The Hong Kong media delegation continued the visit to Fuzhou, Fujian Province on August 7, touring the Guling Tourism Resort and the Achievement Exhibition of the "3820" Strategic Project. They traced President Xi Jinping's strategic vision during his tenure in Fuzhou and the heartwarming stories of Sino-foreign friendship that have become hallmarks of Guling’s legacy.
The Guling Tourism Resort, Photo by Bastille Post
The Guling Tourism Resort is an internationally renowned cultural and tourism destination, built upon a century-old tradition of Sino-foreign exchange. Now a high-quality ecological and cultural tourism demonstration area, it traces its roots to the late Qing Dynasty, when many foreigners retreated to the mountains for summer respite, creating a unique community where Chinese and foreign residents coexisted as a classic model of Sino-foreign people-to-people friendship.
Click to Gallery
The Guling Tourism Resort, Photo by Bastille Post
The Guling Tourism Resort is an internationally renowned cultural and tourism destination, built upon a century-old tradition of Sino-foreign exchange. Photo by Bastille Post
The restored Guling Post Office, Photo by Bastille Post
The public well, Photo by Bastille Post
The centuries-old cryptomeria grove, Photo by Bastille Post
The photo documenting Xi Jinping presenting a gift to Mrs. Gardner, Photo by Bastille Post
The old photos capturing the friendship and exchanges between Chinese and American people, Photo by Bastille Post
Han Ying, Photo by Bastille Post
Th letters and documents bearing witness to the friendship and exchanges between the Chinese and American peoples, Photo by Bastille Post
The Achievement Exhibition of the "3820" Strategic Project, Photo by Bastille Post
The Guling Tourism Resort is an internationally renowned cultural and tourism destination, built upon a century-old tradition of Sino-foreign exchange. Photo by Bastille Post
The delegation strolled through the Guling Tourism Resort, where its landmarks, including the restored Guling Post Office, Yixia Villa, a centuries-old cryptomeria grove, and ecological trails, recreate the cross-cultural atmosphere of the bygone era. According to the staff, the post office is still in operation, and many overseas visitors send postcards from there, carrying Guling’s warmth across the globe. The local public well bears witness to the daily lives of Chinese and foreign residents who once shared its water. And the 1,400‑year‑old “King of Cryptomeria” still stands tall and vibrant, a living monument to Guling's timeless beauty.
The restored Guling Post Office, Photo by Bastille Post
The public well, Photo by Bastille Post
The centuries-old cryptomeria grove, Photo by Bastille Post
Among the many stories of Guling, the most cherished is that of Mrs. Gardner’s trans-Pacific root‑seeking journey. American physicist Prof. Gardner spent ten years of his childhood in Guling with his parents. After returning to the U.S., he never forgot the land, calling out “Kuliang” (the historical name of Guling) until his final days. In 1992, to fulfil her husband’s last wish, Mrs. Gardner travelled to Fuzhou. With the help of Xi Jinping, who was then Secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Municipal Committee, she found Guling, the place her husband had longed for all his life.
The photo documenting Xi Jinping presenting a gift to Mrs. Gardner, Photo by Bastille Post
That story of searching for roots across the Pacific later became a vivid symbol of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. In 2012, then‑Vice President Xi Jinping recounted the Guling story at the welcoming luncheon hosted by friendly organizations in the United States (Washington D.C.), moving all present and elevating “Guling ties” to a globally recognised model of China‑U.S. people‑to‑people friendship. In 2023, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the event "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship Forum," concluding with the message: “The friendship between China and the U.S. peoples can stay forever strong and robust like the thousand-year-old cedar trees in Guling.”
The old photos capturing the friendship and exchanges between Chinese and American people, Photo by Bastille Post
Photo by Bastille Post
Han Ying, Director of the Tourism and Culture Division of the Fuzhou Guling Tourist Resort Management Committee, said Guling has served as an international summer retreat for over a century. Since the late 16th century, foreign visitors have come to the mountains to escape the summer heat, living in harmony with local villagers and gradually forming a well‑functioning international community where diverse cultures intertwined.
Han Ying, Photo by Bastille Post
In recent years, the resort has delved deeper into Guling’s history, collecting old photographs and archival materials from overseas universities, updating the exhibition content, and restoring historical sites such as the Kuliang Club and the Guling Post Office. A dedicated “Sino‑Foreign Cultural Exchange Route” has been created for overseas visitors, who now account for roughly 20% of the resort’s total tourist traffic over the past year.
Han noted that the overseas market remains a high priority. The resort hopes to strengthen cooperation with travel agencies, community organisations, and schools for future promotional efforts. The resort's “Bond with Guling” activity brand has been launched to foster exchanges between Chinese and foreign youth, ensuring the Guling story continues to resonate with younger generations. She added that although the number of descendants of former foreign residents is limited, sustained storytelling and outreach in recent years have brought a steady rise in overseas visitors, expanding Guling’s international footprint.
Th letters and documents bearing witness to the friendship and exchanges between the Chinese and American peoples, Photo by Bastille Post
Photo by Bastille Post
Photo by Bastille Post
To further broaden people‑to‑people exchange channels, Guling opened the Fuzhou Guling China-US Youth Friendship Park this year, where young people from both countries planted a friendship tree together on its opening day.
The delegation also visited the Achievement Exhibition of the "3820" Strategic Project. The project is a cross‑century urban development framework personally compiled by Xi Jinping, who was then Secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Municipal Committee. Its name reflects three phases of development goals: 3 years, 8 years, and 20 years. The strategic thinking, scientific approach and people‑centred vision embedded in the framework continue to shape Fuzhou’s development to this day.
The Achievement Exhibition of the "3820" Strategic Project, Photo by Bastille Post
The Hong Kong media delegation visited the Baijiwan Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay in Ningde on the afternoon of August 6 to tour an integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project at sea. They also visited a local large yellow croaker farming base to trace the journey of this “national fish” from Ningde’s waters to Hong Kong’s dining tables.
The Baijiwan Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay, Photo by Bastille Post
Sandu'ao Bay, located in southeastern Ningde, is a renowned world-class deep-water harbour. Stretching across the azure waters, rows of fish farming rafts form a vast aquaculture landscape. The large yellow croaker cultivated in these waters are transported daily to Hong Kong and served on the tables of residents. Beyond developing its lithium battery new energy industry, Ningde is also making full use of its abundant marine resources to advance integrated offshore wind power and smart marine ranching projects, representing the development direction of Fujian Province's blue new quality productivity.
The Baijiwan Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay, Photo by Bastille Post
Upon arriving by boat at Baijiwan Sea Area, the delegation was greeted by vast stretches of fish farming rafts, where countless large yellow croakers are raised. With their golden bodies, orange-red lips, and white, tender flesh, these fish are rich in nutrients and widely known as the “national fish.”
Large yellow croakers, Photo by Bastille Post
You Weide, Chairman of Fujian Sanduao Foods Co., Ltd., noted that Guanjingyang Sea Area in Ningde is the original spawning ground for traditional wild large yellow croaker. Every March, parent fish migrate there to spawn, and the fry leave after the Dragon Boat Festival. Guanjingyang Sea Area boasts unique natural conditions — a natural harbour with moderate currents, seawater temperatures stable between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius, and a large influx of freshwater from the eastern Fujian mountains that maintains a balanced salinity, conditions that cannot be replicated in either northern or southern production areas. However, due to overfishing, wild large yellow croakers were once nearly extinct. Through the joint efforts of local government departments, research institutions, private enterprises, and aquaculture farmers, artificial breeding was finally achieved. Today, more than eight out of every ten large yellow croakers consumed globally come from Ningde, and the seedling breeding technology and seedlings used across China originate here, building a complete industrial chain through technical exchanges.
You Weide, Chairman of Fujian Sanduao Foods Co., Ltd., Photo by Bastille Post
You Weide added that large yellow croakers are naturally averse to bright light. Traditionally, they were covered with burlap sacks after being caught. Artificially farmed large yellow croakers are harvested between 8 and 9 pm. The light-avoidance process helps the fish develop a golden-yellow colour, a unique characteristic of Ningde large yellow croaker. Today, Sandu'ao Bay has formed a complete vertical industrial chain, covering seedling cultivation, aquaculture, processing, cold chain logistics, and domestic and international sales, with an annual output value exceeding RMB 20 billion. For local fishermen, You Weide noted, the large yellow croaker industry brings a chain reaction of “one industry driving hundreds of industries.”
Large yellow croakers, Photo by Bastille Post
Regarding supply to Hong Kong, You Weide stated that 100% of the frozen large yellow croaker in the Hong Kong market comes from Ningde, with a daily supply of approximately 30 tonnes. The mainstream sizes of frozen fish in Hong Kong supermarkets are four, six, and eight taels; there are almost no large-sized products weighing two or three catties. Fishermen harvest their catch at sea between 8 and 9 pm, deliver it to the factory for processing at 11 pm, and then load it onto trucks at 3 or 4 am for direct shipment to Shenzhen. It arrives in Hong Kong the same morning, transported entirely by land, without the need for transshipment by plane or ship.
The Baijiwan Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay, Photo by Bastille Post
The Baijiwan Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay, Photo by Bastille Post
The delegation also inspected the integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project at sea. On the floating platform, wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels, energy storage equipment, charging piles, and energy consumption monitoring systems operate smoothly, constructing a self-sufficient clean energy microgrid.
The integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project, Photo by Bastille Post
Yang Yun, the person in charge of the integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project at Sandu'ao Bay, explained that the project's name itself contains several core elements: wind, solar, storage, charging, and utilization. “Wind” refers to wind power generation; “solar” refers to the first application of floating photovoltaic power in a marine environment nationwide; “storage” refers to an energy storage device developed in collaboration with Fujian Contemporary Nebula Energy Technology Co., Ltd with an output power of approximately 100 kilowatts and the capacity to store 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Fish Farming Rafts at Sandu'ao Bay even during ten to fifteen days of continuous typhoons and rain; “charging” refers to charging piles for electric vessels; and “utilization” refers to all the electrical loads on the fish farming rafts. In the later stages of the project, they discovered that in addition to electricity difficulties, water was also a major problem for the fishermen. Therefore, they collaborated with Nanjing University to develop a seawater desalination device installed on the roofs of the fish-farming rafts that can produce 100 litres of fresh water per day with sufficient sunlight.
Yang Yun, the person in charge of the integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project at Sandu'ao Bay, Photo by Bastille Post
Yang Yun pointed out that the installed photovoltaic capacity is 58.88 kilowatts, which can produce 70,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, averaging about 200 kilowatt-hours per day, exactly matching the capacity of the energy storage device.
Floating photovoltaic panels, Photo by Bastille Post
Yang Yun recalled that the project's preliminary investigations revealed that fishermen previously relied on three main methods of electricity generation, none of which were environmentally friendly or without safety hazards: First, fish farming rafts near the shore often illegally strung cables, which, when submerged in seawater for extended periods, were prone to corrosion and posed a risk of electric shock. Second, diesel generators were noisy and posed a risk of oil spills and marine pollution. Third, fishermen purchased photovoltaic panels and lead-acid batteries online, but these batteries were bulky, heavy, had limited energy storage, and many were discarded batteries; due to high transportation costs, fishermen often simply dumped them into the sea, causing serious marine pollution. Yang Yun explained that the State Grid Corporation of China launched the integrated “wind-solar-storage-charging-utilization” demonstration project precisely to address these issues, employing lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage to ensure a green and environmentally friendly solution.
Floating photovoltaic panels, Photo by Bastille Post
Yang Yun expressed his hope that as CATL’s technology advances and energy storage prices decline, it will better benefit fishermen and enable widespread adoption.
