Li Cheng District
The stone twin pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple soar above ancient red-brick alleys on West Street in Licheng, heart of the UNESCO World Heritage maritime emporium.
Quanzhou, the World Heritage emporium of Song and Yuan China, keeps Kaiyuan Temple's twin pagodas, the Luoyang Bridge and the Laozi statue on Qingyuan Mountain.
Three traditional vessels travel along Quanzhou's harbor quays, where workers move beneath the town's twin pagodas and temple roofs.
Open the entryFor Quanzhou, the relationship between place and life becomes visible in “Quanzhou, the World Heritage emporium of Song and Yuan China, keeps Kaiyuan Temple's twin pagodas, the Luoyang Bridge and the Laozi statue on Qingyuan Mountain.” This evidence connects landform, movement, settlement, and cultural expression instead of treating them as isolated details. The present profile of Quanzhou reflects environmental adaptation and local stewardship built up over an extended period rather than a short-lived change. This process explains how Quanzhou remains connected to its surrounding region while retaining a recognizable local character. That is why Quanzhou matters: local detail can illuminate environmental setting, social process, and cultural memory together.
The stone twin pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple soar above ancient red-brick alleys on West Street in Licheng, heart of the UNESCO World Heritage maritime emporium.
The monumental Song-dynasty stone statue of Laozi rests on Mount Qingyuan in Fengze, near traditional oyster-shell houses and floral hair traditions of Xunpu.
The Song-dynasty Luoyang Bridge spans sea waters in Luojiang as an early maritime stone beam bridge, pioneered by scholar-official Cai Xiang.
Extensive red-brick Ming and Qing courtyard mansions grace Tukeng village in Quangang, overlooking coastal mangrove wetlands along Meizhou Bay.
The massive granite walls of Chongwu Ancient City overlook coastal waves in Hui An, famed for the distinctive attire of Hui An women and stone carving.
Terraced tea gardens in misty mountain valleys cradle Tieguanyin oolong tea in Anxi, home to the hanging Song-dynasty pavilions of Qingshui Rock.
Traditional aged vinegar brewing traditions anchor Yongchun, complemented by the virgin subalpine forests of Niumulin and White Crane martial arts.
World-famous Blanc de Chine white porcelain craft thrives in Dehua, where ancient kiln sites at Qudougong echo centuries of maritime Silk Road exports.
Granite peaks of Mount Taiwu look down upon traditional swallowtail courtyard hamlets in Kinmen, celebrated for protective stone Wind Lion God statues.
The stone Gusa Pagoda atop Mount Baogai guided ancient Maritime Silk Road navigators in Shishi, beside the Ming fortress of Yongning Ancient City.
The five-li stone beam Anping Bridge spans tidal flats in Jinjiang, home to the unique Manichaean stone Buddha relief at Caoan Temple.
Song-dynasty sea prayer cliff carvings at Mount Jiuri record maritime trade ceremonies in Nan An, ancestral home of hero Zheng Chenggong and Cai Clan Mansions.
The world's largest port during the Song and Yuan dynasties, the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road — where Marco Polo beheld the Zaytun city in full bloom, the Orient's greatest harbor.
A dense lineage-based red-brick settlement on the southern Fujian coast — swallowtail ridges and brick-in-stone craftsmanship, witnessing the wealth and faith of Minnan clans on the Maritime Silk Road diaspora.
Shenzhi was a big, imposing man with a high nose and square mouth; he always rode a white horse, and the army called him 'Third Master White Horse'.
I know that if I surrender I shall live and be rich and honoured; but I will die for my sovereign and not change.