I have a friend who is an unapologetic “Quanzhou booster.”

Every time travel comes up, he says the same thing: “You’ve never been to Quanzhou? Go. Now.”

I asked him what’s so great about it. He thought for a second and said something I’ve never forgotten:

“You can walk past six different religious temples in one day in Quanzhou. And none of them have walls between them.”

I thought he was exaggerating.

Then I read the Quanzhou Religious Chronicle and the Wanli Quanzhou Prefecture Chronicle. Turns out he wasn’t exaggerating at all. He was underselling it.

In Quanzhou’s ancient city core — less than three square kilometers — you’ll find remains of at least seven religions: Buddhism, Islam, Daoism, Catholicism, Manichaeism, Hinduism, Judaism.

UNESCO calls it a “World Religions Museum.”

I think it should be called “World Religions Peace Demonstration Zone.”

Today, I’m going to walk you through this city of a hundred gods — using data and stories from the local chronicles.

I. A Religion That Came from the Desert, Carved in Stone in Quanzhou

Let’s start with Islam.

Most people know Islam has a long history in China. But you might not know that Quanzhou was one of its earliest footholds.

The story begins in the Wude era of the Tang dynasty — 618 to 626 CE, when the Tang was just getting started.

According to the Quanzhou Religious Chronicle, four disciples of the Prophet Muhammad came to China. Two of them — known as the “Third and Fourth Sages” — arrived in Quanzhou, preached at Lingshan, and were buried there after their deaths. The Lingshan Holy Tombs are the earliest evidence of Islam in Quanzhou, and a key coordinate for studying early Islamic propagation worldwide.

But what really blew me away was Qingjing Mosque.

In 1009 CE (Northern Song), Quanzhou’s Muslim community built this mosque. According to the Quanzhou Architecture Records, it was modeled after the Great Mosque of Damascus in Syria. A thousand years ago, the people of Quanzhou managed to get architectural plans from Damascus and execute them in local stone.

In 1350 CE (Yuan dynasty), Qingjing Mosque underwent a major expansion. By then, Quanzhou’s Muslim population had reached tens of thousands.

Tens of thousands of Muslims living, doing business, and praying in a coastal Chinese city. While Buddhists, Daoists, Hindus, and Manichaeans did the same — all in peace.

Think about that. Seven hundred years ago.

Today, Quanzhou preserves over 300 religious stone carvings from the Song and Yuan periods. Most are tombstones inscribed in Arabic and Persian.

These stones can’t speak. But they record a city where multiple religions genuinely coexisted.

II. A Mulberry Tree Bloomed White Lotuses, So They Built a 48-Meter Pagoda

The face of Buddhism in Quanzhou is unquestionably Kaiyuan Temple.

The temple’s origin story reads like a legend. In 686 CE (Tang dynasty), a wealthy Quanzhou merchant named Huang Shougong dreamed that the mulberry trees in his garden bloomed with white lotuses. He took it as a divine sign and donated his entire estate to build a temple.

That’s how Kaiyuan Temple was born.

But what really leaves you speechless are the twin pagodas.

Zhenguo Pagoda and Renshou Pagoda — one east, one west — flank the temple. According to The Science and Technology Records of Quanzhou, Zhenguo stands 48.27 meters tall and Renshou 45.06 meters. They’re the tallest surviving stone twin pagodas in China.

Construction began in 1238 CE (Southern Song) and took 12 years. The towers feature 80 bas-relief carvings, each a masterpiece of Song dynasty stonework.

But what fascinated me most isn’t the height. It’s that some carvings blend Hindu iconography into a Buddhist pagoda.

A Chinese Buddhist pagoda with Hindu deities carved into it. That’s Quanzhou.

III. Mazu Set Out from Quanzhou and Conquered the World

Quanzhou is a maritime city. It had to have a sea goddess.

Her name is Mazu.

Mazu worship began in the Song dynasty. In 1123 CE, Emperor Huizong bestowed a plaque reading “Shunji” (Favorable Passage) on Quanzhou’s Mazu temple — now known as Tianhou Temple. That was Mazu’s first official recognition.

From there, her titles kept growing: from “Lady” to “Consort” to “Heavenly Empress.” By 1684 CE (Qing dynasty), after Shi Lang pacified Taiwan, her title had stretched to over thirty characters.

Tianhou Temple sits at a strategic location near the ancient port, covering over 7,000 square meters.

But here’s what really matters: there are now over 1,000 Mazu temples worldwide, spanning 20+ countries, all tracing their lineage back to this one ancestral temple in Quanzhou.

A girl from Quanzhou became the spiritual anchor for Chinese seafarers across the globe.

IV. The World’s Only Mani Statue, Hidden in a Jinjiang Mountain

Here’s something you almost certainly don’t know.

On Huabiao Mountain in Jinjiang (part of Quanzhou), there’s a temple called Cao’an. It’s the world’s only surviving Manichaean temple site.

Manichaeism — the religion behind “Mingjiao” (the Cult of Light) in martial arts novels. The one Zhang Wuji led in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

In 1339 CE (Yuan dynasty), worshippers carved a statue of Mani, the Buddha of Light, into the mountain rock. The statue stands 1.54 meters tall, with a serene face and radiating beams of light behind it.

It’s the only material proof of Manichaeism’s complete localization in China after its journey from Persia.

Can you imagine? The “Mingjiao” from the novels actually reached China’s southeastern coast over a thousand years ago — and left behind a complete temple and statue.

Beyond Manichaeism, urban renovations in the 1950s unearthed hundreds of Hindu and Nestorian (an early Christian sect) stone carvings. Hindu shrines. Vishnu statues. Nestorian tombstones inscribed in Syriac script.

These stones prove one thing: Yuan dynasty Quanzhou had a vibrant, diverse foreign community with its own temples, cemeteries, and writing systems.

They weren’t assimilated. They weren’t eliminated. They became part of Quanzhou.

V. Why Did This City Pull It Off?

You might ask: why Quanzhou?

Why could Buddhist morning bells and Islamic calls to prayer sound in the same city? Why could Hindu deities be carved onto a Buddhist pagoda?

I think the answer is in Quanzhou’s geography.

Quanzhou was the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, ships from everywhere came here. Arabs, Persians, Indians, Europeans — they brought their goods and their gods.

A city that does business with different nationalities every single day finds it very hard to be xenophobic.

You can’t haggle over the price of frankincense with an Arab trader and then tell him his god isn’t welcome in your city.

So the people of Quanzhou did something very smart: they didn’t ask what you believed. They asked what you brought.

That pragmatism created the world’s only “Museum of World Religions.”

Closing

The Wanli Quanzhou Prefecture Chronicle has a phrase: “a gathering place for a hundred gods.”

A hundred gods living in one place.

Four hundred years ago, the people of Quanzhou described their own city that way. They didn’t think it was strange. They didn’t think it was a problem.

Today, using digital humanities tools, I combined the 78 dated inscriptions from Jiuri Mountain’s wind-prayer carvings with the 300+ foreign religious stone carvings in the city. The result is a clear dynamic picture: global trade drove cultural diffusion, and cultural diffusion drove more trade.

This isn’t theoretical. It’s carved in stone.

The 48-meter stone pagodas. The 1009 CE mosque. The world’s only Mani statue. They aren’t just monuments. They’re the spiritual hubs connecting Zayton to global civilization.

You asked what the “Maritime Silk Road spirit” is?

I think it’s this: you bring your goods, and you bring your gods. I don’t chase you away — I help you build a temple for them. Then we drink tea together, do business together, and live together for centuries.

That’s Quanzhou.