A letter from our correspondent
Mr. Yasushi Saito
A Letter from Fuzhou
I've been in Fuzhou since July, 2008. Almost eight years have passed since I came to China. In this report, I will introduce three topics; children's schools, Japanese society in China, and my favorite tourist attractions in Fuzhou.
Family Photo
１．Children's Schools
As per custom in the southern part of the country, we have napping time during 12:30-13:30 in order to stand the heat and maintain people's health. That is why children have to come home before noon, and the parents have to take their child to and from school four times a day. In China, it is normal that both the father and the mother have jobs, so the grandparents mainly play the role of taking care of the children.
After school, children have a lot of homework to do every day. My daughter in the fourth grade at elementary school has to tackle with the homework until 22:00 and my son in the first grade at junior high school does homework until midnight. In the weekend, they don't have any chance to rest. Most children learn something like instruments, or go to English school. Children here always seem to be forced to compete in something.
Unfortunately, there arent any solemn entrance or graduate ceremonies as there are in Japan.
２．Japanese Society
There is the Fuzhou Association for Japanese Firms with about 80 firms and 200 members. This association has a club, Fuzhou Japanese and Chinese sports that meet to play futsal or badminton several times a month. About 20 Japanese students also join it, and they are active in communicating with Chinese students. Moreover, there is the Fuzhou Japanese Wives' Group which has about ten members who meet to exchange information every Friday. One of the most important themes is how their children can maintain their ability of Japanese.
３．My Favorite Tourist Attractions in Fuzhou
Street of Fuzhou
British consulate in Mawei
Fuzhou City consists of three cities: Fuzhou, Changle and Fuqing and six countries: Minhou, Minquig, Yongtai, Pingtan, Lianjiang and Luoyuan. Fuzhou consists of five districts: Gulou, Jinan, Taijiang, Cangshan and Mawei. It has about seven million inhabitants.
"Mawei"
My most favorite place in Fuzhou is the "Mawei" distict.
In Magensan park, you can see buildings such as the annex to the British consulate established in 1870, Baien prison and Sacred hospital, which the Great Powers left. In that era, there were Russian, the U.S., Dutch, Mexican and Japanese consulates in Fuzhou.
Next to the park, there is the Museum of Ship Administration and Culture. The exhibitions are concerned with shipbuilding (Fuzhou is the birthplace of Chinese shipbuilding), which started in 1866 as the wealth and military strength policy, school construction, dispatch of students to western countries, and the first seaplane in China.
And, from Luoxing Park where Luoxing Tower, the symbol of Mawei, is situated, you can see the battlefield in the offshore of Majian where the French fleet and the Nanyang fleet in the Qing Dynasty battled in 1884. In this park with music, you can learn some of the history of Fuzhou.
Moreover, you can get to Pratas Island by ship from Fuzhou port, which is an international port and the starting point in China for connecting China and Taiwan (Xiao San Tong). It takes about one hour and twenty minutes. It takes about 55 minutes from there to Taipei by plane.
"Fuzhou Panda World"
Obaku-san Mampuku-ji
It is situated at the lakeside of West Lake, and you can study the ecology of a panda at the Fuzhou Panda Research Center.。
"Obaku-san Mampuku-ji"
It is situated in Gyokeichin, Fuquig. This temple is an original of the Japanese Obaku School, where master Ingen resided as a monk, who founded the Obaku lineage of Rinzai School. Master Ingen came to Nagasaki in July, 1654. He stayed in Tomyo-zan Kofuku-ji for a year, moralizing or teaching Zen. He brought Fucha ryori (Chinese Buddhist vegetarian cooking), common beans, bean sprouts, peanuts and the lotus root to Japan.
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