Looking over the blue waters off the southeast coast of China lies Pingtan County, a natural link for cultural exchanges between China’s mainland and Taiwan, thanks to its unique geographical advantages as the closest point on the mainland to Taiwan Island. 

The stage production Pingtan Impression, a work dedicated to showcasing the fusion of Fujian and Taiwan cultures, was launched here in 2016. After a decade of refinement and touring, it has grown from on-stage theatrical artwork into a vivid testament to the shared cultural roots that connect the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. 

A stage photo of Pingtan Impression. 

Geographical Advantages 

“The Strait cannot block the flow of people, nor can it prevent cultural exchange between the two sides” is a line often repeated by the creation team behind Pingtan Impression. This cultural and tourism investment project was launched in 2016 as part of the development of Pingtan International Tourism Island. Facing Taiwan across the sea, the island in eastern Fujian Province has served as a vital passage for cross-Strait exchanges since ancient times. Centuries of cultural interaction have taken place here, forming an inseparable bond between Fujian and Taiwan. 

This natural convenience afforded by geography has endowed Pingtan Impression with something very special from its very inception. 

Ma Tianzong, playwright of Pingtan Impression, is a Taiwan dramatist with over 25 years of experience in cross-Strait co-creation. He is not only well-versed in Broadway arts, but also deeply understands the shared folk roots that extend across the Strait. Under his direction, the creation team traveled to the remote countryside of Taiwan to unearth well-preserved folk traditions. They later invited local creators, choreographers, and performers to collaborate in deeply integrating distinctive Taiwan folk elements with traditions of the local Fujian culture. 

“No one treats it as an ordinary stage play. It is more like a laid-open cultural atlas of Fujian and Taiwan,” remarked Wu Wenyuan, chairman of Image (Fujian) Cultural Tourism Development Co., highlighting the unique value of Pingtan Impression. 

From scriptwriting to onstage performing, from rehearsals to touring promotions, the cultural DNA of Fujian and Taiwan runs through every phase. The dialogues penned by the Taiwan playwright are imbued with dialect vocabulary common to both sides, and the dance moves of the Taiwan troupe exhibit the rhythms of Fujian traditions. 

This cultural resonance flows as naturally as water, forming the most touching foundation of Pingtan Impression. 

Shared Folk Culture Elements

Watching Pingtan Impression is like traveling through time into the shared land of Fujian and Taiwan cultures. On stage, every cultural symbol silently narrates the historical ties between both sides of the Strait, and every performance carries folk memories shared by people living in both regions. 

Among them, the presentation of Mazu culture stands out as a highlight of the production, and it is also the part the creation team takes the greatest pride in. 

“The Mazu segment is truly the most awe-inspiring, and it’s the part we most want to show audiences on both sides of the Strait,” Wu explained. As a folk memory deeply rooted in the hearts of coastal communities on both sides, Mazu culture has long become a shared spiritual bond. 

In Pingtan’s traditional festivals, Mazu parade processions celebrate with singing and dancing; meanwhile, in the streets and alleys of Taiwan, flags embroidered with Mazu’s image flutter in the wind during the same season. Pingtan Impression awakens this collective memory through melody and dance. Enhanced by perfectly timed background music, it allows Pingtan audiences to hear the echoes of their hometown and Taiwan audiences to savor a sense of resonance. This musical echo which extends across the Strait adds a deeply moving power to the cultural expression. 

Mazu culture is a microcosm of the cultural fusion in Pingtan Impression; the portrayal of the Third Prince (Nezha) likewise strikes a chord. This figure, originating from legends and later becoming a distinctive folk symbol in Fujian and Taiwan, comes to life in front of the audience during the play. Its agile movements and iconic props are identical to the Third Prince performances in Fujian’s folk activities. After watching the play, some Taiwan viewers remarked, “This looks exactly like what we saw at temple fairs as children.” 

Furthermore, the Nuo Opera, a performance form of praying for good luck, also boasts a profound heritage on both sides of the Strait. In Pingtan Impression, the masks and movements of the Nuo Opera are presented artistically. Elderly local artists can immediately recognize the moves as the local opera, while Taiwan audiences also feel a profound familiarity – because the core elements of the opera have always been a major part of some folk activities in Taiwan. Additionally, shared belief symbols across the Strait, such as Bajiajiang (Eight Generals), Heimianshi (Black-Faced Masters), the “Sending off the King Boat” ritual, and the City God, along with common landscapes and architectural elements, are all ingeniously woven into the narrative, forming a complete cultural panorama of Fujian and Taiwan. 

The presentation of these cultural symbols is the inevitable result of centuries of cultural integration between Fujian and Taiwan. Pingtan Impression is like a cultural repository, carefully preserving the shared folk and intangible cultural heritage symbols of both sides, while reinterpreting them through the art of stage performance. This allows audiences to experience the profound essence of Fujian and Taiwan cultures during the show. 

Tourists visit the 68 Nautical Miles Scenic Area, the closest point of the mainland to Taiwan Island, in Pingtan, Fujian Province on March 1, 2025. 

Heart-Warming Exchanges 

Over the years, Pingtan Impression has been performed in multiple locations on both sides of the Strait, leaving behind moving stories of cultural exchange in every city it visits. These offstage moments are often more touching than the performance itself. 

Liu Jinhuan, who plays Pingtan Blue, said, “Once during a performance in Xiamen, an elderly Taiwan man in the audience was seen mimicking the actors’ movements during the Nuo Opera segment. After the show ended, he said that he had performed the opera during his youth in Taiwan and never expected to see such a similar performance on the mainland – it felt like returning to his childhood.” This simple remark reveals the inseparable cultural ties that stretch across the Strait and underscores the important role Pingtan Impression plays in passing on cultural heritage. 

During another performance, there was a group of young people in the audience – among them were students from Taiwan, Pingtan, as well as overseas students from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. After the show, all the students stood up, applauded, and cheered, genuinely delighted by the performance. “At that moment, I felt our hearts were truly connected,” Liu recalled, still deeply moved in retrospect. 

Liu once visited Pingtan herself. The stone houses, ocean waves, and the “blue tears” scene at her character’s entrance in the play are all based on the real Pingtan she witnessed. 

“What touches people is not only Pingtan’s beautiful natural scenery but also the important bond of Mazu culture found there,” Liu said. During every performance, she can feel the audience’s love and identification with the culture on both sides. Many viewers, after watching the show, share stories of Mazu festivals from their hometowns and discuss the melodies and plots from the play. Cultural exchange naturally unfolds in these relaxed conversations. 

These heartwarming stories, like gentle streams, converge into a tide of cross-Strait cultural exchange. Pingtan Impression uses the power of art to break down geographical barriers, creating an emotional resonance of shared cultural memories among people on both sides of the Strait, and subtly reinforces the concept of “kinship across the Strait.” 

Through years of development, Pingtan Impression has become a flagship brand for Fujian-Taiwan cultural exchanges. It not only reacquaints audiences on both sides with their shared cultural heritage but also showcases the diversity and cohesion of Chinese culture to the rest of the world. 

In the future, Pingtan Impression will embark on a tour of Southeast Asia. Within overseas Chinese communities there, cultural symbols like Mazu and the Third Prince also have deep cultural roots. Just as the waves of Pingtan can lap against the mainland coast and wash onto Taiwan’s shores, the flow of culture should be just as natural and harmonious. Through its Southeast Asian tour, the team of Pingtan Impression hopes to let overseas Chinese feel the cultural warmth of their ancestral homeland, while showcasing the unique charm of Fujian and Taiwan cultures and Chinese culture as a whole to the world. 

Moving forward, it will undoubtedly continue to chart new chapters of Fujian-Taiwan cultural exchange, to preserve the enduring vitality of Chinese cultural heritage.