How about going to Quanzhou?

This article is the 22nd observation article of Tourism Knowledge Workshop.

The 22nd stop of "China High-speed Railway Tour" series-Quanzhou

Author: navigator

Brief Introduction of "China High-speed Railway Tour" Series

This topic starts from Chengdu, the city where the author lives, and runs through 100 tourist cities across the country along the high-speed rail (the route is not repeated, but completed in one line). Each city has a question, a theme and an article, and deeply digs into the natural and humanistic tourism culture of the city.

Not travel notes, not raiders, but urban tourism observation with taste, attitude and analysis!

Fuxia high-speed rail

D3 146, Xiamen North-Quanzhou, lasting 25 minutes.

Quanzhou is a strange city to many people. They may not know which province Quanzhou belongs to, and certainly don't know what features Quanzhou has.

If you want to travel to Fujian, the first choice for most people must be Xiamen. In addition to the blue sky and the sea, the Minnan culture and special snacks in Xiamen are also very popular. If the birthplace of these things actually belongs to another city next to it, many people may not believe it. If the economic strength of this city depends on Xiamen, then most netizens must think that Bian Xiao is talking nonsense.

In fact, this city is not only the birthplace of Minnan culture, but also the largest port in the world and the only starting point of the Maritime Silk Road recognized by UNESCO. Today, the economic strength here ranks first in Fujian Province, and the GDP of 20 16 is even nearly double that of Xiamen.

Today's article will take you into Quanzhou, the 22nd stop in the series of "High-speed Rail Tour to China", and introduce you to this "City of Light" which used to have infinite scenery, but now it is extremely low-key.

General situation of Quanzhou

Quanzhou, also known as Erythrina City, is the birthplace of Minnan culture, the economic center of Fujian Province, one of the three central cities in Fujian, and also the famous hometown of overseas Chinese in China and the ancestral home of Taiwan Province compatriots.

Quanzhou, once praised as the "City of Light" by Kyle Polo, was the "largest port in the East" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which was as famous as Alexandria.

Quanzhou is known as the "Museum of World Religions", and UNESCO has set the world's first "World Multicultural Exhibition Center" in Quanzhou.

0 1/ the glorious years of Quanzhou

Quanzhou, the source of Minnan culture, was founded in 260 A.D. (Three Kingdoms period), with a history of 1750 years.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, due to years of war in the north, a large number of Jin people from the Central Plains moved south to Fujian, and started the great development of Quanzhou. At present, most of Quanzhou's existing population belongs to descendants of Jin people in the Central Plains, so Quanzhou's mother river is called "Jinjiang".

In the Tang Dynasty, due to the war in the north, the economic center of gravity gradually shifted to the south, and the famous Silk Road on land began to be gradually replaced by the Maritime Silk Road. Hayes Road starts from the southeast coast of China, passes through Indian zhina Peninsula and South China Sea countries, crosses the Indian Ocean, enters the Red Sea, and reaches East Africa and Europe. It has become a major maritime channel for trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, which has promoted the development of countries along the route.

Since then, Quanzhou has entered a prosperous period in history and gradually became one of the four major ports in the world. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the economic center moved south. Quanzhou, as the eastern stronghold of the East-West international trade network, occupied an important and unique historical position and was the world economic and cultural center at that time.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Italian businessman and traveler Kyle Poirot came to China. When he visited Quanzhou, he spoke highly of the ancient port of Erythrina: "Erythrina is one of the largest ports in the world, which is famous for the rapid movement of ships;" A large number of businessmen gathered here, and goods piled up like mountains. Really unimaginable. "

After that, influenced by Marco Polo's travels, the famous explorer Columbus devoted himself to finding a new route to the East. When he accidentally discovered America, he thought he had finally arrived in Quanzhou. This shows how famous Quanzhou was in the world at that time.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the power struggle of the ruling class was unprecedentedly fierce, and a mutiny broke out, which directly affected Quanzhou Port, the largest seaport in the world at that time. Huge taxes and imported goods have become the object of fierce competition among various factions. Since then, Quanzhou's social economy has been hit hard, and the once-flourishing overseas trade has also fallen sharply.

In the tenth year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (1474), Quanzhou Shipping Company officially moved to Fuzhou, which also marked the end of Quanzhou Port's 400-year foreign trade status. Since then, Quanzhou has prospered, bid farewell to its past glory and started to enter the low tide of obscurity.

02/ The Starting Point of Minnan Culture

Minnan culture, which originated in Quanzhou, is a branch of Chinese culture with a long and profound history, and now it is distributed in Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taiwan Province and Singapore.

In today's island of Taiwan Province Province, except for the Gaoshan minority areas, most of them speak Minnan dialect similar to Zhangzhou dialect and Quanzhou dialect. According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 40 million people at home and abroad who can speak Minnan dialect. In Singapore, Minnan is called "Minnan", 70%-80% of Singaporeans can speak or listen to Minnan, and many Malays also use Minnan.

The historical heritage of Minnan culture is very rich. Quanzhou, as the birthplace, is not only one of the first 24 famous historical and cultural cities in China, but also the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, where many precious national historical relics are preserved.

In Quanzhou, Hayes culture, costume culture, ancient ruins culture, architecture culture, sculpture culture, stone carving culture, tomb culture, food culture and dialect culture constitute an important part of Minnan culture.

Historically, Minnan culture, as a branch of China's traditional culture, has absorbed Nanyang culture, Arabic culture and western culture, and has strong compatibility and pioneering, especially in religious beliefs (coexistence of multiple religions), folk beliefs (polytheism), architectural styles, opera dialects and so on.

Quanzhou is known as the "World Religious Museum", and there are many ancient Chinese and western buildings with regional characteristics everywhere. The religions in Quanzhou include Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Nestorianism (a branch of ancient Catholicism), Catholicism, Hinduism (Brahmanism), Christianity, Manichaeism (Zoroastrianism), Japan, fetishism and Judaism. Many of them live in peace.

Quanzhou is the mainstream representative of Minnan culture, regardless of its historical length or accumulated thickness. In contrast, Xiamen, as a trading port forced to open ports in modern times, has a history of only 100 years. A large number of tourists visiting Xiamen don't know that most of these Minnan cultures originated in Quanzhou.

While Xiamen dominates the discourse power of Minnan culture and leads the development trend of Minnan culture, Quanzhou's orthodox Minnan culture has completely become a supporting role. This is a great regret in the development history of Quanzhou.

The low-key connotation of 03/ Quanzhou

Regarding Quanzhou, there has been little news and few tourists when the tourism market is in full swing. Although Guangxi is the birthplace of Minnan culture and the largest port in the ancient East, leaving countless rich cultural heritages, compared with Xiamen, it is particularly quiet and low-key.

If you like a leisurely seaside holiday, stay in a small hotel and stroll on the romantic streets, Xiamen is undoubtedly a good choice. If you are interested in diverse history and culture and love ordinary but meaningful life, then Quanzhou will become your favorite. The rolling smoke of the times can't hide its historical background. Those heavy cultural treasures and primitive natural scenery are the pride of this city.

Coexistence of multiple religions

It is not uncommon for a city to have multiple religions. Surprisingly, Buddha, Mazu, Guan Gong, Confucius, God, Allah, Brahma and Shiva all appeared in the belief of a city at the same time. More importantly, it is amazing that these religious beliefs do not interfere with each other and live in harmony with each other.

Among them, Kaiyuan Temple, Jing Qing Temple, East-West Pagoda, Qingyuan Mountain, Guandi Temple and Tianhou Temple. It is a representative. Strolling in the city of religion, the intersection and blending of multi-cultures will make your mind calm as never before.

Minnan style culture

Quanzhou is the birthplace of Minnan culture. Here, you will feel the original Minnan customs at close range and experience the Minnan customs full of street life.

"East and West Towers, North and South Street", the essence of Quanzhou folklore, is concentrated in this ancient city with a long history. "East-West Pagoda" is a stone pagoda in the Song Dynasty that stands on both sides of Kaiyuan Temple, and "One Street" is Zhongshan Road that runs through the old city. The only well-preserved and longest-standing arcade in China not only embodies the characteristics of Minnan residential buildings, but also embodies the essence of Nanyang architecture, which can be called an architectural promenade combining Chinese and Western styles.

Here, you can inadvertently see Christian Church, Mazu Tempel, Romanesque Bell Tower, Old Post Station, Ancestral Temple, Ancient House, Liyuan Opera Club, Puppet Troupe and other folk living fossils with statewide characteristics. Feel free to walk into a century-old shop, drink a cup of original herbal tea and listen to a melodious Minnan folk song, as if returning to that prosperous time.

The beauty of Quanzhou can't be appreciated at a glance. Only by going deep into it can we understand its heart.

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