明清时期，温州是浙江省距离省会杭州最远的府州，也是交通最为闭塞的区域。从晋省赶考生员的日记等史料中，可以发现温杭间约５００公里行程，在自然力交通时代，人们爬山涉水，千辛万苦，费时近23周；近代以降，温杭行程发生巨变，通过沿海与内河轮运约需天，公路开通后一日可达，航空运输更缩至二小时之内。但是，旅行资费、路途安全和交通服务等，阻碍了晚清民国时期温州人的远行。当然，随着近代新式交通发展，封闭落后的温州开始进入发展时期，人们开始走出温州，走向世界。

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wenzhou, with its most undeveloped transport, was the furthest prefecture away from Zhejiang s provincial capital Hangzhou. By studying historical materials such as the diaries of the examinees from Wenzhou, who took the imperial examinations in Hangzhou, we find that the route between Wenzhou and Hangzhou was 500-kilometer long and it took nearly two weeks to cross mountains and rivers to arrive in Hangzhou with simple and primitive transport. Since the modern times, the route between Wenzhou and Hangzhou has changed a lot. It took 3 days by ship, 1 day after the highway was built and only 2 hours by plane. The travel expenses, trip safety and transport services were all the obstacles to travelling for people in Wenzhou in the late Qing Dynasty and the Period of the Republic of China. However, with the development of new transport in modern times, local people in Wenzhou began to travel out of isolated Wenzhou and make journeys worldwide.