Wednesday May 20, 2009

Jinjiang: City of surprises

ZIYING'S BRUSH

Situated on Fujian’s scenic coast, Jinjiang has millennia-old archaeological sites, an unspoilt beach and the biggest county museum in China.

FEW will disagree that most people who visit Fujian do so mainly to reconnect with their ancestral roots or to participate in the affluent coastal region’s burgeoning economy. Unlike many other places in China, sites of great historical or cultural consequence are not the main draw in this maritime province.

Given this perception, who would have imagined that way off the beaten track, among the inlets and islets of Fujian’s heavily indented coast, lie deep-hidden mysteries just waiting to be unveiled?

One warm spring day early last month, I found myself on a beach in a claw-shaped cove called Shenhuwan (Shenhu Bay) in Jinjiang near historic Quanzhou city.

Worth a visit: Jinjiang Museum, repository of the county’s history, is the largest county museum in China.

Buff-coloured sand stretched into the distance where a temple complex with ornate red roofs was barely visible on an outcrop. The sea was calm and colourless, barely distinguishable from the hazy sky in the horizon. An occasional yellow-striped shell lay half-buried in wet sand and except for a few people digging molluscs in the shoals, the pristine beach was deserted.

After a busy, hectic visit to my grandfather’s village in Fuqing, I was happy just to be at this idyllic spot.

Then as we headed towards the water’s edge, my host, archaeologist Dr Tianlong Jiao pointed to some blackened stumps in the shallows and said: “The undersea remains of an ancient forest were found here and those tree stumps over there are 7,000 years old.” The coastline, he added, had changed dramatically over the centuries and what used to be land is now under the sea.

Perhaps the most intriguing discovery in Jinjiang is the 3,500-year-old Anshan archaeological site, unearthed in 2007 when the grounds were being prepared for factory construction. Located just south of Shenhu Bay, it is currently being excavated by Jiao and his colleagues.

Anshan, he says, is the first sand dune site in Fujian and was buried under 8m of earth. Looking at the desert-like landscape, one would never have guessed that 35 centuries ago, it was only 800m from the sea.

The site is punctuated with shallow rectangular and longitudinal excavation pits, some with sections of compacted reddish sand which Jiao described as the bases of house posts. Workers were sifting through piles of dirt littered with small white shells – the detritus of meals eaten over three millennia ago. Could it be that the mollusc-gatherers of Shenhu Bay were simply continuing a tradition that has persisted for over 30 centuries?

“Anshan is especially significant as the objects unearthed there are the earliest bronze artefacts discovered in south-east China to date,” explained Jiao, adding that metallurgy was introduced from inland China.

Rummaging through a box of specimens in small plastic zip bags, he drew out a curved fish hook some 6cm long.

“All bronzes found so far at the site are small items like fish hooks, spearheads and needles,” he said and elaborated that the Austronesian Anshan people did not have the technology to make large, complex ceremonial vessels like those in north China.

Dr Jiao (in black jacket) and fellow archaeologists discussing their findings at the Anshan site where the earliest bronze artefacts in south-east China have been unearthed.

As we walked to the farmhouse where the archaeologists are based during the excavation, I spotted a small yellow flower sprouting from the sandy, arid soil, a refreshing sign of new life in a place that had long ago ceased to exist.

To Jiao and his colleagues, however, the lost Anshan of long ago is still very much alive. Despite often having to work under difficult physical conditions, he maintains that “the joy of talking to ancient people belongs to archaeologists”.

Jinjiang is a manufacturing hub of shoes and sporting apparel, and has the feel of a well-ordered light industrial park with the look of a new city. Driving through its modern thoroughfares lined with neat shops and factories, one would never have guessed it played an important role in Fujian’s past.

I was surprised when told the city boasts the largest county museum in China. Opened in 2002, Jinjiang Museum is a first-rate facility with spacious, well-appointed galleries and some very interesting exhibits that tell the story of the county.

Much of the household ceramics exported to South-East Asia the past thousand years, for example, were produced there. Particularly fascinating is a row of celadon jars with fantastic animal and human motifs on the necks, and a group of classic vases with simple shapes and plain exteriors that appear startlingly contemporary.

Many of the earthen housewares look familiar and it is easy to surmise where some of the old ceramics found in Malaysia originated.

In another section, Jinjiang’s past strategic importance comes to light with the story of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) who used it as the base to launch expeditions against the Dutch in Taiwan, expelling them from the island in 1662.

A beautiful gallery showcases relics from the different religions that co-existed in this trading centre, including Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. There is also a reproduction of a famous stone bridge and a dragon kiln used to fire the ceramics.

Unfortunately we had limited time at the museum and only managed to rush through a few key displays but it is definitely worth a second visit.

Jinjiang was indeed a pleasant revelation. What else lies waiting to be explored on Fujian’s scenic shoreline, I wonder? I can’t wait to find out.

Ziying can be reached at ziyingster@gmail.com.