Quanzhou Overseas Relations Museum, Maritime museum in Quanzhou, China.
The Quanzhou Overseas Relations Museum is a cultural institution focused on the city's international trade history, displaying artifacts spanning multiple periods. The site contains several exhibition spaces, including one shaped like a ship, where maritime objects and documents related to commerce are presented.
The institution was established in 1959 and situated on grounds previously occupied by a major religious temple, reflecting its role in the city's past. An additional exhibition wing was added in the 1990s near an existing park to accommodate the growing collection.
The permanent displays feature stone stelae and tombstones with inscriptions from Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and Hindu traditions, showing how many different faiths coexisted in this trading port. This religious diversity reveals what the city meant to merchants and travelers from across the world.
The site is fundamentally straightforward to visit, with multiple entrances and clear paths connecting the different exhibition areas. It is advisable to budget approximately two to three hours to see all sections, especially if you want to read the display panels carefully.
The collection includes a complete Song Dynasty trading vessel discovered in 1974, offering direct insight into medieval Chinese shipbuilding techniques. The vessel was carefully reassembled by marine archaeologists and reveals construction methods otherwise known only from historical texts.
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