Changtai, Xiamen's beautiful backyard 

Changtai county is located in the center of Minnan Golden Triangle (Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou), about 50 km away from Xiamen. 

Changtai was a paradise for early farmers. The mild climate allows three harvests a year of grains, vegetables, and some of China’s best fruits. Changtai became a county in AD 955 and the Han from the central plains brought their culture, technology, and arts. Wenchangge Pagoda was built over 1,000 years ago, in the Tang Dynasty. 

Experts used to say that in Fujian there are four kinds of architecture, but in Changtai they’ve discovered a fifth, the Stone Fortress. 

The Mountain Goat Stone Fortress Shanchong hamlet is so remote that this area still has rare pangolins, ancient tortoises, wolves, mountain goats, wild board and plenty of snakes. They also have a 700 year old tree that is 15 meters around the base. The locals say that is the biggest tree in Fujian. 

The Mountain Goat Stone Fortress was built in 1623 as a defense against Japanese pirates, who attacked ShanChong on October 16, 1580. Over 1,000 locals formed the Prosperous Peace Army (Fu’anjun), which battled the Japanese for over a century. The walls are 1.6 meters high (they were originally 3 stories high). The holes in the wall were used for cannon that shot jagged bits of metal.  

There are several things about Lindun Town, but the most special are the ancient city walls, and the Opium baron’s house. 

Locals call this 180 year old stone mansion the Big Intersection Building (Dalukou Bldg) because by Lindun standards this is a good sized road. 

Lin Tianding, a Xiamen tobacco king, built this place to last. One of the granite blocks is 6.1 meters long, 60 cm wide, and 26 cm thick. The tall wooden columns are thicker than telephone poles, and mounted on granite globes. The clay roof tiles are still intact, though coated in rich green mold. 

Only 60 years ago, these hillsides were blanked in opium poppies, and this house was an opium processing center. They must have thought the building was pretty secure- look at the size of the lock! But the opium baron was finally executed in 1940. 

"The top Kayaking in Fujian" - Mayang brook 

Changtai has hosted the International Kayaking championship, the First National Kayak championship, and China’s 9^th National athletics championship, many international teams have practiced here, including groups from Germany, America, the U.K., Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Belize, and France. The center has a hotel, a conference center, and a very nice restaurant- and they used to have giant tortoises roaming around the floor. 

Changtai is a beautiful place, rich in culture, history, and resources. It’s no wonder that the Ming Dynasty official Tang Tai missed his hometown so much that he resigned his high post, returned to Changtai, and donated all has properties to build educational institutions. 

SOURCE: Magic Fujian