Quanzhou

Quanzhou
泉州
Chôan-chiu
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Chinese transcription(s)
 - Simplified 泉州
 - Traditional
 - Pinyin Quánzhōu
 - POJ Chôan-chiu


Country China
Province Fujian
Government
 - CPC Secretary Xu Gang
 - Mayor Zhu Ming
Area
 - Total 11,015 km² (4,252.9 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 - Total 7,860,000
 - Density 713.6/km² (1,848.1/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code of China 362000
Area code(s) 595
GDP 2009
 - Total CNY 300.229 billion (USD 43.99 billion)
 - Per capita CNY 38,368 (USD 5,622)
 - Growth ▲ 12.5%
License Plate Prefixes 闽C
Local Dialect Min Nan: Quanzhou dialect
Website www.quanzhou.gov.cn

Quanzhou (Chinese: 泉州; pinyin: Quánzhōu; Wade–Giles: Ch'üan²-chou¹; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chôan-chiu) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two (Ningde and Nanping) and faces the Taiwan Strait. In older English works, its name may appear as Chinchew or Chinchu or Zayton.

Administrative divisions

The prefecture-level city of Quanzhou administers four districts, three county-level cities and five counties.

• Licheng District (鲤城区)
• Fengze District (丰泽区)
• Luojiang District (洛江区)
• Quangang District (泉港区)
• Shishi City (石狮市)
• Jinjiang City (晋江市)
• Nan'an City (南安市)
• Hui'an County (惠安县)
• Anxi County (安溪县)
• Yongchun County (永春县)
• Dehua County (德化县)
• Jinmen County (金门县) – disputed

The People's Republic of China claims Jinmen County, more widely known as Quemoy, as part of Quanzhou, but the territory is currently under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China.

Geography

Quanzhou is a coastal prefecture bordered by Xiamen sub-provincial city to the south west. It also forms another border with Zhangzhou and Longyan prefecture level city towards the west. Putian and Fuzhou form Quanzhou's northeast border and Sanming forms the northern one.

Quanzhou is mountainous and has many rivers and tributaries originating from the interior.

History

Quanzhou was established in 718 during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). In those days, Guangzhou was China's greatest seaport, but this status would be surpassed later by Quanzhou. During the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), Quanzhou was one of the world's largest seaports, hosting a large community of foreign-born inhabitants from across the Eurasian world.

Due to its reputation, Quanzhou has been called the starting point of the Silk Road via the sea. In The Travels of Marco Polo, Quanzhou (called Zayton, T'swan-Chau or Chin-Cheu) was listed as the departure point for Marco Polo's expedition to escort the 17-year-old Mongol princess bride Kököchin to her new husband in the Persian Ilkhanate. In 1357 however a military revolt by the local Persian militia led to a ten-year rebellion that resulted in large civilian casualties in Quanzhou.

Of the Chinese Li family in Quanzhou, Li Nu, the son of Li Lu, visited Hormuz in Persia in 1376, married a Persian or an Arab girl, and brought her back to Quanzhou. He then converted to Islam Li Nu was the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty reformer Li Chih.

Quanzhou Overseas Relations Museum preserves a number of relics related to the Quanzhou's era as a major seaport. A particularly important exhibit is the so-called Quanzhou ship, a sea-going junk that sunk some time after 1272, and was recovered in 1973–74.

Quanzhou is also a migration source of many Overseas Chinese living in South East Asia and to Taiwan during the last couple of centuries.

Dialect

Local people speak a variant of Hokkien which is similar to Amoy and Taiwanese. In Mandarin Chinese this dialect is called "Minnan Hua", which can be translated as "the language of South Fujian". It is essentially the same dialect spoken in Xiamen and Zhangzhou, and it bears little similarity with the official Chinese Mandarin.

Economy

Quanzhou is a major exporter of agricultural products such as tea, banana, lychee and rice. It is also a major producer of quarry granite and ceramics. Other industries include textiles, footwear, fashion and apparel, packaging, machinery, paper and petrochemicals.

Quanzhou is the biggest automotive market in Fujian, it has the highest number of private automobile possession.

Transport

Quanzhou is an important transport hub within south eastern Fujian province. Many export industries in the Fujian interior cities will transport goods to Quanzhou ports. Quanzhou Port was one of the most prosperous port in Tang Dynasty while now still an important one for exporting. Quanzhou is also connected by major roads from Fuzhou to the north and Xiamen to the south. Jinjiang Domestic Airport is Quanzhou's airport servicing flights within Fujian province and other destinations.

Colleges and universities

• Huaqiao University (national)
• Quanzhou Normal University (public)
• Quanzhou Medical College (public)
• Yang-en University (private)

Culture

Quanzhou is one of the twenty-four famous historic cultural cities first approved by the Chinese Government.

• Liyuan Opera (梨园戯)
• Puppet Show (提线木偶戏)
• Gaojia Opera (高甲戯)
• Dacheng Opera (打城戯)

Famous products

• Dehua Porcelain (德化瓷器)
• Huian Stoneware (惠安石刻)
• Anxi Tieguanyin (安溪铁观音)
• Quanzhou Martial Arts (泉州五祖拳)
• Yongchun Martial Arts (永春白鹤拳)

The city hosted the Sixth National Peasants' Games in 2008.

References

• Brown, Bill (2004). Mystic Quanzhou: City of Light. Xiamen, China: Xiamen University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Quanzhou

• Government website of Quanzhou (in Simplified Chinese)

Fujian Province
Fuzhou (Capital)



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