tiles on the roofs have given great vitality to the ancient village. Facing the blue sea, with tiered fields as its background, Beigang Village looks like a magnificent Chinese painting, simple and elegant.

(Stones used as drums & percussions / GIF: SETV)

Rhythm of a song called Little Stars came to our ears as we drew close to the Beigang Artist Space. The sound of music came from stones played by the artists with hammers. It is amazing that these ordinary stones could produce rich sounds of music when we strike them gently.

The International Archaeological Base for Austronesian Studies in Pingtan

(Effect drawings of the International Archaeological Base for Austronesian Studies / Photo: SETV)

Located in Shangpan Village, Pingyuan Town, the Pingtan International Archaeological Base for Austronesian Studies is the first of its kind in China.

(The entrance of the Room for Cultural Restoration&Protection / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

The relics has unveiled some prehistoric mysteries in cultural development of Pingtan Island, and will strongly impact on the researches on the prehistoric culture of Fujian Province, the relationship between Fujian and Taiwan, and the origin of Austronesian, etc.

(The Austronesian relics of Pingtan / GIF: SETV)

With the Austronesian culture as a carrier, the Archaeological Base will explore the Austronesian history, the human species and genetic connection between Fujian and Taiwan. This move will also publicize the prehistoric civilizations in the southeastern coastal areas of China, and enhance the cross-straits contact and cultural exchange between Pingtanand the rest of the world.

Delicacies in Pingtan

(The Everlasting Love, also known as Pingtan Fried Dessert, a sweet potato dumpling with smashed peanuts, sugar and diced shallots as fillings / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

(Lucky Dumplings, with seafood as fillings / Photo:Ptnet.cn)

Lucky Dumpling, also known as Genshi in Pingtan dialect, is another potato dumpling with diced cabbage, nori, shrimps, oysters, sleeve-fish, crab meat and pork as fillings. It's a little salty. Legend says that you will run into big luck once you have them. It's a local dish that Pingtan people would prepare during the Spring Festival.

(Pingtan Seafood Pizza / Photo:Ptnet.cn)

Pingtan Seafood Pizza uses 8 ingredients including seafood like shrimps, crabs and fish, mixes with sweet potato starch, bacon and daylilies etc. Thanks to its great tastes, it won the nickname of 8-treasure pizza or Harmony Pizza.

The Stone-Sail Scenery

With its beautiful isles and great reefs, Pingtan has won a reputation for the superb landforms of sea erosion and best beaches in China.

Shipaiyang Stone-boat, also known as Banyang Stone Sails, is most famous tourist attraction in Pingtan. Two wave-erosion stones (the taller is 33 metres while the shorter is 15 metres) stand on a 2700-square-meter reef like two sails on the East China Sea. They are the biggest ball-shape marine erosion stones in the world.

Haitan Ancient Town

As a scenic area to provide food, accommodation, travel services, shopping and entertainment, the Haitan Ancient Town also reproduces the marine culture of thousand-year-old Minyue Kingdom.

(The Nine Streets and Six Lanes in the Haitan Ancient Town / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

The ancient town has built a theme park, as well as nine streets and six lanes to exhibit traditional Chinese architecture.

(Reproduction of Traditional Chinese Architecture / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

Taiwan Town in Pingtan

(The Taiwan Town in Pingtan / Photo: Ptnet.cn)

At Aoqian Town, over 30 southern Fujian-style houses were built for entrepreneurs from Taiwan. It is called Taiwan Town because many Taiwan businessmen live and trade at the neighboring duty-free market.

Aiming at exhibiting and marketing products from Taiwan, and served as a business complex for shopping and sightseeing , the duty-free market at Aoqian Town has set up exhibition halls for many cities and counties in Taiwan, including Taibei, Xinbei City, Yilan County, etc.

Pingtan Cross-Straits Gongtie Bridge

Pingtan Cross-Straits Rail-Road Bridge, also called Pingtan Gongtie Bridge, is the critical project for the Fuping Railway from Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, to Pingtan, and the Changping Freeway from the neighboring Changle city to Pingtan. As an extension of the Hefu Railway and the Beijing-Fuzhou Freeway, this bridge serves as a rapid link between Changle and Pingtan, and boasts the first cross-straits rail-road bridge in the world.

(The first main tower of the bridge was completed on April 26, 2018. / Photo: Ptnet.cn)