While my Wife and her Younger Sister were off in Beijing, I took my daughters to nearby Quanzhou for a couple visits after they had recuperated a bit. One of our first stops was the city’s East Lake Park.

Quanzhou, though, is perhaps best known historically as the Asian end of the Marine Silk Route, or the Silk Route of the Sea, for its being the major point that the outside world–in particular the Arab world–traded with in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

As I shared a bit earlier in this blog:

Back in Quanzhou’s heyday 400+ years ago, Arabic people were settled here in such great numbers that many became political and civic leaders–one even rose to the Number 2 position in the Fujian provincial government. But when that phase of China’s openness to the world ended, many of these people opted to stay, adopting Chinese-esque names. Round here, the surname “Ding” is actually the family line of one large group of Middle Eastern people who intermarried and decided to stay put.

We found Quanzhou an enjoyable place to visit. It’s the next administrative region up the ladder from Jinjiang (meaning that Jinjiang is one of the counties reporting to Quanzhou), but seems a bit more refined in the culture and arts department.

Anyway, the next several entries here will feature some Quanzhou highlights, but first we’re just starting out with some scenes from our visit to the aforementioned East Lake Park.

That last shot shows a unique-looking apartment complex, in a style I saw quite a few places exhibiting around Quanzhou. Never found out if the architectural style reflects some historical angle, but wouldn’t be surprised if it does.





We’re here for the next several posts; better bone up on your Quanzhou lore by reading Mystic Quanzhou (City of Light).