Breaking through the waves from the historic canvas of Quanzhou, the story of Shishi began with a courageous "plunge into the sea" of entrepreneurship. 

In 1987, this town—once part of Jinjiang County—proclaimed the dawn of a new era as "China's first county-level city to be directly elevated from a town." The very birth of Shishi symbolizes a magnificent transformation from a traditional agricultural society into a modern commercial economy.

In the 1980s, as China’s reform and opening-up took off, Shishi had a unique advantage: it was a hometown to many overseas Chinese workers. Families who had sent members abroad to earn money now had spare funds, empty houses, and idle hands back home. Local people turned them into small second-hand clothing stalls — which soon grew into a booming market. Streets filled with endless styles and non-stop business marked a true commercial revolution. 

This grassroots wave of entrepreneurship eventually pushed Shishi to become an independent city and a pilot zone for Fujian’s economic reform.