Meanings
alternative Ping-tan · alternative P'ing-t'an
- The largest island of Fujian, China.
The shipwrecked group travelled by junk next day to Pingtan Island and four days later sailed to Hongkong.
1957 March 15, “Shipwrecked”, in Peace News, number 1081, page 25 more examples
Peiping radio said a U.S. Navy aircraft violated Chinese Communist air space over Pingtan and White Dog islands off the coastal province of Fukien Sunday and added that a Red foreign ministry spokesman was "authorized to issue its 58th serious warning against the intrusion."
1959 July 20, “U.S. Plane Accused Of Air Violation”, in The Cumberland News, volume 21, number 239, Cumberland, Maryland, sourced from Tokyo (AP), page 1, column 8The Chinese military today began a third round of military exercises in waters near Fujian's Pingtan Dao, causing a feeling of insecurity on Wuqiu [Wuchiu], Jinmen [Kinmen], and Mazu [Matsu] that are garrisoned by Taiwan troops.
何机雄
1996 March 21 [1996 March 18], He Jixiong (0149 2623 7160) [何机雄], “There Is a Feeling of Insecurity on Jinmen, Mazu, and Other Islands”, in Daily Report: China, number 96-056, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUNSHE, translation of original in Chinese, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 75, column 2The author went to Tungchu on 20 March, just two days after the PLA manoeuvres started on Pingtan Island. Though two-thirds of the civilian population had provisionally left Tungchu, the atmosphere was relaxed and, in the five hours spent there, the author was able to hear the remote sound of PRC guns just[…]
1997, Greg Austin, Missile Diplomacy and Taiwan's Future: Innovations in Politics and Military Power, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 14The 1.1 billion yuan ($152 million) sea bridge will connect Pingtan Island, located in the Taiwan Strait, to Fuqing, a city on the main landmass of eastern Fujian Province, Xinhua said.
2007 October 13, “China to build sea bridge to 5th-largest island”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2022, World NewsChinese state media said that exercises to simulate an air and sea "blockade" around Taiwan had started Wednesday, but offered little solid evidence to back up the claim. Later Thursday, images showed military helicopters flying past Pingtan island, one of Taiwan's closest points to mainland China.
2022 August 4, Brad Lendon, “China fires missiles near Taiwan in live-fire drills as PLA encircles island”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022 - A county of Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
2 more examples
Although some Fuqin City residents have managed to go to the United States illegally, most have chosen to go to Japan, also illegally (Gu 1993). The other sending community is Pingtan County, located east of Fuqin City. Many of its residents have illegally immigrated to Taiwan, which is only about seventy sea miles away (Chang 1995).
1999, Ko-lin Chin, Smuggled Chinese: Clandestine Immigration to the United States, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 13China held live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared to arrive in Asia. The exercises took place off the coast of Fujian province opposite Taiwan. A warning issued by the local maritime safety agency said the drills would be conducted near Pingtan, a county about 80 miles from Hsinchu city across the strait in northwestern Taiwan.
2022 July 30, “A roundup of news from around the world.”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2022, National
Origin
- Mandarin平潭
- EnglishPingtan
From the Mandarin 平潭 (Píngtán).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 平潭
- 平潭 (ping⁴ taam⁴)island, county, town
Chinese Mandarin 平潭
- 平潭 (Píngtán)island, county, town
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Pingtan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pingtan
“Pingtan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pingtan. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pingtan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pingtan.
Source: Pingtan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.