Fujian Province

Today, the majority of emigrants departing for destinations around the globe originate in an area the size of Delaware (2,396 square miles or about 6,133 square kilometers) in China's Fujian (Fukien) Province3. The current situation in Fujian parallels the nineteenth century migration from its neighboring province Guangdong. The mountainous region of Fujian lies north of Guangdong and across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan. The Communists were careful to place state industries out of the reach of Taiwan 4, and as a result Fujian became a leader in economic liberalization. The placement of export industries into coastal areas also contributed to a successful Fujianese economy. Fujian supplements light industry with natural resources such as coal, iron, limestone, hydroelectricity, forestry and fishing and traditional crops such as rice, sugar, tea and fruit5. Only Guangdong is considered richer.



Two distinct sub-cultures exist in Fujian. Different dialects are used in the area around the major ports of Fuzhou and Xiamen (Amoy). In Fuzhou, Fujian's capital a dialect of Chinese is spoken which is unintelligible not only to speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese, but also to speakers of Minanhua (Southern Min dialect), which is prevalent in Xiamen and Taiwan.