Fuzhou Ship Administration Cultural Scenic Area - The 'Living Fossil' of Modern Chinese History

Fuzhou Ship Administration Cultural Scenic Area is located in Mawei District, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. It is the first theme park in China with a focus on ship administration culture tourism, and it is the largest ship administration cultural base in the country as well as a patriotism education base in Fuzhou City. Mawei is situated at the mouth of the Min River in Fujian, just across the water from Taiwan. It has been the maritime gateway for Fuzhou since ancient times and was designated as one of the five treaty ports in the modern era. As early as 1866, Zuo Zongtang and Shen Baozhen founded the Fujian Ship Administration here. This was the first professional machinery shipbuilding factory in modern China, marking the beginning of a series of vigorous 'enrich the country and strengthen the military' activities, including building shipyards, constructing warships, manufacturing airplanes, establishing schools, recruiting talent, and sending students abroad for study. These efforts cultivated and produced a group of outstanding industrial and technological talents and distinguished naval officers of modern China, represented by figures such as Yan Fu, Zhan Tianyou, Sa Zhenbing, and Deng Shichang. They pioneered the spirit of 'observing the world with a detached view' and boldly proposed to 'look at the world with a cold eye'. By introducing advanced Western science and technology, spreading Chinese and Western cultures, and promoting the modernization process of China, it is known as the 'Living Fossil' of modern Chinese history.