The old saying which speaks of Pingtan as being a land of only stones is being turned on its head, as a young couple from Taiwan seeks to inject new vitality into the island.

The young couple, who used to run their business in the Pingtan-Taiwan Duty-free Commodity market, currently known as Taiwan Aaoqian Town, once paid a visit to Beigang village located at the northeast of the city.

The old houses made of stones scattered across the village aroused their great interest and in their minds, those houses were just the epitome of the islan's history and life.

The old houses made of stones scatters across the Beigang village in Pingtan, Fujian province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"We shared the same idea at that time," Xyu Lingsi, the wife, said, "We just want to do something there."

After that, they visited Beigang village frequently and finally decided to turn some old houses into homestay hotels with a mixture of Pingtan and Taiwan features.

They rented a total of five old stone houses in the village and started to decorate them with several other Taiwan young people.

Some small items including old school chairs, abandoned fishing net and driftwood in the homestay hotels may set visitors back in time.

Lin Jhihyuan, the husband, said, "We hope to make the most of Pingtan local resource, enabling visitors to find Pingtan with its original features."

The young couple later also found some local young man are able create many beautiful melodies by hitting the igneous rocks collected from the mountain near Beigang village. Some big idea came to their minds, that is, building an art community featuring a combination of homestay hotels, cultural creation and catering in the village.

Lin Jhihyuan, an 80s Taiwan young man, shows visitors how to create a beautiful melody by hitting the igneous rocks collected from the mountain near Beigang village in Pingtan, Fujian province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After half a year's preparation, an art community named "Singing stones" was established in this summer.

What makes the couple more gratified is "Sing stones" has been a creative cultural communication platform for cross-Straits artists. A lot of Taiwan artists pay visits to it in order to get inspired and many mainland visitors also come to experience the exquisite Taiwan creative culture.

With the help of the couple, Beijing village, positioned as the cross-Straits creative culture village, has already become a business incubator and a practice base of Taiwan Innovation Park. More and More young people from the mainland and Taiwan come and pursue their dreams there, infusing endless vitality to it.

"The mainland has a larger market when comparing with Taiwan," Xyu said, "I love Pingtan and I enjoy the slow-paced life and work here. So, I have brought my family here."

Currently, Pingtan is actively building itself into an international tourism island and it could be predicated that more people shall come and get immersed in the enchanting melodies sung by the stones in Pingtan.

The picturesque view of the Beigang village in Pingtan, Fujian province [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]