By the time of the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) the region was becoming gradually assimilated into northern Chinese culture as Han immigrants intermarried with the native Min peoples. When the Tang dynasty fell China disintegrated into a period of relative anarchy which has been called the Ten Kingdoms period. Once again the kingdom of Min emerged, with its capital at Fuzhou, but later it came under the control of the Southern Song empire based to the north in what is now Zhejiang Province. Min became an important supplier of food to the Southern Song, with rice, sugar, fruit and tea being the principal crops. At this time trade and shipbuilding also became important, and when Marco Polo visited the port city of Quanzhou (which he called Zaitun) it was said to be the home of over 100,000 Arab traders.

Its fortunes began declining under the Ming dynasty when maritime trade was made illegal, and continued to suffer under the isolationist policies of the later Qing dynasty. By the 19th century there was a revival in trade as treaty ports were established at Fuzhou and Xiamen (Amoy). A modern shipyard was constructed at Mawei (near Fuzhou), but this was destroyed by the French Navy during the Sino-French War of 1883-85. When the Qing fell in the revolution of 1911-12 Fujian entered a period in which parts of it passed back and forth between the control of warlords, Communists, the Chinese Nationalist government based in Nanjing, and the Japanese. The Communists finally took complete control of the province in 1949 but were slow at first to develop Fujian's economy, in part due to tensions with the Nationalist government in Taiwan and a partial blockade of the Fujian coast by the United States during the Korean War. Extensive development was begun as coastal trade was gradually revived, and was accelerated in 1979 when the government began to favour coastal areas for the establishment of export industries. Today, Fujian's industry is based on its abundant supplies of coal, iron, limestone, hydro-electric power, wood, and agricultural produce. Light industries such as food processing, papermaking, plastics, porcelain and electronics make up a large part of the province's industrial output. As in the past, the major crops are rice, sugar, tea and fruit, with forestry and fishing also important.

Culture
Two distinct subcultures have evolved in Fujian. The Northern Min culture centered on Fuzhou is marked by the early adoption of Buddhism, and shows influences of Japanese culture and cuisine through contacts made with the Ryukyu Islands. The Southern Min culture of the Xiamen-Quanzhou-Zhangzhou region is considered to be more adventurous and entrepreneurial, and has been influenced by Southeast Asia through continuing contact with the descendants of Southern Min natives who emigrated there over the last 300 years. Each of the two cultures has its own traditional operas and ballads, recording a thousand years of Fujian's history.

Women in Fujian society have traditionally enjoyed a higher social standing than women in northern China. The province also has a tradition of educational achievement, and has produced many important scholars and statesmen since the time of the Ming dynasty, such as:

• Zheng Qiao (1108-1166, historian)
• Zhu Xi (1130-1200, Confucian philosopher)
• Hong Chengchou (1593-1665, Ming dynasty official)
• Lin Zexu (1785-1850, scholar and official)
• Lin Shu (1852-1924, translator)
• Yan Fu (1854-1921, scholar and translator)
• Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958, literary historian)

Food
Fujian cooking is considered to be one of the five major regional cuisines in China. Characteristic dishes include shredded fish and pork, and crepes stuffed with pork, scallions, bamboo shoots, prawns, and snow peas.

Folklore
Parts of mountainous interior of Fujian are so isolated, it is said, the inhabitants did not learn of the Communist takeover until the 1960s.

Ethnicity:
Fujian is a province where many ethnic groups live in compact communities. According to the fifth population census, Fujian has 48 ethnic groups, with the Han constituting the largest group and the 47 ethnic minority groups, with 580,000 people in total, comprising 1.67 percent of its population. The She is the largest ethnic minority group in the province, with a population of 350,000, accounting for more than 50 percent of its total population nationwide. The number of Hui people exceeds 10,000. Ethnic minority groups in Fujian are mainly distributed in Ningde, followed by Fuzhou City and Quanzhou City.

Literacy:
Of every 100,000 people in Fujian, 2,967 have received education of higher learning.

Hometown of overseas Chinese:
Fujian is one of the hometowns of overseas Chinese. The number of Fujian natives residing abroad totals 8.8 million. They live in more than 90 countries and regions across the world, mainly in Southeast Asia.

Fujian-Taiwan Ties:
Fujian faces Taiwan across the sea. The people on the two sides of the strait are closely linked because they have the same ancestors, speak the same dialect and share the same customs and cultural traditions. People from Fujian began to move to Taiwan more than 1,700 years ago. In the 17th century, large numbers of Fujian people migrated to Taiwan in order to escape from wars and natural disasters. When Zheng Chenggong, a heroic general, recovered Taiwan from the Dutch colonialists during the late Ming and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, he took with him tens of thousands of Fujian officers and men and their families to the island. These Fujian immigrants brought with them production techniques, cultural traditions, native dialect, customs and religious beliefs; they lived and multiplied there generation after generation, making special contributions to the social, economic and cultural development of Taiwan. According to statistics published in Taiwan, people of Fujian origin comprise 80 percent of Taiwan's 20 million population. The number of Taiwan compatriots living in Fujian also exceeds 10,000.

Topography:
Mountains and hilly areas constitute over 80 percent of Fujian's land area. Plains are concentrated in its southeast coastal areas.

Mountains: Mt. Wuyishan, Mt. Jiufengshan, Mt. Daiyunshan, Mt. Daimaoshan, and Mt. Bopingshan

Rivers: the Minjiang River is the major waterway, with a drainage that covers about half of the province

Climate:
Fujian has a subtropical humid monsoon climate, with annual temperature averaging between 17-21¡ãC. The average temperatures in the coldest month (January) are 10-13¡ãC in the southeast coastal parts and 5-8¡ãC in the inland mountainous areas. In the hottest month (July) the temperature averages 26-29¡ãC. The average annual precipitation is 1,000 mm and frost-free period lasts 240 to 330 days a year.

Average Temperature: 5C to 13C in January, 25C to 30C in July

Annual Average Rainfall: 800 - 1,900 mm; low precipitation in the coastal lowlands, high in the northwestern mountains; the most rainfall occurs in May and June

Natural resources:
Fujian possesses 86 kinds of minerals with verified reserves, including 34 kinds of metallic minerals and 47 nonmetallic minerals. Among those with considerable reserves are gold, silver, lead, zinc, manganese, kaolin, limestone, granite, alunite, pyrophyllite and sulfur. Its reserve of quartz-sandstone ranks among the national tops in both quantity and quality.

Forests cover 52.4 percent of Fujian's total land area, a c rate ranking first in China. Plant species are abundant. There are 1,943 kinds of woody plants, including 400 species of timber tree and 140 varieties of bamboo. Fujian has 400 million cubic meters of timber reserved, its timber production ranking third in China.

Incomplete statistics show that there are several thousand species of terrestrial wild animals in Fujian, including 100 species of beasts, 540 species of birds, 115 species of reptiles and 44 species of amphibians. There are also more than 5,000 kinds of insects. The Wuyi Mountain Nature Reserve is abundant in wildlife resources. It is also a world-renowned specimen base for new species of vertebrates and insects. The Meihua Mountain Nature Reserve in Longyan City is home to large numbers of birds and animals.

Fujian has five big fishing grounds which abounds in marine resources. Among the more than 3,000 species of marine organisms, 750 are fishes, accounting for 50 percent of the country's total marine fish species.

Water Resources:
Fujian is rich in water resources, and its annual rainfalls totals 201.1 billion cubic meters. More than 500 rivers in the province have their drainage area of over 50 square kilometers each. The total volume of river runoff stands at 115 billion cubic meters a year on average. The province's theoretical waterpower reserves total 10.46 million kw which can generate 91.6 billion kwh of power annually. There are 1,000 places suitable for building a hydropower station with a generating capacity of over 500 kw. Their combined generating capacity can reach 7.05 million kw and their annual power generation, 32 billion kwh, both ranking first in eastern China. The existing generating capacity accounts for only 30 percent of the province's total potential, leaving big room for development. Fujian also has rich underground water resources. More than 100 hot springs have been discovered, their water temperatures ranging from 40¡ãC to 60¡ãC.

Tourist resources:
Fujian is rich in tourism resources, abounding with numerous places of historical and cultural interest, and beautiful scenic spots.

Fujian preserves many cultural sites from the Qin (221-207 BC), Han (206 BC-AD 220), Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. There are numerous ancient temples, pagodas, bridges and castles, as well as former residences of celebrities. Fujian has a wide variety of navigation relics and religious legacies thanks to its long history of navigation and frequent contacts with the outside world.

Transportation
Highways:
The length of Fujian¡¯s highways totals 50,202 km, of which medium-grade roads stretch for 41,381 km; expressways, 144 km; first-class roads, 406 km; second-class roads, 4,328 km; and off-grade roads, 8,821 km.

Waterways:
Fujian has 327 port berths, including 35 deepwater berths catering to 10,000-ton vessels and larger ones. The ports¡¯ comprehensive handling capacity exceeds 45 million tons. The Fuzhou and Xiamen ports rank among the nation's top 10 container ports. Motor vessels in operation total 3,530, with a shipping capacity of 1.38 million tons. It¡¯s connected by waterway with all ports nationwide, including those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and over 60 ports in 40 foreign countries.

Airway:
Fujian has four airports: the Gaoqi International Airport in Xiamen, Changle International Airport in Fuzhou, Jinjiang Airport in Quanzhou, and Wuyishan Airport in Nanping.

Telecommunications
Telephones:
The province has built a digital transmission network using optical cable, satellite and digital microwave equipment. By 2000, optical cables in Fujian had totaled 44,000 km in length, including 11,000 km artery transmission cables. A 10Gb/s system connecting all prefectures and cities has taken shape. The provincial broadband network has reached all prefectures and cities and some of the county seats and towns. Replacing electric cables, optical fiber connection networks have been installed in newly built buildings and residential quarters. The telephone switching board capacity has exceeded 8 million entries; the capacity of long-distance automatic dialing switching system reached 260,000 terminals; and mobile telephone switching capacity, 6 million entries. The number of fixed telephones totals 5.68 million, a penetration rate of 16.97 percent, and the number of mobile telephone users amounts to 4.41 million, a rate of 12.7 percent.

Radio and TV stations:
A provincial broadcast and TV network has taken shape, using multiple transmission means such as microwave, optical cable and satellite. Radio and TV programs are accessible to 95.6 percent and 96.3 percent of the province's population respectively.