Fuzhou is a historical and cultural city with a history of over 2000 years. It was once a thriving port and a shipbuilding center. The main inhabitants of Fuzhou are the Han people, but about 20 ethnic groups are also living here, including Han, She, Man, Miao, and Hui. Moreover many overseas Chinese are residing here.
Among the administrative towns established in Fujian Province during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) was Fuzhou.
In 202BC, Gaozu, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, appointed Wuzhu to be the governor of Fujian Province.
As early as the Spring Autumn period (770BC-476BC), Fuchai, the king of the state of Wu, sent people here to make ships. In the northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Fuzhou became a very important port city. Shipping routes from Fuzhou to Japan and to Arabic countries were established. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Marco Polo passed through Fuzhou. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the famous Chinese navigator, Zhenghe, called at the port of Changle near Fuzhou. After the Opium War, as one of the five unequal treaty ports, Fuzhou was opened to foreign trade in 1842.
The major historic relics of Fuzhou include the Hualin Temple, the Tomb of Lin Zexu, the Drum Hill, Carvings on the cliff walls of the Yu Mountain, and Qigong Clan Hall.
Fuzhou has been a commercial port since the 6th century AD specializing in the export of tea, timbers, paper, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and sugar. Well-known handicrafts are lacquer ware, sculptures of Shoushan stone, paper umbrellas, combs, wooden sculptures, wooden pictures and ceramic statues.
