During the winter of 1980-1981 I visited China as a guest-lecturer and researcher on the invitation of both the Chinese Ministry of Education and Amoy University. The lecture schedule took me from Peking University to the southeastern coastal province of Fukien where short visits were paid to Fuchou, Ch'üanchou, and Changchou before settling down for a fortnight's stay at Amoy University. This introduction will be solely devoted to the Nanyang Institute, the only place where I spent enough time to acquire more than a superficial impression of what is going on. I do not think many people will have an opportunity to visit Amoy - which is a shame, since foreign visitors are very cordially received. Consequently it is of no use to offer a guide to visitors. Rather, I would like to raise a few points about the activities of the institute itself and Chinese research facilities for foreigners in general.