Sanming.

Sanming’s wider municipal territory includes Taining County and Shaxian District. At Taining, eroded red rock offers recesses into which temple builders fitted timber structures. In Shaxian, pounding, wrapping and mixing turn familiar ingredients into a remarkably varied snack culture. Both stories begin with people working closely with the materials available to them.

Sanming

Tree-covered red rock cliffs rise directly above calm green water.

Taining Danxia: How Red Cliffs Make Room for a Temple

Ganlu Temple’s timber structure fits beneath a rock shelter in Taining, where geology, reservoir history and living worship meet.

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A white bowl of thin-skinned dumplings in clear broth with chopped scallions on a wooden table.

Shaxian Snacks at Home: Beyond the Noodles and Dumplings

Pounded pork, peanut-sauce noodles and a village’s changing work reveal the local world behind the widely travelled Shaxian snacks name.

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Sanming

Taining County

Red cliffs, deep valleys and rock-sheltered temples give Taining a distinctive meeting of geology and architecture.

Shaxian District

The home of Shaxian snacks offers a wider repertoire than the familiar noodle-and-dumpling shop sign suggests.

Photo credits and rights

Red cliffs above Dajin Lake in Taining.三明市河长办 / 福建省水利厅 · Rights status unspecified Photo source ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.
Shaxian bianrou, delicate pork-filled wrappers served in broth.福建省商务厅 · Rights status unspecified Photo source ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.