One afternoon just before the Chinese New Year got underway, we took a walk over to the school where my Wife (and all her siblings, and her parents) attended middle school (which is essentially the same thing as junior high + high school in the U.S.).

She remembers it being “a lot smaller,” with just a couple or so buildings, but now it’s expanded and has the feel of a small campus, maybe akin to a junior college back in the States (with Chinese middle school characteristics).

Here are a few pictures and a video from the center of the sports field to give you your bearings, and note that you’ll see a temple roof across the wall in the middle of the video. That’s the temple we visited that I described in this post.

Update P.S. This is also the school field where townspeople, including my wife and her siblings, and her parents’ generation when they were schoolchildren, were “strongly encouraged” to show up to witness public executions (1950s-1980s) as civic lessons in “what happens when people break the law.”

Those of you who followed the stories of my family’s return to Southern Fujian earlier this year might have recognized some place names in recent “Typhoon Hits China” stories in the news.

Typhoon Kaemi hit land on July 25th in the Jinjiang region of Fujian Province, where my wife’s family resides and where we spent most of our extended trip to China in January, February and March.

The whole family back there is fine, I’m happy to report, and in fact my Mother-in-Law tells us that the worst of the typhoon took just an hour to pass over their area before heading further inland (where it wreaked comparatively more havoc, unfortunately).

In case you missed the news stories, here’s a brief round-up–check that first one if nothing else for pictures of soldiers doing some repair work (four pages, click to continue)–I think I know who might have helped call for their deployment to Weitou:

• Soldiers on the front war against typhoon


• China storm toll nears 500
  Chinese toll in tropical storm hits 612


• Typhoon weakens after landfall in China


• Typhoon Kaemi unleashes fury against Fujian


• China uses text messages to warn citizens of storms

P.S. The rest of the stories, photos, and movies from our trip to China this year will be coming up on this blog in Sept.-Dec. this year.

The second floor of the Jinjiang Museum is devoted almost entirely to a very interesting, robust, and educational “Panorama of the History of Jinjiang” exhibit.

Here is the first set of photos, commentary, and quotes from this display….

The entrance to “The Panorama of History of Jinjiang” Exhibit:

From one of the museum’s interpretive blurbs:

Jinjiang city lies in the lower reaches of Jin River and is close to Chinese eastern sea. The city’s topology is mainly mesa and plain and it has a warm and wet climate. Early in the prehistoric period, Min and Yue ancestors were living here. After Qin and Han Dynasties, especially after Western Jin Dynasty, people from central China moved to the south and lived along the river. Thus the city was named Jinjiang. Jinjiang was officially established as a county in the sixth year of Kai Yuan years in Tang Dynasty (AD 718) and was executed at the same level with state and prefecture. After that period, Jinjiang witnessed a gradual development and expansion and has become the political, economic and culture center of Quanzhou region of China.

An ancient contraption for making dofu (tofu); looks strikingly similar to modern contraptions for making dofu:

“the stele autographed by the country magistrate of Jinjiang / unearthed in Quanzhou / the 23rd of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (AD 1544)”:

Part of an ancient water mill’s working parts:

An ancient weaving loom:

Hand-carved chairs from (I believe) the Song Dynasty:

The battle to reclaim Taiwan from the Dutch:

From another interpretive blurb:

In the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Kang Xi in Qing Dynasty (AD 1683), under the decision of Emperor Kang Xi, Shi Lang, commander-in-chief of the navy of Fujian led troops to reunify Taiwan. After Qing forces occupied Taiwan, they offered sacrifices to Zheng Chenggong Temple and made proper arrangements for the formal subordinates of Zheng Chenggong. These efforts resulted in a stable political situation of Taiwan.

More on this:

At the joint period of Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jinjiang was the military base established by Zheng Chenggong to expel Netherlands invaders and reoccupy Taiwan. During the reign of Emperor Kang Xi, General Shi Lang built up the armed forces here, stormed and captured Penghu islands and and Taiwan and accomplished the great course of reunification.

Cannon reclaimed from the sea and this battle:

More information about the area from another placard:

The Silk Route of the Sea–Along the long and sinuate coasts there were three bays and twelve harbors which were the important parts of Quanzhou Harbor. Quan Zhou was considered one of China’s four important harbors since Tang Dynasty. The other three are Jia Zhou, Guang Zhou and Yang Zhou. In the era of Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, it had already become The Largest Harbor in the East. As the south harbor of Quanzhou, Anhai harbor had been prosperous for a long time from Song Dynasty to Republic of China, in which the business men were famous around the world.

Related:

• A Visit to the Jinjiang Museum in Qingyang: Part One
• A Visit to the Jinjiang Museum in Qingyang: Part Three