From Wikitravel

Quanzhou (泉州) is a coastal city just North of Xiamen in Fujian Province China.

[edit] Understand

The city was once the Eastern terminus of the Maritime Silk Road and home to a large (100,000 by some estimates!) international community, mostly Arabs but also including Persians, Indians and others.

Marco Polo sailed home from Quanzhou. He described it as the world's busiest port, with Alexandria second. The English word "satin" comes from "Zaiton", the Arabic name for Quanzhou, the port from which that fabric first reached the West.

After the emperor cut off foreign expeditions, destroyed the records and let the great ships rot in the 1420s, Quanzhou declined considerably. Today it is less well-known than the provincial capital Fuzhou or Special Economic Zone Xiamen, and certainly gets fewer tourists than either. However, it definitely has its own attractions, notably interesting architecture and good shopping.

Like most Chinese cities, Quanzhou has some of the standard ugly 8-storey concrete apartment blocks. However, there are far fewer of those than elsewhere and whole districts are much prettier. The city government has policies that require new buildings to follow certain architectural conventions. Downtown, there are many new 4 to 6 floor buildings with the traditional Chinese tile roofs with points on the corners. Near the old mosque there are new buildings with Islamic themes in the architecture. The rebuilding of the Zhongshan Road shopping area got a UNESCO award[1].

[edit] Get in

Quanzhou, or rather Jinjiang across the river, has an airport with flights to various mainland cities. Nearby Xiamen has a more important airport with good domestic connections, including flights to Hong Kong and Macau and quite a few international flights.

There are frequent buses from Xiamen (¥27 to 35, 1.5 hours) or Fuzhou (¥46 to ¥65, 2.5 hours).

There are also direct overnight buses to/from more distant places such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, in the ¥300 range.

There are two main bus stations, a fairly large one in a new building toward the East of town and one that is much more central and looks more run down. The latter is the "new bus station". A small bus station next to the Overseas Chinese hotel has busses to Fuzhou.

[edit] Get around

Taxis start at ¥7 RMB and you can go almost anywhere in town for under ¥20.

[edit][add listing] See

The town has an assortment of religious buildings, some quite old. It has been called a museum of world religions. Only one Mosque of the many that used to exist survives, but it is worth seeing. There are Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian temples, as anywhere in China, plus Christian churches. There are also Hindu and Zoroastrian temples, and the world's only surviving Manichean temple is on Huabiao Mountain in nearby Jinjiang.

The Qingjing Mosque is on Tumen Jie. One large and impressive Taoist temple is just East of the mosque; the main Confucian temple is a couple of blocks West of those, just off Tumen Jie. Between the mosque and the Taoist temple, and extending out behind both, is a large market area, well worth exploring.

The Chongfu Temple is a beautiful if small active Buddhist Temple northeast of the city center, on Chongfu Road, near where Dong Road turns into Donghu Road.

The "Old Saint", an enormous statue of Lao Tse, the founder of Taoism, on the peak of Qingyuanshan just outside town, attracts people from all over China.

Quanzhou is famous for puppets. There is an excellent free puppet museum. They sometimes do shows, which are excellent, but not on a regular schedule. You need to be lucky to catch one, or to have a group of 20 or so people and make arrangements.

To find the museum: from the mosque, walk West (away from the Taoist temple) along Tumen Jie, take the first right, go a short distance and take the first right again. (If you reach a park on your right, you've gone too far.) The museum is a short way along on your left. (If you reach the French restaurant, you've gone too far).

Other museums include the Fujian-Taiwan Kinship Museum, the Quanzhou Museum, and an excellent Maritime Museum. Quanzhou was, up to the 15th century, one of China's greatest trading cities and a major base for her powerful fleets.

[edit][add listing] Do

Climbing Qingyuanshan is a nice way to get away from the city, and some of its heat and noise. Mountain climbing in Qingyuanshan is a different experience from hiking in other places (at least compared to the US) - the paths up the mountain (large hill, really) are clearly marked, and paved in most places, with steps up the steeper parts. There are lots of places to buy drinks or snacks along the way, and temples, pavilions, and even some carnival-style games are there to distract you from your trek, if you like. Nonetheless, its a beautiful, strenuous climb, with dense tree canopies above and cicadas all around, with openings along the way with clear vistas of the city below. Wear good shoes and clothes you can sweat in.

[edit][add listing] Buy

There is large area of antique and curio shops on the North side of the mosque. They sell mainly to locals. Quality, variety and price are all better than most tourist areas. You do have to bargain fiercely, though.

White pottery from the village of Dehua outside Quanzhou has been a export item for centuries, known in Europe as "Blanc de Chine". Other ceramics are also made in the area. There are kilns going back a millennium or more.

Anxi outside Quanzhou produces one of China's most famous teas, Tie Guan Yin Oolong. Guan Yin is Goddess of Mercy; "tie" means iron. Tie Guan Yin tea is available in countless shops throughout Quanzhou - in most you can sit and try a variety of grades of tea to decide which you want. These shops also sell the miniature tea sets that are most commonly used in this area - making and drinking tea this way is somewhat labor-intensive (each cup is smaller than a shot glass and a 'pot' is about as big as a coffee cup) but an enjoyable social experience. Making and serving tea in this way is not really a tea 'ceremony' in the sense of a Japanese tea ceremony, but it is still a ritualized and celebrated process.

North of the mosque, across the arched bridge over the small creek (Ba Gua Gou), is a traditional courtyard house that has been converted into a teahouse - this is a good place to get an introduction to the local tea service - your server can show you how to prepare the tea. Most tea shops will also be happy to give you an impromptu lesson in brewing tea.

[edit][add listing] Eat

Restaurants are common along Zhongshan Middle Road (中山中路), and there are a large number of popular restaurants in the Area surrounding Mazu Temple. However, they're very basic restaurants, and those searching something fancier should look at the restaurants attached to fancier hotels - there's several alongside Daxi Road, between Baiyuan Road and Zhongshan Road.

At night, there is a series of food stalls in the park to the North of Guandi Temple. They serve mostly kebabs and informal hot-pot, as well as several local treats.

A block west of the long-distance bus station, on the north side of Yiquan Road, is Blue Sea, a chain of Chinese fast food. While there are some English signs, none is really needed - just pick which food looks good, and expect to pay 20-30 kuai for a meal.

On 381 Zhongshan Road, slightly south of Yiquan Road, is an interesting Xiaolongbao shack. It's very different from Shanghai-style Xiaolongbao, with a chewy dough, minced-beef stuffing, and a sweet chili sauce. It's generally ordered alongside a clear soup.

Vegetarian: There are several vegetarian restaurants near Chengtien temple on Nanjun Road - try Pu Ti, half a block north of Dong Jie (East Street) on Nanjun Road. Between Pu Ti and Dico's (a fried chicken fast food restaurant) is a restaurant called Wumingzi (No Name) that is a decent, buffet style place. There's another good (and quite fancy) vegetarian restaurant across Nanjun Road from the Carp City Hotel (Lichung Dajiudian).

[edit][add listing] Drink

Blenz Coffee on Nanjun Lu is good.

Zhuang Yuan Jie (Bar Street) is to the east of Zhongshan Lu North of the center of town. The street is parallel and slightly south of Dong Jie. It has many bars. One that expats go to is Mixing Tunnel Bar.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

Quanzhou is not a common tourist city and there are relatively few hotels. Several exist on the high end, alongside Baiyuan Road and the surroundings - they look like palaces and are easy to spot. The Overseas Chinese Hotel is one example - after bargaining, expect to pay 300 kuai/night for a single. Inconveniently located on Wenling Road or Chongfu Road are also several cheap business hotels, for 50-100 kuai/night. A convenient hotel for cheap travelers is the Bai Yun Bin Guan (0595-22397807), on 157 Zhongshan South Road, slightly north of Mazu temple. Expect to pay around 60 kuai/night after bargaining. Rooms are relatively large and clean, but fixtures are old - have a careful look at the room first, and ask for a different room if needed.

[edit] Contact

The area code for Quanzhou is 0595. When calling from overseas, dial +86 595 XXXX-XXXX

[edit] Get out

There is a train a couple of times a week to Wu Yi Mountain.

Bus to Fuzhou leaves from the bus station at southern end of the main tourist street (not the main bus station) and takes about 3 hours (60-70RMB). There are also Fuzhou busses from the small station next to the Overseas Chinese Hotel.

Several times a week, there is an early-morning bus to Wu Yi Mountain and Jingdezhen. This bus is small dirty sleepers, arrives at many of its destinations very late at night, and drops passengers off by the side of the highway rather than the bus station. So book with care.

There are two long-distance bus stations in Quanzhou, so make sure to book the correct one.

Chongwu is an old walled town near Quanzhou. There are good beaches near it.

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