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Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China

Brief introduction

“Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China” was inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage List on 25th July,2021, during the ongoing 44th Session of the World Heritage Committee which is hosted in Fuzhou, Fujian province. 

The new entry includes 22 sites and monuments across Quanzhou, which jointly reflect a prosperous picture of maritime trade from the 10th to 14th centuries.Key sites in Quanzhou include Kaiyuan Temple-the biggest ancient Buddhist temple in Fujian province-Luoyang Bridge, Qingjing Mosque-one of the oldest mosques in China-and the archaeological site of the Maritime Trade Office, established in 1087 as a national-level key institution guiding trade.

The Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties witnessed a peak in ancient Chinese maritime trade, and Quanzhou, then known overseas as Zayton, grew into one of the busiest seaports in the world.
The 22 representative historic monuments and sites include administrative buildings and structures; facilities showing the city’s structure, such as its gates, walls and roads; religious sites and statues that witnessed multicultural communities; cultural memorial sites and monuments; iron and ceramic production sites; and the city’s transportation network formed by bridges, docks and pagodas that guided voyages.

The Song-Yuan heritages in Quanzhou provide an example in today’s world for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

22 representative historic monuments and sites

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