Meizhou Island (;

Pu-Xian Min Puxian ( Hinghwa Romanized: ''Pó-sing-gṳ̂''; ), also known as Pu-Xian Chinese, Puxian Min, Xinghua, Henghwa or Hinghwa (''Hing-hua̍-gṳ̂''; ), is a Sinitic language that forms a branch of Min Chinese. Puxian is a transitional variety o ...

: ''Mî-ciu-doh''), Meichow; Meichou, is a small island close to the coast of China. Meizhou Town () is an administrative unit of

Xiuyu District Xiuyu District () is a district of the city of Putian, Fujian, People's Republic of China. The district executive, legislature and judiciary are in Hushi Town (), together with the CPC and PSB branches. History In October 1952, PRC and ROC forc ...

Putian Putian or Putien (, Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Xinghua or Hing Hwa (), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, China. It borders Fuzhou City to the n ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

, China. It is known for being the birthplace of the goddess

Mazu Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. ...

. Meizhou has 38,000 inhabitants, most of whom are involved in the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

. The local language spoken is

History

An open provincial tourism economic region () since June 1988, in April 1992 Meizhou Island introduced a landing visa policy for visitors from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. In October of the same year it became a national tourism-vacation region (). The island was formally opened to visitors from overseas in October 1999. Annually, some 100,000 Taiwanese pilgrims come to Meizhou to see the place where Matsu once lived, some of whom visit every year.

Administration

Meizhou Island is administered by Meizhou

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

, an area that is divided into 11 villages: * Gaozhu () * Xiashan () "Downhill" * Lianche () "

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

Pond" * Beidai (北埭 dài) "North Dam" * Dongcai () "The East Cais" * Xiting () "The Western Pavilion" * Ganglou () "The Tower by the Port" * Zhaixia () "Lower Village" * Dayang () "Great Ocean" along with three others.

Geography

Located in the northern part of the mouth of Meizhou Bay, Meizhou Island covers an area of and measures north-south, and east-west. The beach runs for around .

Tourist attractions

The Heavenly Empress Palace-Meizhou Ancestral Temple () began as a small shrine soon after Matsu's death in the 10th century. It has now been renovated and greatly enlarged to accommodate pilgrims.

References

External links