What is Quanzhou?
22 heritage sites scattered between mountains and seas
"The World Maritime Trade Center of Song-Yuan China"
(Please view horizontally, representative heritage distribution map of the "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China" World Heritage application project, map by Chen Zhihao/Planet Labs)
One of the starting points of the "Maritime Silk Road"
(Quanzhou Bay, photographer Wang Canghai)
Zhu Xi described it as "a street full of saints"
Multiple religions also gathered here
Earning the title "World Museum of Religions"
(Kaiyuan Temple, photographer Shen Longquan)
GDP has entered the "trillion-yuan club"
Topping Fujian's rankings for 22 consecutive years
(Changes in Quanzhou's GDP proportion within Fujian Province, showing selected years, map by Han Qing/Planet Labs)
Divine are the natural gifts of mountains, rivers, and seas
Divine is the striving humanity across history
Known as "eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland"
(Quanzhou's location and terrain map, map by Chen Zhihao & Han Qing/Planet Labs)
The Daiyun Mountain Range, Fujian's second-largest mountain system
(Please view horizontally, Daiyun Mountain, image source: Quanzhou Culture, Radio, TV and Tourism Bureau)
(Jiuxian Mountain, photographer Wang Haiyan)
(Please view horizontally, Xiaozuo Town, Hui'an County, undulating hills extending to the sea, photographer Zhao Gaoxiang)
It is a long and winding continental coastline
Within a straight-line distance of just 90 kilometers
It meanders for a total of 471.33 kilometers
(Please view horizontally, Shenhu Bay, photographer @Atoshi Xiaojun)
Often rushing down and flowing into the sea
Its total length is only 320 kilometers
The drainage area is less than 1/10 of Fujian's largest river, the Min River
(Diagram of the Jinjiang River system, mapped by @Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
In ancient times when navigation technology was underdeveloped
They relied on gathering, fishing, and hunting for survival
(Some artifacts unearthed from the Yinloushan site; the Yinloushan site is a Neolithic shell mound site with distinct maritime characteristics, image source @Quanzhou Museum, mapped by @Hanqing & Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
The repeated upheavals in the Central Plains
Gradually began to affect Quanzhou, thousands of miles away
Perhaps out of nostalgia for their homeland
The immigrants named the largest local river the Jinjiang
(The Jinjiang River flows along the southern part of Quanzhou into the sea, photographer @Yao Tengfei)
(Dongyang Ancestral Hall, photographer @Fang Thomas)
(The Quanzhou dialect belongs to the Southern Min language family and retains rich remnants of ancient Chinese, mapped by @Hanqing/Planet Research Institute)
(Chaotian Gate, one of the city gates from the Five Dynasties period, now reconstructed, photographer @Guo Zhenyuan)
They brought advanced production tools and techniques from the Central Plains
(Quanzhou Terraces, image source @ Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau)
Gradually forming the "New Quanzhou People"
The New Quanzhou People multiplied generation after generation
Quanzhou's population has grown to hundreds of thousands
(Population growth led to the flourishing of folk customs; pictured is the pilgrimage at Chongwu Dazuo Tianfei Temple, photographer @ Zhang Shenyong)
With Quanzhou's natural conditions of mountainous terrain and limited arable land
(Shihu Wharf, built in the Tang Dynasty, with the under-construction Fuzhou-Xiamen High-Speed Railway Quanzhou Bay Cross-Sea Bridge in the distance, photographer @ Yang Hu)
Comparable in distance to traditional major maritime commercial ports like Guangzhou and Ningbo
It even gave rise to the "Three Bays and Twelve Ports"
They extend deep inland with expansive waters
(Illustration of Quanzhou's "Three Bays and Twelve Ports," designed by @ Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
Providing an inexhaustible driving force for long voyages
Ancient Quanzhou people had already begun building boats
And the "Fuchuan," known for its excellent resistance to wind and waves
(Song Dynasty shipwreck at Houzhu Port, now displayed at the Quanzhou Bay Ancient Ship Exhibition Hall in Kaiyuan Temple, photographer @ Liu Peichong, annotations @ Han Qing/Planet Research Institute)
It features a flat and wide hull with a sharp bottom
And employs a "watertight bulkhead" design
Dividing the hull below the deck into
Greatly reducing the probability of shipwrecks
(Illustration of the Fuchuan's appearance and structure, designed by @ Han Qing/Planet Research Institute)
Navigational tools such as the compass and the quadrant
The fleet could thus more accurately determine its position
Finding the right direction in the vast ocean
(Red-lacquered square compass and "Zhenlu Bu," a type of nautical logbook recording routes and geographical charts; the image shows a Qing Dynasty artifact for illustration only, image credit @ Quanzhou Museum, design @ Hanqing/Planet Research Institute)
The encouragement and promotion of maritime trade by successive regimes
Further boosted the prosperity of Quanzhou's shipping industry
As the overland Silk Road gradually became obstructed and declined
Subsequent rulers gradually turned their attention to
The Northern Song court established the Maritime Trade Office in southern Quanzhou
Thus placing Quanzhou on par with Guangzhou and Mingzhou (Ningbo)
(Ruins of the Maritime Trade Office, photographer @ Wu Wenli, annotation @ Hanqing/Planet Research Institute)
Quanzhou's status even rivaled that of Guangzhou
(Ruins of the Southern Imperial Clan Office; the Southern Imperial Clan Office was a royal family management institution relocated to Quanzhou in the early Southern Song Dynasty, image credit @ Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, annotation @ Hanqing/Planet Research Institute)
Implementing various preferential and incentive policies
Countries and regions with navigation links to Quanzhou
Even as far as distant India, West Asia, and East Africa
(Please view horizontally, a map showing Quanzhou's navigation links along the "Maritime Silk Road," design @ Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute; the above quote is from Zhuang Mishao's "Record of the Luo City Moat" written in 1302 during the Yuan Dynasty, where "tigang" means sailing step by step like climbing stairs)
Inheriting the pioneering spirit of their immigrant ancestors
(Wind-praying stone carvings on Jiuri Mountain; during the Song and Yuan dynasties, people would climb the mountain to pray for favorable winds during the seasonal monsoons in winter and summer, blessing ocean-going ships with smooth voyages, photographer @ Xu Shuchun)
Exotic goods such as spices, jewelry, and medicinal herbs
And even larger were the exports of Chinese products
sweeping through the cities and villages of Quanzhou
Tea and sugarcane processed from these
(Anxi Longjuan, a Tieguanyin tea garden; Quanzhou's geographical environment is highly suitable for tea cultivation. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, tea planting was already widespread in Anxi County. Today, "Anxi Tieguanyin" is renowned nationwide, photographer @ Lin Fang)
Handicrafts also experienced a great boom
Dehua's white porcelain, Jinjiang's celadon, Yongchun's bamboo incense
Anxi's ironware, Nan'an's lacquerware, Hui'an's stone carvings
all formed industrial clusters with regional characteristics
These goods were of high quality and produced in large quantities
(Please view horizontally, a incense-making factory in Yongchun Dapu, workers drying incense; Yongchun's incense industry is highly developed and is known as the "Incense Capital," photographer @ Lin Fang)
To facilitate the rapid distribution of goods and people
people built inland port docks at the mouth of the Jinjiang River
(Jiangkou Wharf is located on the north bank of the Jinjiang River outside the ancient city of Quanzhou, serving as the inner port of the ancient Quanzhou Port and an important water-land transfer node; the photo shows Jiangkou Wharf and the distant Jinjiang Bridge, photographer @ Yang Hu)
People built bridges over rivers and seas
to connect cities on the northern and southern flanks
The giant beam-style seaport stone bridge built during the Northern Song Dynasty
(Luoyang Bridge, photographer @ Shen Longquan)
is the longest ancient cross-sea stone bridge still standing in China
(Anping Bridge, the bay it once spanned has gradually silted up into a lake over historical changes, photographer @ Wang Canghai)
And the center of this water-land transportation network
Throughout history, Quanzhou city has been constructed and expanded
Breaking free from the constraints of traditional layouts
Taking the shape of an irregular polygon
(Diagram of Quanzhou ancient city's layout evolution, mapped by Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
If viewed from Qingyuan Mountain in the north
It resembles a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate
(Quanzhou ancient city is backed by Qingyuan Mountain, home to the Laozi Rock Statue, one of the city's symbols, photo by Mr. Zhang Dapao)
Tall coral trees were also planted throughout the city
Hence Quanzhou is also known as the "City of Coral Trees"
(Coral Tree Avenue, photo by Wu Wenli)
Residents used iron-rich clay
To create scenes brimming with Southern Fujian charm
(Aerial view of red-brick buildings lining West Street, photo by Wei Jingwei)
The most elegant form is the red-brick "cuò" house
*"Cuò" is the Southern Min term for house
Its roof often features swallow-tail ridges
When disasters like earthquakes or typhoons damage walls
Temporary repairs use stone and red bricks
Forming irregular "brick-stone patterns"
(Quanzhou residential architecture diagram, mapped by Han Qing/Planet Research Institute; the emergence periods of brick-stone patterns and swallow-tail ridges remain debated)
Like the West Street that had "rows of houses forming a street" as early as the Tang Dynasty
Thus becoming the bustling heart of Quanzhou
(The night of West Street is always brightly lit, photographer: Chen Jian)
It also connects rivers and seas, offering convenient transportation
(The ruins of Deji Gate, photographer: Li Wenbo)
Therefore converging in Quanzhou, a hub for trade with countless nations
Koreans, Japanese, Southeast Asians
Persians, Indians, Arabs
Among which religious beliefs were particularly prominent
It is the oldest surviving Islamic mosque in China
(Qingjing Mosque, photographer: Li Qiong)
After over a thousand years of construction and worship
It has become the largest Buddhist temple in Fujian today
(Please view horizontally, Kaiyuan Temple and the ancient city of Quanzhou, photographer: Chen Jian)
(Yuanmiao Taoist Temple, photographer: Yang Hu)
Confucian scholars could gather at the Quanzhou Prefectural Confucian Temple
It integrates architectural styles from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties
The largest Confucian temple complex in the southeastern region
(Quanzhou Prefectural Confucian Temple, photographer: Yang Futian)
While the temple of the sea goddess Mazu, Tianhou Palace
is one of the largest Mazu temples in China in terms of architectural scale
(Please view horizontally, Tianhou Temple, photographer: Mr. Zhang Dapao)
as well as various folk deities
(Tonghuai Guanyue Temple, photographer: Fang Thomas)
even the extremely rare Manichaeism
all left remarkable traces in Quanzhou
(Please swipe to view, Cao'an and the Mani Light Buddha statue; Cao'an was built in the Southern Song Dynasty and is the only surviving Manichaean temple in China, image source: Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau)
(Please view horizontally, Chongwu Ancient City, a Ming Dynasty garrison built to resist Japanese pirates and the only well-preserved Ming Dynasty stone city in China, photographer: Wang Jun)
Many Quanzhou people followed the routes taken by their ancestors
and traveled to Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries to make a living
forming large communities of Taiwanese compatriots and overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese worked hard and prospered locally
while also bringing back many Southeast Asian elements to Quanzhou
building distinctive "foreign-style buildings"
Overseas Chinese of Quanzhou origin now number over 9 million
(Wulin Foreign-style Building, photographer: Liu Peichong)
yet repeatedly missed opportunities for national investment and development
(Please view horizontally, Kinmen Island, administratively part of Quanzhou, photographer: Wu Wenli)
Quanzhou's GDP was only 779 million yuan
expanding just 0.24 square kilometers since the founding of New China
Once seemingly frozen in time
This, however, created conditions for the ancient city to be well-preserved
Brimming with the vibrancy of life and human warmth
Crossing the threshold of Kaiyuan Temple time and again
Repeatedly poured out in prayers to the deities
(At Kaiyuan Temple, a child perched on their father's shoulders, photographer: Liu Peichong)
(The 26th day of each lunar month is Kaiyuan Temple's "Devotion Day," where believers participate in the "Circumambulation" ritual to show sincerity and reverence, photographer: Liu Peichong)
(Xuefeng Temple, located in Nan'an, photographer: Chen Junhong)
(Quannan Christian Church, photographer: Fang Tuomasi)
Seeing Chengtian Temple, Qingjing Mosque, Guanyue Temple, and Confucian Temple
(Chengtian Temple, photographer: Mr. Zhang Dapao)
When you see on the stages of temple fairs
Nanyin, Liyuan Opera, Gaojia Opera, string puppetry, and more
(Nanyin, sung in the Minnan dialect, is hailed as a "living fossil of Chinese music history," preserving traditional Tang Dynasty vocal styles and listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage; pictured is a Nanyin ensemble in performance, image source: Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau)
Dividing their city into one after another
(The "Pujing" system evolved from the "Baojia" system, integrating grassroots administrative units "Pu" and folk belief spaces "Jing," with each Pujing having its own temple for its deity; pictured is a Pujing temple called "Baigou Temple," dedicated to the Hindu deity Pishaye, image source: Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau)
The true meaning of this "Museum of World Religions"
Has been seamlessly woven into daily life today
Basking in the frozen time while chatting idly
(Please view horizontally, people relaxing in front of Tianhou Palace, photographer: Mr. Zhang Dapao)
Striving and hustling in the clamor of life
(An alley beneath the East and West Pagodas, photographer @AKA Atongmu)
Thriving under ancient eaves
(Among the bustling pilgrims, a little girl's smile shines especially bright, photographer @Liu Peichong)
These temples, alleys, rituals, and customs
Are not just what they witness or partake in
But also the hometown that cradles their lives
(Please view horizontally—timeless tradition and modernity, sacred and secular, converge and coexist in Quanzhou, photographer @Li Yishuang)
Inspiring the enterprising spirit of Quanzhou's people
Generations of Quanzhou residents' relentless efforts
Have once again made Quanzhou Fujian's economic powerhouse
Quanzhou Port is gradually regaining its former bustle
Especially the Xiaocuo Port area in northern Quanzhou
Now a key petrochemical industry hub in Fujian
(Xiangzhi Port, fishing boats ready to set sail, photographer @Wang Haiyan)
82.1% of GDP, 81% of tax revenue
Making it a true "City of Private Economy"
Anta, Xtep, Septwolves, Hongxing Erke...
Have reached millions of households across China from here
(Illustration of famous Quanzhou brands, graphic design @Hanqing/Planet Research Institute)
Quanzhou Bay Bridge with a total length of over 10,000 meters
(Please view horizontally, Quanzhou Bay Bridge, photographer: Mr. Zhang Dapao)
Quanzhou City formulates and implements the "Urban Double Repair" plan
Simultaneously advancing ecological restoration and urban renewal
"Preserving form, people, and soul; showcasing people, objects, and life"
Organically transforming the ancient city's appearance, facilities, and order
(Renovated Zhongshan Road arcade, photographer: Chen Jian)
Its past, its present, its future
The grandeur as an oriental port during the Song and Yuan dynasties
The charm as a museum of world religions
The marvel as a hub of private economy
Built through generations of Quanzhou people's hard work
Cherished, constructed, and envisioned
(Please view horizontally, overlooking Quanzhou's dazzling nightscape, photographer: Wang Canghai)
Reviewers: Lushumao & Liu Xiangyu & Chen Jingyi
Cover photographer: Liu Peichong, Clock Tower
Header image photographer: Chen Jian, sunset on West Street
Quanzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau
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