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Quanzhou is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's most populous metropolitan region, with an area of and a population of 8,782,285 as of the 2020 census. Its City proper is home to 6,669,711 inhabitants, encompassing the Licheng, Fengze District, and Luojiang urban districts; Jinjiang, Nan'an, and Shishi cities; Hui'an County; and the Quanzhou District for Taiwanese Investment. Quanzhou was China's 12th-largest extended metropolitan area in 2010.
Quanzhou was China's major port for foreign traders, who knew it as Zaiton, during the 11th through 14th centuries. It was visited by both Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta; both travelers praised it as one of the most prosperous and glorious cities in the world. It was the naval base from which the Mongolian Empire attacks on Japan and Java were primarily launched and a cosmopolitan center with Buddhist and Hindu temples, Islamic mosques, and Christian churches, including a Catholic cathedral and Franciscans friaries. Ispah Rebellion prompted a massacre of the city's foreign communities in 1357. Economic dislocations—including wokou and an haijin to it during the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty—reduced its prosperity, with Japanese trade shifting to Ningbo and Zhapu and other foreign trade restricted to Guangzhou. Quanzhou became an opium-smuggling center in the 19th century but the siltation of its harbor hindered trade by larger ships.
Because of its importance for medieval maritime commerce, unique mix of religious buildings, and extensive archeological remains, "" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.
The Postal Map name of the city was "Chinchew", Postal Atlas of China. an English variant of Chincheo, which is also the historical Spanish language, Portuguese (and later also Dutch language and French language) name for the city. The exact etymon of the term is uncertain with multiple explanations on the matter. Historically, "Chincheo" or also "Chengchio" or "Chenchiu" was likely a name that originally referred to neighboring Zhangzhou, due to the name generally being used by European sailors to denote the Xiamen Bay and its hinterland, or even the whole Fujian province. The confusion is also discussed by Charles R. Boxer (1953) and the 1902 Encyclopedia in that it is apparently the transcription of the local Quanzhou Hokkien language pronunciation of the name of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou Hokkien c=漳州 (IPA: /t͡ɕiɪŋ³³ t͡ɕiu³³/), the major Fujianese port in the 16th and 17th centuries, specifically the old port of Yuegang in Haicheng, Zhangzhou, trading with Colonial Manila and Portuguese Macao. It is uncertain when exactly and why Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and later also British and French sailors first applied the name to Quanzhou, but perhaps there were initially some confusion due to miscommunication on first language contact by European sailors with Hokkien speakers around the Xiamen Bay, which the term later stuck and continued due to the language barrier among Hokkien speakers and those who do not speak the language. Another by Duncan (1902) claims that it comes from a supposed previous "Tsuien-chow" Mandarin Chinese romanization (Mandarin p=Quánzhōu; IPA: /t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵⁵/). In the Chineesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek van het Emoi dialekt (1882), a Hokkien-Dutch Dictionary from Dutch Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) of the Dutch East Indies, the name of the Quanzhou dialect of Hokkien is transcribed as the "Tsin-tsiu dialekt". It is uncertain which term they transcribed "Tsin-tsiu" from, specifically the first syllable, unless it was simply their attempt at giving a Hokkien term to explain the origins of "Chincheo". On that regard though, as part of Quanzhou prefecture and directly adjacent from the historic city of Quanzhou over the Jin River lies Jinjiang, called in Hokkien c=晉江; Tâi-lô: Tsìn-kang, which is now also a county-level city. The now county-level city of Jinjiang (Hokkien: labels=no) has the exact same name in Hokkien as the Jin River (Hokkien: labels=no; IPA: /t͡sin⁵⁵⁴ kaŋ³³/), directly in between the historic city of Quanzhou to its west and to the north of Jinjiang, which both the river and the county-level city got their name from the Jin dynasty (晉朝) from when the earliest Min Chinese-speaking Chinese settlers coming from the Min River area settled the banks of the Jin River around 284 AD. Zhou () or at least Hokkien c=州 / 洲 originally referred to alluvial islands in the middle of rivers or at the mouth of rivers, which can somewhat geographically describe the historic city of Quanzhou's geographic position in between the Jin River and the Luoyang River. Similarly, Zhangzhou (labels=no) is also named with Hokkien c=州 with Hokkien c=漳 referring to Hokkien c=漳江, which is the old name of the Jiulong River (Hokkien: labels=no) that surrounds the historic city of Zhangzhou.
Its Arabic language name Zaiton or "Zayton" (), once popular in English, means "City of " and is a calque of Quanzhou's former Chinese epithet, Hokkien c=刺桐城 or Mandarin Chinese p=Cìtóng Chéng, which is derived from the avenues of tung oil-bearing ordered to be planted around the city by the city's 10th-century ruler Liu Congxiao. Variant transcriptions from the Arabic name include Caiton, Çaiton, Çayton, Zaytún, Zaitûn, Zaitún, and Zaitūn. The etymology of satin derives from "Zaitun".
Into the 1280s Quanzhou sometimes served as the provincial capital for Fujian. Its population was around 455,000 in 1283, the major items of trade being spice trade, gemstones, pearls, and porcelain.
Marco Polo recorded that the Yuan emperors derived "a vast revenue" from their 10 percent duty on the port's commerce; he called Quanzhou's port "one of the two greatest havens in the world for commerce" and "the Alexandria of the Far East". Ibn Battuta simply called it the greatest port in the world. Polo noted its tattoo artists were famed throughout Southeast Asia. It was the point of departure for Marco Polo's 1292 return expedition, escorting the 17-year-old princess Kököchin to her fiancé in the Ilkhanate; a few decades later, it was the point of arrival and departure for Ibn Battuta. Kublai Khan's invasions of Japan and Java sailed primarily from its port.
Between 1357 and 1367 the Yisibaxi Muslim Persian garrison started the Ispah rebellion against the Yuan dynasty in Quanzhou and southern Fujian due to increasingly anti-Muslim laws. Persian militia leaders (賽甫丁) and (阿迷里丁) led the revolt. Arabic official (那兀纳) assassinated Amir ad-Din in 1362 and took control of the Muslim rebel forces. The Muslim rebels tried to strike north and took over some parts of Xinghua but were defeated at Fuzhou. Yuan provincial loyalist forces from Fuzhou defeated the Muslim rebels in 1367.
Nawuna was killed in turn by Chen Youding. Chen began a campaign of persecution against the city's Sunni community—including massacres and grave desecration—that eventually became a three-days anti-foreign massacre. Emigrants fleeing the persecution rose to prominent positions throughout Southeast Asia, spurring the development of Islam on Java and elsewhere. The Yuan were expelled in 1368, and they turned against Pu Shougeng's family and the Muslims and slaughtered Pu Shougeng's descendants in the Ispah rebellion. Mosques and other buildings with foreign architecture were almost all destroyed and the Yuan imperial soldiers killed most of the descendants of Pu Shougeng and mutilated their corpses.
During the Qing dynasty the Sea Ban did not help the city's traders or fishermen. They were forced to abandon their access to the sea for years at a time and coastal farmers forced to relocate miles inland to inner counties like Yongchun and Anxi. Violent large scale clan fights with the thousands of non-native families from Guangdong who were deported to Quanzhou city by the Qing immediately occurred.
When Chinese pirates overran the receiving ships in Shenhu Bay to capture their stockpiles of silver bullion in 1847, however, the traders moved to Quanzhou Bay regardless. Around 1862, a Protestant mission was set up in Quanzhou. As late as the middle of the century, large Chinese junks could still access the town easily, trading in tea, sugar, tobacco, porcelain, and nankeens, but created by the rivers around the town had generally incapacitated its harbor by the First World War. It remained a large and prosperous city, but conducted its maritime trade through Anhai.
After the Chinese Civil War, Kinmen became disconnected from Quanzhou with the Kuomintang successfully defended Kinmen in battle from a Communist takeover attempt.
Today Quanzhou is a major exporter of agricultural products such as tea, banana, lychee, and rice. It is also a major producer of quarry granite and . Other industries include textiles, footwear, fashion and apparel, packaging, machinery, paper and petrochemicals.Quanzhou, Fujian. InJ. R. Logan (Ed.), The new Chinese city: Globalization and market reform (pp. 227–245). Oxford: Blackwell
Its GDP ranked first in Fujian Province for 20 years from 1991 to 2010. In 2008 Quanzhou's textile and apparel production accounted for 10 percent of China's overall apparel production, stone exports account for 50 percent of Chinese stone exports, resin handicraft exports account for 70 percent of the country's total, ceramic exports account for 67 percent of the country's total, candy production accounts for 20 percent, and the production of sport and tourism shoes accounts for 80% of Chinese, and 20 percent of world production.
Quanzhou is known today as China's shoe city. Quanzhou's 3,000 shoe factories produce 500 million pairs a year, making nearly one in every four pairs of sneakers made in China.
There is a passenger ferry terminal in Shijing, Nan'an, Fujian, with regular service to the Shuitou Port in the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Island.
Passenger trains from China terminated at the Quanzhou East Railway Station, a few kilometers northeast of the center of the city. Passenger service on this line was terminated, and Quanzhou East railway station closed 9 December 2014.
Since 2010, Quanzhou has been served by the high-speed Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, a part of the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen high-speed railway, which runs along China's southeastern sea coast. High-speed trains on this line stop at Quanzhou railway station (in Beifeng Subdistrict of Fengze District, some 10 miles north of Quanzhou city center) and Jinjiang railway station. Trains to Xiamen take under 45 minutes, making it a convenient weekend or day trip. By 2015, direct high-speed service was made available to a number of cities in the country's interior, from Beijing to Chongqing and Guiyang.
The Quanzhou–Xiamen–Zhangzhou Intercity Railway Line, as the name suggests, connecting the cities of Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Zhangzhou is currently conducting on-site surveys.
Vocational school:
The city hosted the Sixth National Peasants' Games in 2008. Signature local dishes include Zongzi and oyster .
Notable Historical and cultural sites (the 18 views of Quanzhou as recommended by the Fujian tourism board) include the Ashab Mosque and Kaiyuan Temple mentioned above, as well as:
Notable Modern cultural sites include:
Relics from Quanzhou's past are preserved at the Maritime or Overseas-Relations History Museum. It includes large exhibits on Song-era ships and Yuan-era tombstones. A particularly important exhibit is the so-called Quanzhou ship, a seagoing junk that sunk some time after 1272 and was recovered in 1973–74.
The old city center preserves "balcony buildings" (p=qílóu), a style of southern Chinese architecture from the Republican Era.
== Gallery ==
Geography
Quanzhou proper lies on a split of land between the estuaries of the Jin River and Luoyang River as they flow into on the Taiwan Strait. Its surrounding prefecture extends west halfway across the province and is hilly and mountainous. Along with Xiamen and Zhangzhou to its south and Putian to its north, it makes up Fujian Province's Southern Coast region. In its mountainous interior, it borders Longyan to the southwest and Sanming to the northwest.
Climate
The city features a humid subtropical climate. Quanzhou has four distinct seasons. Its moderate temperature ranges from 0 to 38 degrees Celsius. In summer, there are that bring rain and some damage to the city.
Earthquakes
Major earthquakes have been experienced in 1394《大明太祖高皇帝實錄卷之二百三十四》：洪武二十七年八月戊辰朔福建泉州府地震 and on 29 December 1604.（明万历三十二年十月九日），泉州以东海域发生8级地震（一说7.5级）。泉州城及鄰近地區遭受严重破坏。
History
Early history
(王國慶) used the area as a base of operations for the [[Chen|Chen dynasty]] State before he was subdued by the [[Sui|Sui dynasty]] general [[Yang Su]] in the AD590s.
(2025). 9789004271852, Brill. ISBN 9789004271852 Quanzhou proper was established under the [[Tang|Tang dynasty]] in 718 on a spit of land between two branches of the Jin River. Muslim traders reached the city early on in its existence, along with their existing trade at [[Guangzhou]] and [[Yangzhou]].
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
In the early period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Quanzhou was a part of Min state. After Min was destroyed by the Southern Tang, the Qingyuan Circuit rose up in the original southern territory of Min. The Qingyuan Circuit was a de facto independent entity that lasted 29 years (949–978) with 4 rulers with its territory including present-day Minnan region and Putian, with Quanzhou as its capital. Its founder, Liu Congxiao, the Prince of Jinjiang and Jiedushi (military governor) of Qingyuan Circuit, vigorously expanded overseas trade and city development. Erythrina trees were planted throughout Quanzhou city, so Quanzhou was called Erythrina City. In 964, the circuit was renamed the Pinghai Circuit. In 978, Chen Hongjin, the Jiedushi of Pinghai Circuit, was forced to surrender to the Song dynasty to avoid war and ravage. 风雨江山三百年：两宋白话史
Song dynasty
Already connected to inland Fujian by roads and canals, Quanzhou grew to international importance in the first century of the Northern Song. It received an office of the maritime trade bureau (shibosi, 市舶司) in 1079 or 1087 and functioned as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road into the Yuan dynasty, eclipsing both the Silk Road and Guangzhou. A 1095 inscription records two convoys, each of twenty ships, arriving from the Southern Seas each year. Quanzhou's maritime trade developed the area's ceramics, sugar, alcohol, and salt industries. Ninety per cent of Fujian's ceramic production at the time was Chinese jade-colored celadon, produced for export. Frankincense was such a coveted import that promotions for the trade superintendents at Guangzhou and Quanzhou were tied to the amount they were able to bring in during their terms in office. During this period it was one of the world's largest and most cosmopolitan seaports. By 1120, its prefecture claimed a population of around 500,000. Its Luoyang Bridge was formerly the most celebrated bridge in China and the 12th century Anping Bridge is also well known. during Quanzhou's heyday.]]Quanzhou initially continued to thrive under the Southern Song. A 1206 report listed merchants from Arabia, Iran, the Indian subcontinent, Srivijaya, Khmer Empire, Bruneian Empire, Kediri Kingdom, Champa, Pagan Kingdom, Anatolia, Goryeo, Japan and the city-states of the Philippines. One of its Chinese culture inspectors, Zhao Rugua, completed his compendious Description of Barbarian Nations , recording the people, places, and items involved in China's foreign trade in his age. Other imperial records from the time use it as the zero mile for distances between China and foreign countries. Tamil people merchants carved Cult image of Vishnu and Shiva and constructed Hindu temples in Quanzhou. Over the course of the 13th century, however, Quanzhou's prosperity declined due to instability among its trading partners and increasing restrictions introduced by the Southern Song in an attempt to restrict the outflow of copper and bronze currency from areas forced to use hyperinflating paper money. The increasing importance of Japan to China's foreign trade also benefited merchants at Quanzhou's expense, given their extensive contacts with Japan's major ports on Hakata Bay on Kyushu.
Yuan dynasty
In 1277 under the Mongolian Empire Yuan dynasty a superintendent of foreign trade was established in the city. The superintendent Pu Shougeng was Muslim and used his contacts to restore the city's trade under its new rulers. He was broadly successful, restoring much of the port's former greatness. His office became hereditary to his descendants.
(2025). 9789812308375, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789812308375 The Islamic geographer Abulfeda noted, in , that its city walls remained ruined from its conquest by the Mongols. In the mid-1320s Friar Odoric noted the town's two Franciscans friaries, but admitted the Buddhist monasteries were much larger, with over 3000 monks in one.
(2025). 9783447058094, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447058094 Sayf ad-Din and Amir ad-Din fought for Fuzhou and Xinghua for five years. They both were murdered by another Muslim called Nawuna in 1362 so he then took control of Quanzhou and the Ispah garrison for five more years until his defeat by the Yuan authorities. (2025). 9781108640091, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108640091
Ming and early Qing dynasties
The Ming dynasty discouraged foreign commerce other than formal tributary missions. By 1473 trade had declined to the point that Quanzhou was no longer the headquarters of the imperial customs service for Fujian. The Wokou, who came from many different ethnicities, including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, forced Quanzhou's Superintendency of Trade to close completely in 1522.
19th century to present day
In the 19th century, the city walls still protected a circuit of but embraced much vacant ground. The bay began to attract Jardines' and Dents' opium ships from 1832. Following the First Opium War, Governor Henry Pottinger proposed using Quanzhou as an official opium depot to keep the trade out of Hong Kong and the other but the rents sought by the imperial commissioner Qiying were too high.
Administrative divisions
The prefecture-level city of Quanzhou administers four districts, three county-level cities, four counties, and two special economic districts. The People's Republic of China claims Kinmen (Quemoy) (administered and also claimed by the Republic of China) as Kinmen County under the administration of Quanzhou.
Licheng District 鲤城区 Lǐchéng Qū Lí-siâⁿ-khu 52.41 404,817 7,724 Fengze District 丰泽区 Fēngzé Qū Hong-te̍k-khu 132.25 529,640 4,005 Luojiang District 洛江区 Luòjiāng Qū Lo̍k-kang-khu 381.72 187,189 490 Quangang District 泉港区 Quángǎng Qū Chôan-káng-khu 306.03 313,539 1025 Shishi City 石狮市 Shíshī Shì Chio̍h-sai-chhī 189.21 636,700 3,365 Jinjiang City 晋江市 Jìnjiāng Shì Chìn-kang-chhī 721.64 1,986,447 2,753 Nan'an City 南安市 Nán'ān Shì Lâm-oaⁿ-chhī 2,035.11 1,418,451 697 Hui'an County 惠安县 Huì'ān Xiàn Hūiⁿ-oaⁿ-kūiⁿ 762.19 944,231 1,239 Anxi County 安溪县 Ānxī Xiàn An-khoe-kūiⁿ 2,983.07 977,435 328 Yongchun County 永春县 Yǒngchūn Xiàn Éng-chhun-kūiⁿ 1,445.8 452,217 313 Dehua County 德化县 Déhuà Xiàn Tek-hòe-kūiⁿ 2,209.48 277,867 126 Kinmen * 金门县 Jīnmén Xiàn Kim-mn̂g-kūiⁿ 153.011 127,723 830
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, Quanzhou has a population of 8,128,530. Its City proper is home to 6,107,475 inhabitants, encompassing the Licheng, Fengze District, and Luojiang urban districts; Jinjiang, Nan'an, and Shishi cities; Hui'an County; and the Quanzhou District for Taiwanese Investment.
Religion
Medieval Quanzhou was long one of the most cosmopolitan Chinese cities, with Chinese folk religious temples, Buddhist temples, Taoist and Hindu temples; Islamic mosques; and Christian churches, including Nestorian and a cathedral (financed by a rich Armenians lady) and two Franciscans friaries. Andrew of Perugia served as the Roman Catholic bishop of the city from 1322. Odoric of Pordenone was responsible for relocating the relics of the four Franciscans martyred at Thane in India in 1321 to the mission in Quanzhou. English Presbyterian missionaries raised a chapel around 1862. The Qingjing Mosque dates to 1009 but is now preserved as a museum. The Buddhist Kaiyuan Temple has been repeatedly rebuilt but includes two 5-story 13th-century . Among the most popular folk or Taoist memorial hall is Guan Yue Memorial Hall (通淮關岳廟) that is dedicated to Yue Fei and famous Guandi, who is honored for his righteousness and the spirit of brotherhood. Jinjiang also preserves the Cao'an monastery (草庵寺), originally constructed by Manichaeanism under the Yuan but now used by New Age, and a Confucian Memorial Hall (文庙, Wenmiao).
Language
Locals speak the Quanzhou dialect of Hokkien (Min Nan) partly the same as the Amoy dialect spoken in Xiamen, and similar to Malaysian Hokkien, Singaporean Hokkien, Philippine Hokkien, and Quanzhou-descended Taiwanese dialects. It is unintelligible with Mandarin. Many overseas Chinese whose ancestors came from the Quanzhou area, especially those in Southeast Asia, often speak mainly Hokkien at home. Around the "Minnan region," which includes Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou, locals all speak the Hokkien language. The dialects of Hokkien itself that they speak are similar but have different tones and sometimes different pronunciation and vocabulary.
Emigration
Quanzhou has been a source for Chinese diaspora to Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Some of these communities date to Quanzhou's heyday a millennium ago under the Song and Yuan dynasties. About 6 million overseas Chinese trace their ancestry to Quanzhou and Tong'an county. Most of them live in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Economy
Historically Quanzhou exported black tea, camphor, sugar, indigo, tobacco, , cloth made of grass, and minerals. As of 1832 Quanzhou imported, primarily from Guangzhou, wool cloth, wine, and watches. The East India Company was exporting an estimated £150,000 a year in black tea from Quanzhou.
Cars
Quanzhou is the biggest automotive market in Fujian. It has the highest rate of private automobile possession.KFC, McDonald's to Open Drive-in Restaurants in Quanzhou SinoCast China Business Daily News. London (UK): 23 August 2007. pg. 1 Quanzhou is connected by major roads from Fuzhou to the north and Xiamen to the south.
Transport
Quanzhou is an important transport hub within southeastern Fujian province. Many export industries in the Fujian interior cities will transport goods to Quanzhou ports. Quanzhou Port was one of the most prosperous port in Tang dynasty and is now still an important Chinese port for exporting.
Airport
Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport is Quanzhou's sole airport, served by passenger flights within mainland China and other regional/international destinations throughout southeast Asia, including Hong Kong, Macau, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok etc. Major airlines operated in JJN are Xiamen Air, Shenzhen Airlines and West Air.
Railway
The Zhangping–Quanzhou–Xiaocuo railway connects several cargo stations within Quanzhou Prefecture with the interior of Fujian and the rest of the country. Until 2014 this line also had passenger service, with fairly slow passenger trains from Beijing.
Long-distance bus
Long-distance bus services also run daily/nightly to Shenzhen and other major cities. Quanzhou bus station operated from 1990 to 2020.
Colleges and universities
Colleges and universities with Undergraduate education:
Culture
Quanzhou is listed as one of the 24 famous historic cultural cities first approved by the Chinese government. Notable cultural practices include:
Notable residents
Villages
Notes
Explanatory notes
Citations
General and cited references
Further reading
External links
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