The Southern Shaolin Monastery on the outskirts of Putian is a reconstruction from the 1990s built on a site claimed as the location of the original Tang dynasty branch temple, though the historical evidence for the exact location is contested. What is genuine is the martial arts tradition: demonstrations take place in the training hall and the monks who perform them have trained seriously in southern kung fu styles with real connections to this region. The temple complex itself, though modern, is built in the correct style and operates as a functioning monastery alongside the tourist programming.
Putian's connection to Shaolin matters because the styles that later spread worldwide through the Fujianese diaspora — including Wing Chun, Five Ancestors, and other systems — trace their origins through the Fujian Shaolin tradition. Visiting gives context to that genealogy even if the buildings themselves are not historically authentic. The monastery is on the western outskirts of the city, accessible by taxi from the centre.