Yantai Mountain Strolling District in Fuzhou: A commercial landmark linking nature and culture

The feathers of time, crossing the river of time, brushing over a vast sea of stars. In the depths of the mottled years, I hear the sound of ideals blooming. In modern times, Fuzhou was once one of the five treaty ports, and at its peak, Yantai Mountain was home to consulates or agencies from 17 countries, making it Fuzhou's consular cultural area. With its numerous foreign firms and thriving tea trade, it was one of the most prosperous commercial areas in the country at the time and a center for China's overseas economic trade. Yantai Mountain has been known since ancient times for its 'misty mountains and high hills overlooking the low river,' adjacent to the Min River, located at the southern end of the central axis of Fuzhou's ancient city culture. The history of East-West integration gives this place a unique foreign flair, and the crisscrossing mountain streets are a unique geographical feature here, continuing nearly a hundred years of prosperity. Ye Shengtao once wrote in 'Guest Language': 'The mountain in front of the warehouse is almost a garden, a road, a cluster of flowers, a house, a rickshaw, all have poetry. Especially lovely is the time when the setting sun is faint, and a bell rings from the chapel, and several girls with flower paper umbrellas walk under the green shade. Yantai Mountain district adopts a design concept that blends Chinese and Western styles, old and new coexist, preserving many foreign consulates, churches, foreign firms, villas, and other Western-style old buildings, Chinese gardens, etc., while integrating through, modern, and artistic culture into the architectural, landscape, and aesthetic design of the district, balancing the cultural attributes and functions of the old buildings. The entire district is themed around a ball that transcends time and space, strolling along the district, feeling the charm of history and contemporary shifting light and shadow.