Shipyard retains its historical glory

Drama in the factory

The transformation of the old repair workshop is the most dramatic.

The Glory Belongs To Foochow Arsenal, which premiered in December 2023, integrates the building into the production. The performance traces the founding of the Foochow Arsenal, the establishment of its school, the difficulties of shipbuilding and talent training, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), and the development of modern industry.

Its most unusual feature is that the audience does not remain still.

The seats move as the story progresses, while mechanical devices fold different scenes into the workshop. The stage can become a shipbuilding school, a government office or a warship, with the audience carried between them.

Zhou Manqin, head of the performance troupe, says the design grew out of the old workshop's physical characteristics.

The connected spaces and rows of columns reminded the creative team of something that could be folded and unfolded, inspiring the idea of a "folding progressive" theater in which both the scenery and the audience move.

The result is a performance in which the building's columns, machinery, spaces, and openings become part of the narrative.

The production has staged more than 1,170 performances since its debut and created about 200 jobs, according to the management committee.

Lin Junjie has noticed that some visitors, particularly those from outside Fuzhou, initially come to see the performance. Afterward, they visit the museum or explore the surrounding historical buildings to learn about the story they have just watched.

For them, the theater becomes an entry point to the site rather than the destination. Families have also told Lin Junjie that they want to return.

"I must bring my child to see this again," he recalls visitors saying.

The growing audience has encouraged the site to extend its activities beyond the traditional museum visit.

During summer, daytime programs include museum study tours and virtual reality experiences, while evening activities make use of the lawns and riverfront setting for camping, musical performances and night study tours.

In 2025, the scenic area received about 2.14 million visits, up 62.5 percent year-on-year. In July, it received nearly 260,000 visits, up more than 40 percent from the same period last year.

On afternoons, schoolchildren line up inside the museum. Visitors pause beneath the steel structure of the iron-rib factory. At the theater entrance, people of all generations wait for the next performance.

Li has also followed the Foochow Arsenal's story beyond Mawei.

Ships built here later served at ports along China's coast. He says he sometimes feels a particular connection to the vessels and their history.

"When I visit these cities, I feel as though two members of the same family are visiting each other," he says.