Canadian World Traveller Fallr 2016 issue Canadian World Traveller Fall 2016 issue | Page 16

16

Fi n d i n g H i d d e n Tr e a s u r e s i n

Fuj i a n , C h i n a
Article & Photography by Michael Morcos

F

ujian is a southeastern Chinese
province known for its mountains
and coastal cities, and is traditionally described as "Eight parts mountain, one
part water, and one part farmland”. Due to
the province’s shoreline, the port towns of
Xiamen, Fuzhou, and the island of
Gulangyu all have streets and housing
influenced by ancient world travelers.
Pedestrian streets offer sights like 19th-century colonial villas, temples, and old-town
districts, and in the city of Quanzhou, once
visited by Marco Polo, there is fascinating
Maritime Museum.
Fujian is rich in many ways. Being relatively secluded until the 1950s, the province
boasts a canopy of healthy soil and forests,
whereas many parts of China are experiencing soil erosion due to lack of forest

cover. Manufacturing and other industries
are abundant here, and span the gambit
from tea production, clothing and sports
manufacturers such as Anta, 361 Degrees,
Xtep, Peak Sport Products and Septwolves.
Many foreign firms also operate in Fujian,
including Boeing, Dell, GE, and, Nokia,
among others.
Quanzhou
Our introduction to this mountainous
province was the drive to Quanzhou, the
city that was the starting point of the
Maritime Silk Road!
The public tours of two temples, the Kai
Yuan Temple and the South Shaolin
Temple, are worth the effort. The Kai Yuan
was originally built in 685 or 686 and features its main hall, named the “Mahavira
Hall” where some columns have fragments

from a Shiva temple built in 1283 by the
Tamil community. The South Shaolin temple is famous for its monks practicing martial arts!
A visit to the Quanzhou Maritime Museum
that, through its broad and valuable display of historical relics, offers a glimpse
into the development history of the major
Eastern Citong Port and the vital role that
Quanzhou played in economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries.
After a dinner of local favorite Mianxian
Hu, a soup that prepared with oysters,
shrimps and mussels over a slow fire, we
were off to the heart of downtown Fuzhou,
which has, instead of skyscrapers, a large
area of ancient residential buildings! This
area, known as ’’three lanes and seven
alleys’’ contains about 150 ancient houses