Why does the "Light of Eastern Fujian" become brighter and brighter?

China News Service, Ningde, November 12 (Wu Yunjie) As the sun sets, the sea surface in Dongbi Village, Xiapu County, Ningde City, Fujian Province is dyed golden red. The lights of more than 80 B&Bs come on one after another. Photographers set up tripods, waiting for the moment when the sunset sinks into the sea.

Ningde has diverse characteristic cultures such as red, She nationality, covered bridges, folk customs, ocean, and tea. Together with the beautiful rivers and mountains of Eastern Fujian and the people of Eastern Fujian's spirit of self-improvement, hard work, kindness and simplicity, they together form the shining "Light of Eastern Fujian". Nowadays, the light is farther and brighter.

Ningde city center. (Drone photo) Photo by Ye Jinqiu

From "hollow village" to "check-in place"

"In the past, villagers could only sit around during the fishing moratorium, but now the fishing moratorium has become a 'busy season'. Some people have converted old houses into B&Bs, and some have bought yachts to take tourists out to sea for fishing. They can earn income regardless of the off-peak season." Cai Jianfeng, secretary of the Dongbi Village Party branch, said.

Relying on its unique natural resources, Dongbi Village vigorously develops the "rural tourism + photography + B&B" industry, guiding villagers to revitalize idle ancient houses and develop unique themed B&Bs, fishermen's style catering, and photography guide supporting services. It builds a benign industrial closed loop of "photography attracts visitors, B&Bs retain guests, and increases agricultural income" and becomes a well-known "Internet celebrity B&B village."

The same story is happening in the countryside of Ningde. In Longtan Village, Pingnan County, artists settled in the hollow ancient village and transformed the dilapidated old houses into cultural and creative spaces and boutique B&Bs. "Cultural and creative + tourism" has reunited the once-empty village with popularity and was selected as a tourism poverty alleviation case by the World Tourism Alliance; Chixi Village in Fuding City explores "party building-led, industry-driven, and ecological tourism" It has completed the industrial shift from "blood transfusion" to "blood production" and is known as "China's No. 1 Poverty Alleviation Village"; Xiadang Township, Shouning County, takes rural tourism as the leading role and simultaneously develops industries such as high mountain tea, high-quality fruits, edible fungi, and forest economy, becoming a "new landmark of red tourism"...

Tourists wearing phoenix costumes of the She ethnic group take photos in Banyueli Village, Xinan Town, Xiapu County, Ningde City. Photo by Wu Yunjie

Each case of integrating culture and tourism reflects the effectiveness of Ningde in “using culture to shape tourism and using tourism to highlight culture”. Data show that the total number of tourists received by Ningde City will increase from 45.8784 million in 2021 to 79.6144 million in 2025, with an average annual growth of 14.8%; the total tourism expenditure of tourists will increase from 41.08 billion yuan in 2021 to 77.094 billion yuan in 2025, with an average annual growth of 17%.

Let traditional culture catch up with the new era

In December 2024, UNESCO transferred "Chinese Traditional Wooden Arch Bridge Construction Techniques" from the Intangible Cultural Heritage List in Urgent Need of Protection to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Ningde City, known as the "Hometown of Chinese Wooden Arch Bridge Culture", currently has 164 cultural relic covered bridges of various types, including 52 wooden arch bridges. In order to protect the cultural treasures scattered in the mountains and fields, Ningde City took the lead in Fujian Province to issue a special municipal-level regulation, the "Ningde City Wooden Arc Bridge Protection and Management Regulations", to promote the cultural dissemination and inheritance of wooden arcade bridges; encourage and support the rational use, protection and inheritance of wooden arcade bridges through new wooden arcade bridges, publishing books and audio-visual materials, and conducting cultural value research.

Liu Shuijin, deputy director of the Ningde Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, said in a previous interview that the legislative protection of wooden arcade bridges not only responds to public opinion but is also a reality. It is of far-reaching significance for protecting and inheriting excellent historical and cultural heritage, strengthening cultural confidence, and promoting the "Light of Eastern Fujian".

Old craftsmanship has also found new audiences in theaters. Stepping into the fully renovated and upgraded Huotong Line Lion Pavilion in Jiaocheng District, Ningde City, with the support of giant LED screens, surround stereo speakers, and immersive light and shadow special effects, the performing dancers and line lions cooperated tacitly to create an atmospheric stage look and feel.

Luanfeng Bridge is located in Xiadang Township, Shouning County, Ningde City. (Drone photo) Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Dongming

Huotong's Thread Lion, also known as the "Pumping Lion", is known as "a unique thing in China" and was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects in 2006. This traditional skill with a history of more than 1,300 years has now been transformed from a "skill show" at street lantern festivals to an "artistic presentation" in theaters with the help of modern technology.

"I didn't expect that traditional skills can be so well combined with modern technology. It has both rich culture and cool performances that I like to watch. It's very beautiful." Wang Yuyuan, a junior high school student in Ningde, said after watching the performance.

Culture is at your doorstep

Culture is not only in theaters and scenic spots, but also around the people. Ningde innovatively carries out the "Weekend Opera Encounter" high-quality cultural resources directly to grass-roots performances, and regularly carries out the "Thousands of performances into thousands of homes, literary and artistic stars shine all over East Fujian" activities, with an average of more than 1,000 performances per year; 1,237 cultural teams and tens of thousands of cultural backbones are active in the fields, and villagers have changed from "spectators" to "protagonists" ; The "Village Village Gala" brand has been launched, with more than 200 "Village Galas" held on average every year, and villagers can enjoy a feast of excellent literary and artistic performances at their doorsteps; representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage have settled in historical and cultural blocks, relying on intangible cultural heritage displays and immersive experiences to promote the continued vitality of the old blocks...

Lin Shuqing, a resident of Pengcheng Historical and Cultural Street, said that the neighborhood used to be deserted, but now the business has become more active, and various activities are constantly being held, making it much more lively than in the past.

From the sunset in Dongbi Village to the cornices of the covered bridge, from the Huo Tong Line Lion in the theater to the big stage at the doorstep of people's homes, every ray of brilliance of the "Light of Eastern Fujian" falls on specific people and stories. For more than thirty years, dripping water has penetrated the stone, and this beam of light is getting brighter and brighter.