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There is a small city that people often say is "half city is fireworks and half city is fairyland". It has both profound cultural heritage and delicious and unique food.
The oldest and largest existing Mazu Temple in my country is located here, holding the heart of thousands of overseas Chinese; the tallest existing pair of stone pagodas, the "Kaiyuan Temple Twin Pagodas," stand here and became the filming location for "Black Myth: Wukong."
The Luoyang Bridge, the earliest sea-crossing stone bridge, stands here, having weathered thousands of storms from the Song Dynasty to the present day. This small city, also known as the "Greatest Port of the East," has witnessed the rise and fall of countless tides and the rise and fall of the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.
This is Quanzhou, Fujian!
If you haven't been to Quanzhou, and this is the first intangible cultural heritage Spring Festival this year, I strongly recommend you to come and catch the fun~ There are 36 intangible cultural heritages here, such as shadow carving and puppet shows, there are Lantern Festival special lantern festivals, begging for turtles and other New Year customs, as well as delicious snacks such as ginger duck and rice noodle soup, so you can find the lost New Year atmosphere and have a happy traditional Chinese New Year!
Depart from Quanzhou | 4~5 days
Fireworks Quanzhou | Traditional Southern Fujian Flavors · World Heritage Maritime Silk Road (4/5 Days)
￥1780 Starting from 1712 people have registered Register nowZhu Xi once praised Quanzhou, saying, "This place was known in ancient times as the Buddhist Kingdom, and its streets are filled with saints." This remark holds true. With a temple every five steps and a shrine every ten, Quanzhou is known as the "Museum of World Religions." Faiths rooted in the region, as well as religions that have migrated from other lands, have left behind dazzling architectural treasures.
Kaiyuan Temple, built during the Tang Dynasty (686 AD), is the most revered Buddhist temple by locals. Its East and West Pagodas are the tallest surviving pair of Song Dynasty stone pagodas in my country. It was also the setting for last year's hit game "Black Myth: Wukong."
The tower body is carved with Bodhisattvas, Arhats and other figures with exquisite details. Considering the productivity level of the Song Dynasty, it must have required strong manpower and financial support. It gives us a glimpse of the prosperous maritime Silk Road trade in Quanzhou at that time, and also gives us a preliminary impression of the exquisite craftsmanship of Quanzhou craftsmen.
Tianhou Temple was first built in the Southern Song Dynasty (1196). It was originally called "Shunji Temple", and later changed its name to "Tianfei Palace". Finally, it was changed to "Tianhou Palace" during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. The several name changes show that with the increasing prosperity of Quanzhou's maritime trade, the status of Mazu belief in the hearts of Quanzhou people has become increasingly higher.
Every Lunar New Year, the Tianhou Temple creates "rice turtles." People walk across the Peace Bridge and touch the turtles in a traditional clockwise motion, praying for good fortune for the new year. Afterward, the temple distributes the "peace rice" to the poor and those in need, bringing blessings to more people.
Guanyu Temple, dedicated to Guan Yu and Yue Fei, boasts a dazzling array of roof decorations. Quanzhou craftsmen skillfully employ painting and pasting techniques to bring the roof to life with images of immortals, auspicious animals, flowers, insects, fish, and other auspicious motifs, imbued with auspicious meanings and blessings.
As soon as you step in, you will see the couplet in the main hall: "If you are deceitful and cunning, what is the point of showing your sincerity in the temple; if you are fair and upright, it is okay not to bow when entering." It seems that the complicated decorations in front are just a facade, and the most moving thing is the righteousness in the heart.
This place has always been very popular, with many locals asking for divination and fortune-telling. If you are interested, you can give it a try.
Located adjacent to the Guanyu Temple, Qingjing Mosque, founded in 1009, is one of my country's oldest Islamic temples. Muslims from Persia, Arabia, and other lands traveled across the ocean, bringing with them popular local goods and a devout faith. They funded the construction of the mosque, settled around it, married and had children with locals, and gradually integrated into the open and inclusive Quanzhou.
Every evening with sunset, Qingjing Mosque appears even more tranquil and ancient in the afterglow of the setting sun. This scene has long been included in the "Eight Scenic Spots of Quanzhou" and has become one of the unique memories of the locals.
In addition to the aforementioned, various deities have "offices" in Quanzhou, though space limits me from detailing them all. Burning incense and worshipping gods has long been ingrained into local customs. They worship the Earth God on the second and sixteenth day of the lunar month, invite friends and family to celebrate the deity's birthday, and regularly carry statues of deities through the streets.
Here, the gods also seem to be more flesh and blood, like a close friend.
After enjoying the cultural relics and witnessing the devout faith in Quanzhou, the fragrant snacks here will pull you back to the real world. Strolling and eating along the way, you will enjoy both visual and taste pleasures. It really is a life full of life!
Recommended shop: Stan Ginger Duck
Quanzhou boasts numerous ginger duck restaurants, but this one's reputation is renowned for its dry, fragrant flavor. They slowly simmer the duck, ginger, and sauce in a clay pot, allowing the aroma and broth to infuse the duck. Each bite is bursting with flavor, satisfying every taste bud.
This shop only sells a whole duck, which costs just over 100 yuan and is best shared with family and friends.
Vinegar pork is one of the must-try snacks in Quanzhou. Pork is marinated with Yongchun vinegar, sugar, cooking wine and other sauces, coated with sweet potato starch, and fried in a pan until golden brown. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which is very appetizing. Fried seaweed is also very good.
Recommended shop: Xiaoyou Noodle Soup
Have a bowl of noodle soup, and you will find all the delicacies of Quanzhou laid out in front of you: the soup is made with pork shank bones, and shrimp, squid, crab and other seafood are added to bring out the freshness, and then noodles as thin as hair are added. When you scoop it up with a spoon, it melts in your mouth and is rich and mellow. Dipping ingredients such as vinegar pork and fried dough sticks into the soup will make it even more fragrant. This is also the way many locals eat it.
Recommended store: Qing Youyu
This is a restaurant selected by the 2025 Michelin Guide. It has a high cost-effectiveness and fresh ingredients. The restaurant uses the simplest cooking methods to preserve the original flavor of the ingredients.
A must-try dish is the soft-boiled prawns. These arm-sized mantis shrimp are tender and tender, with a delightful, runny roe. Paired with wasabi sauce, they offer a richer flavor. Other dishes include abalone fried rice, frozen flower crab, and rockfish soup, all worth a try.
Recommended shop: Bingzhengtang
The sweet syrup, with ingredients like yam, red beans, and watermelon, is a great after-meal remedy and is especially refreshing and thirst-quenching in the summer. The agar-agar paste, a Quanzhou-level intangible cultural heritage snack, is also worth mentioning.
When we Chinese celebrate the New Year, we aim for a prosperous and lively atmosphere.
Quanzhou, a city full of the atmosphere of fireworks, has 36 intangible cultural heritages such as the customs of the Xunpu women and puppet shows. It also has lively New Year customs such as burning towers and celebrating the Lantern Festival with colorful lanterns. In addition, the temperature here can reach 20℃ in winter, making it perfect for a warm and comfortable Spring Festival!
Wearing a hairpin with flowers is a custom among the women of Quanzhou's Xiapu Village. Although spring is still a ways off, peonies, orchids, and other flowers are already blooming above people's heads, creating a vibrant scene with bright smiles. Why not come here to celebrate the Spring Festival with a touch of icing on the cake?
Hui'an shadow carving, a unique stone carving technique in Hui'an and inscribed as an intangible cultural heritage, requires at least six years of study to master. Hardworking Hui'an women combine carving techniques with painting skills to meticulously carve moving images from everyday life to distant landscapes on stone slabs.
Quanzhou string puppetry, another intangible cultural heritage, has been popular since the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and boasts a long history. With the artisans' fingertips, the puppets come alive, performing spectacular performances. Classics include "The Little Monk Descends the Mountain" and "Zhong Kui Gets Drunken."
A trip to Quanzhou is a must-see for the grand parade of gods and spirits. The gods, usually enthroned in temples, are invited out by the locals for a parade, surrounded by cheers and clamor, accompanied by the pounding of gongs and drums. It feels as if all worries melt away amidst the cheers.
If there's one place that truly recreates the prosperity of Quanzhou along the Maritime Silk Road, the Baba Lantern Festival in Nan'an, Quanzhou, boasts a history of over 700 years. On the ninth day of the first lunar month, a grand lantern parade recreates the scene of boat trackers pulling boats.
Every year on the evening of the Lantern Festival, a grand torch-walking ritual called "Exploding Buddha" takes place in Yongchun, Quanzhou. Four shirtless men wearing conical hats carry a Buddha statue and parade through the streets. Locals, who have previously bathed in meditation, light firecrackers and explode them around the statue. The blaze of the fireworks in the darkness resembles clusters of New Year's hope. This seemingly peculiar custom actually embodies people's sincere wishes for blessings and warding off disasters.
Guanyue Temple and the mosque are located next to each other.
Traditional red brick houses in southern Fujian are accompanied by Nanyang-style arcades.
Quanzhou is a tolerant and open city.
You will never get tired of visiting it no matter how many times you visit. You
will always find new things to do.
