Pingnan welcomes Malaysian Chinese

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2013-10-18

There was a special summer camp for Malaysian Chinese youth, in Fujian province’s Pingnan county, which started on Oct 8 and brought in 16 students from Malaysia’s Riam Road Secondary School.

They will stay with the families of students from Pingnan’s overseas Chinese school during the 10-day activity, to study Chinese and the Pingnan dialect and make friends. They will also visit Ningde World Geopark and the AAAAA scenic spots of Baishuiyang and Yuanyangxi, and get a taste of local folk culture and its weaving, and pottery and oil making.

Wu Yunming, acting head of the county, at the opening ceremony of the activity, explained that it is designed to let Malaysian Chinese youth learn more about China and develop an interest for the Chinese language and culture.

Wu went on to talk about Pingnan’s eco-tourism and summer resort and its bridges, which are on a tentative list of Chinese world cultural heritage sites. One of them, Wan’an, is the longest wooden lounge bridge in the world.

In recent years, the county government has developed its economy through eco-tourism, green-economy vegetables, and new agriculture, and has improved its infrastructure for transportation, the urban area, electric power, information, and water and its people are happier since the economy and society are progressing. Pingnan also benefits from new, favorable provincial government policies which will bring more chances and investment.

So, the county welcomes the Malaysian Chinese to their ‘hometown’ as frequently as possible, for some sightseeing, and, hopefully, business opportunities.

Edited by Lin Hong and Roger Bradshaw