Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China

Overview

About

Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China (泉州：宋元中国的世界海洋商贸中心) was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021 as a cultural site.

Why it was inscribed

An outstanding example of architecture or landscape.

In the Song and Yuan periods (10th–14th centuries) Quanzhou was one of the world’s largest trading ports, home to merchants from overseas. Its 22 sites include the prefectural office, the maritime trade office, Deji Gate, the Tianhou Temple, the Qingjing Mosque, Kaiyuan Temple, the Laojun statue, the Islamic tombs, the Luoyang and Anping bridges, the Liusheng and Wanshou pagodas, Shihu wharf, and kiln and iron-smelting sites, covering the whole maritime trading system from production and transport to administration and religion.

Travel tips

Getting there: Quanzhou has high-speed stations (Quanzhou and Quanzhou East) on the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed and coastal lines. Fuzhou is about an hour away and Xiamen under an hour. Quanzhou Jinjiang Airport lies south of the city, and Xiamen Gaoqi Airport is another option.

The sites: the 22 component sites are scattered around Quanzhou Bay, including the Jiuri Mountain wind-prayer inscriptions, Dejimen site, Tianhou Temple, the Maritime Trade Office site, the Southern Branch Imperial Clan Office site, Qingjing Mosque, the Confucian temple, Kaiyuan Temple, the Laojun rock carving, the Cao'an Manichaean Buddha, the Lingshan Islamic tombs, Fashi Zhenwu Temple, Luoyang Bridge, Anping Bridge, Shunji Bridge site, Jiangkou and Shihu wharves, Liusheng and Wanshou pagodas, the Cizao and Dehua kiln sites and the Qingyang iron-smelting site.

City day: Kaiyuan Temple with its twin pagodas, Qingjing Mosque, Tianhou Temple and the Confucian temple are within walking distance. Xi Street and Zhongshan Road are the main streets of the old town.

Qingyuan Mountain: on the northern edge of the city, with the Laojun rock carving; reached by bus or taxi.

Bridges and ports: Luoyang Bridge is east of the city; Anping Bridge, in Anhai town, Jinjiang, is the longest surviving ancient stone bridge in China. Both need a car or bus. Liusheng Pagoda, Wanshou Pagoda and Shihu wharf are on the coast near Shishi.

Dehua kilns: the Dehua kiln sites are in the hills in Dehua county, far from the city and best planned as a separate trip.

Time: about two days for the city sites, three if you add the outlying bridges and ports.

Season: autumn, winter and spring are comfortable. Typhoons can come in late summer, and summer is hot and humid.

Where to stay: the old town near Xi Street and Kaiyuan Temple puts most city sites within walking distance.

Note: the sites are scattered and some are only ruins or inscriptions, so it helps to see the Maritime Museum first for background.

Main sights

East and West Pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple: the Zhenguo (east) and Renshou (west) pagodas, first built of wood, were rebuilt in stone in the Southern Song as octagonal five-storey towers, about 48 m and 44 m high.

Main hall of Kaiyuan Temple: 24 flying musicians are carved on its brackets; the sphinx-like stone reliefs on the terrace and two columns behind the hall were taken in the Ming from a ruined Yuan-dynasty Hindu temple.

Luoyang (Wan'an) Bridge: built 1053–1059 under the Northern Song, completed under Cai Xiang. Its piers stand on a raft foundation of dumped stone, strengthened by oysters cultivated on the base.

Photo credits: Renshou Pagoda, Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou: Tyg728 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)

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