Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

Once upon a time there was a sleepy small village found on the banks of the Min River.

As the village grew into a town protective walls were built that soon enclosed it from the new world of warfare that was all the rage outside. These walls were built somewhere between five to seven hundred years ago and now, only several hundred meters from my happy home and school can be found the last remaining section of the city wall along with the last ancient city gate (see my last blog for a night shot) and as they were built along the river this small area also houses many ancient homes that are aged between three to five hundred years old. Today the city streets are lined with modern shops and homes but these new facades hide a well kept secret as enclosed within can be found many ancient homes and buildings.

Shaowu is a city of history and culture with its beginnings some one thousand seven hundred years ago

Also known as 'Tie Chen’ or ‘City of Steel’, Shaowu City is located near the Futun River at the south of Wuyi Mountain in the northwest of Fujian Province. The geographical location of the city once made it an ideal fortress for defense during the times of ancient warfare, hence the name City of Steel or a Fortress as Hard as Steel. The total area of the city is around three thousand square kilometers with a county population of three hundred and twenty thousand.  

It has preserved some ancient dwellings that are famous in Fujian which include one of the eight most prominent Clan Dwellings along with one of the four ancient mosques. Throughout its history Shaowu city has given China two prime ministers, seven army generals, the Song Dynasty national hero Li Gang and the famous literary critic Yan Yu. Along with all of that, during the War of Liberation Shaowu was also once a Communist Revolutionary base here in Fujian Province and a monument to commemorate the former site of the Fujian Provincial CPC Committee can be found at the top of Xichun Hill in Xichun Park.

Shaowu is located within Fujian Provinces ‘Golden Triangle’ as it is only seventy kilometers away from Wuyi Mountain, around forty kilometers from Tianchen Valley, around seventy kilometers from the Taining Lake and Geo Park and one hundred and forty kilometers away from the Yuhua Caves and ancient Heping Ancient Town.

Putting all of the above aside, more importantly for me is the fact that the city is located deep into the north western mountains and as the city is so small it takes me only five minutes peddle time in any direction to leave it all behind and the sounds of silence soon make a wonderful soundtrack to the picturesque lush green surroundings.

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane

PS: Even though I just had two months off to travel through Hunan and Guizhou Provinces and three days off last week for the Mid Autumn Festival, as of eleven this morning I’m now on another weeks leave for Chinese National Day....Yeah!
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The soundtrack to this entry was by Ugly Kid Joe
The album was ‘Ugly As They Wanna Be’
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Click on the links below to check out my visits to Fujians 'Golden Triangle'

My Wuyishan First Day Adventure  
My Wuyishan Second Day Adventure  
My Tianchen Valley Adventure    
My Taining Lake & Geo Park Adventure  
My Yuhua Caves Adventure  
My Ancient Heping Town Adventure