Quanzhou: Port of the World

This Shaolin temple was awesome to see! It is the home of Southern Shaolin KungFu, and taking pictures with this monk was pretty sweet...

This place had a remarkably different feel than that of Xiamen, even though the cities are only a two hour bus ride away from each other. In Xiamen, honking and motorcycles are not allowed, however, people seem to make up for it in Quanzhou. The frenzy and bustle of this place, though, is only just an echo to the port city that it once was: the greatest and most important on earth.

Whereas the silk road traveled through western China, across deserts with nomadic peoples, the maritime silk road began in Quanzhou. Because of the massive trade happening in this city, people from all over the world made Quanzhou home, bringing their lifestyles, customs, and religion with them. Quanzhou was the melting pot of the world in the early 1400s, having a population of over 1 million people. Meanwhile, Europe was relearning how to tie their shoes after recently emerging from the dark ages. Marco Polo allegedly came here during this time, journaling about things he saw. Polo referred to the city as "Zaytan," which is where we get the word "satin" from.

Zheng He, the legendary eunuch Chinese explorer/trader in the early 1400s sailed through this city, making stops at the many Islamic mosques before sailing on to Malaysia, India, the Middle East, and eventually down the coast of Africa. His fleet, often numbering over 60 ships and 25,000 men, traded for Persian spices and herbs used for Chinese Medicine and exotic animals like giraffes, exchanging them for silks and porcelain. The treasure fleet opened ports near Sumatra and gained nominal authority of "all under heaven" for the Dragon Throne of the Ming Emperor. This picture roughly shows the size of one of the main Treasure Fleet vessels. The other ship is Columbus' Santa Maria.