Bodiless Lacquer Ware ( Tuotai Qiqi) 脱胎漆器

Shou Mountain Stone Carving (Shoushan Shidiao) 寿山石雕

Cork Picture (Ruan Mu Hua) 软木画

Wulong Tea (Wulong Cha) 乌龙茶

Tie Guan Yin 铁观音

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Bodiless Lacquer Ware ( Tuotai Qiqi) 脱胎漆器
Invented during the Southern Song Dynasty, Fuzhou bodiless lacquer ranks with Beijing cloisonné and Jiangxi Jingdezhen ware as being one of the “Three treasures of Chinese traditional crafts”. Over a 39-year period (from 1898 to 1937), it won 16 gold medals at international fairs in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Panama. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, a famous Fuzhou lacquer artist named Sheng Shao’an carried on the traditional lacquer art and created the unique bodiless lacquer ware.

A typical bodiless lacquer ware piece is lightweight, elegantly decorated, vividly colored, and sturdy. The pieces are distinguished not only by carvings in relief but also by exquisite patterns inlaid with gems, gold, ivory and mother of pearl. There are more than 3,000 varieties, including furnishings and everyday items like screens, folding screens, hall scrolls, characters, vases, plates, boxes and smoking sets. These articles are both practical and aesthetic mementos and subsequently, quite popular with tourists. In recent years artists have honed their skills in furbishing, designing and embossing, while creating new techniques inspired by jade, precious stones, ivory and wood carvings.

Shou Mountain Stone Carving (Shoushan Shidiao) 寿山石雕
Shou Mountain, or ‘Long-life Mountain’, is located in the northern suburb of Fuzhou and its soft, colorful stones are famous for their use as a carving and decorative medium.

Rocks from Mt. Shou are fashioned into seals, vases, stationery, characters, landscapes and flowers. In ancient days, only the rich, noble scholars, or imperial officers possessed Shou Mountain Stone Carvings, as it was a symbol of wealth and nobleness.

Cork Picture (Ruan Mu Hua) 软木画
Cork carving is strictly associated with Fuzhou City. More specifically, Fuzhou cork patchwork dates back to the beginning of the 20th century in West Park Village of the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou. This art involves taking the cork bark of trees, like the Oriental Oak, and cutting, carving and arranging it into pictures.
Cork is used to make hanging screens, folding screens and decorative articles depicting landscapes, Chinese characters, animals and birds. The cork picture, originated in 1900, is now a product of the Fuzhou Arts and Pictures Factory.

The three treasures of Fuzhou, Bodiless Lacquer Ware, Shou Mountain Stone Carvings and cork pictures, are available from the Cultural Relic Head Office (Cultural Relic Building, Wusi Lu), Industrial Arts Service Office (Hexi Lu), Fuzhou Oriental Painting and Calligraphy Association (176, Wuyi Bei Lu), Huadu Building and Fuzhou Shopping Center. Cha Ting Jie is another good place for handiworks.

Special local products including Chinese olives, Fu (Fuzhou) oranges, Furong (lotus) plums and Jasmine tea can be bought at most major markets.

Wulong Tea (Wulong Cha) 乌龙茶
There are three main types of tea made from tea bushes: black teas, which are fully oxidized before drying; green teas, which are un-oxidized; and Wulong tea, which lies somewhere in the middle of the two and combines the best qualities of both

Good Wulong tea is both refreshing and delicious. It covers a wide range of aromas yet tastes distinct from green and black teas. Unless over-brewed, most Wulong teas show almost no trace of bitterness, and generally have a stronger aroma than their green and black counterparts. Like many teas, Wulong is rich in antioxidants called polyphenols, which help prevent cancer, assist in overall well-being and prevent coronary disease. Many diabetics use Wulong tea to control sugar levels, and recently in the west, Wulong has been touted as the latest ‘diet pill’. Primarily due to its light caffeine, rich anti-oxidant and polyphenol combination, Wulong accelerates the body’s metabolism and can therefore burn calories at least 2.5 times faster than green tea. Wulong literally means ‘black dragon’ tea. But the tea’s origin has nothing to do with dragons. Rather, it was named after its discoverer Wu Liang, a tea farmer. On his way home from collecting tea one day, a river deer caught his attention. Wu Liang killed the deer and took it home to prepare the meat. In all the excitement, Wu Liang forgot to dry out the tea. A few days passed when he suddenly remembered the tea. He retrieved the tea and noticed that the color had changed, but not wanting to waste a perfectly good tea, he finished preparing it anyway. When he finished firing the tea, he poured himself a cup and found that he had stumbled on to a sensational taste. His new tea was surprisingly mellow and aromatic. He shared the tea with his neighbors, all of whom wanted to know how to make it. Wu Liang was happy to share his ‘technique’ and before long, Wu-Liang’s tea was known throughout Fujian. With the passage of time and through word of mouth, the name of the tea eventually came to be known as Wu-Long cha or Black Dragon Tea.

In general, Wulong tea should be made with water which is just shy of boiling, around 90° Celsius. The traditional Chinese method of making it is known as Gongfu Cha (工夫茶), where gongfu (the same as 'kung fu', just spelled differently) literally meaning 'a lot of hard work'. This involves filling a very small teapot (traditionally made from unglazed yixing clay) about a third of the way to the top with dry leaves. The pot is then filled with hot water and immediately emptied, to 'wake' the tea and rinse off any impurities. It is then re-filled and left to steep for a very short time before being served in small cups. It can then be refilled with hot water repeatedly. The flavor of each brew is subtly different from the previous one, and many people even prefer the second brew to the first.

Tie Guan Yin 铁观音
Tieguanyin is one of the highest quality Wulong teas, usually associated with Anxi County in Fujian Province. The tea is named after Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy. According to legend, an iron (tie) statue of the Goddess of Mercy stood in a run-down temple in Fujian Province. A local farmer would pass the temple every day, and one day he took it upon himself to start cleaning the temple out of respect for its resident goddess. After caring for the temple for quite some time, Guanyin appeared to him in a dream and told him to look in a cave behind the temple. There, he was told, lay a precious treasure that he must share with others. What he eventually found in the cave was a sprout of a tea bush. He looked after the bush wholeheartedly, took cuttings from it and shared them with his tea-growing neighbors.

For optimal flavor, the tea is brewed with fresh mineral water at 85°C. Tieguanyin tea produces a fragrant orchid-like aroma; at times, the tea has a flowery aroma, at other times, a fruity one.

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