My mother was born in Tianjing but grew up in Fuzhou, as my grandfather worked there when she was young. So, she could speak the fluent Fuzhou dialect and used to tell me something about the city. According to her, Fuzhou, as the capital city of Fujian Province, was a place where many intellectuals gathered, embracing a similar but lofty vision for the country, especially in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, there are many memorial halls of those celebrities left and now protected by the government for people to visit. 

First, we visited the same house that Lin Juemin (林覺民) and Bing Xin (冰心,謝婉瑩) used to live in. Mr. Lin, a martyr for the cause of saving China, left a famous farewell letter to his wife three days before he sacrificed his young life. People of my age might have read the letter in high school. (Please read it again, as well as my translation at https://blog.udn.com/kkuo0810/7148941. By the way, there is a duplicate of the original letter exhibited in the house.) Two years after Mr. Lin died, his bereaved wife passed away due to the grief she suffered. The house was granted to Ms. Bing Xin, the pioneer of modern Chinese childrens literature.

Then we visited the memorial hall of Mr. Lin Zexu (林則徐), which demonstrated his entire feat and contribution to the country in the late Qing Dynasty and henceforth till now. What most impressed me is his famous verse, "苟利國家生死以，豈因禍福避趨之," inscribed as a pair of couplets on the gateposts of a cabin. (譯文："I shall dedicate myself to the interests of the country in life and death, irrespective of personal wealth and woe," by Ms. Zhang Lu (張璐, an intepreter of the Chinese Department of Foreign Affairs.) 

Because of our tight schedule, we missed visiting other memorial houses, such as those of Lin Huiyin (林徽因), Lin Zhu (林杼 or 林琴南), Yan Fu (嚴復), and so on. Maybe next time!