South China
Quanzhou was the eastern terminus of the maritime Silk Road, and UNESCO listed it in 2021 for a harbour heritage that includes China’s oldest mosque, Hindu carvings in a Buddhist temple, and a bridge built in 1053. It is a working city with an old soul and very few foreign visitors.
The case for going
A Tang foundation with two five-storey stone pagodas, and Hindu stone carvings in the cloister.
Built in 1009 by Arab traders — the oldest surviving mosque in China.
A 731-metre stone beam bridge from 1053, still carrying pedestrians across the river mouth.
Shipwreck hulls, trade ceramics and the navigation charts that made the route work.
Oyster-shell walls and the flower headdresses of the Xunpu women, twenty minutes out.
Practical
Subtropical, humid. Mild winters, typhoon season July to September.
Jinjiang (JJN) serves Quanzhou with domestic flights; Xiamen is 30 minutes by HSR and 1 hour by road.
Airport. Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport (JJN)
Rail. Quanzhou station is on the coastal HSR, 30 minutes from Xiamen and 90 from Fuzhou.
In pictures
Questions travellers ask
One full day: the Kaiyuan Temple and its pagodas, the maritime museum, and the old-town streets between. It slots between Xiamen and the tulou on the Fujian loop.
The old town around Kaiyuan Temple for the walkable quarter. The high-speed rail station is 20 minutes out by taxi.
The coastal high-speed rail from Xiamen, 40 minutes, or from Shenzhen in about three. It is the easiest midway stop on the Fujian route.
Yes — it was the largest port in the medieval world, and its Arabic and maritime heritage survives in a way nowhere else on the Chinese coast does. It is UNESCO-listed for a reason.
Routes through here
South China
5days
Fujian packs three different Chinas into one province: the Hakka earth buildings inland, the Arab-and-Indian trading port on the coast, and the colonial island of Xiamen. Five days, one high-speed line, no backtracking.
From US$1,300per person
Combine it with
Where to eat
Where to stay
Hilton · Luxury
The comfortable landing point for a city that UNESCO listed for its maritime Silk Road heritage. Twenty minutes from the Kaiyuan Temple and the old harbour quarter, with a pool that children actually use.
From US$160 per night
Valid to 2027-03-31
