Kaiyuan Temple

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. ...

Geographical Connections: Quanzhou Prefecture, Kaiyuan Temple (West Street), Qingjing Mosque (Tumen Street), Cao’an (Jinjiang), Tianhou Temple, Confucian Temple, Zhenwu Temple (Fashi), Qingyuan Mountain (Laojun Rock), Lingshan Islamic Tombs. Three years. Three buildings. Three faiths. Centuries apart, but crammed into the same small city: Quanzhou. When I opened the Quanzhou Religious Chronicle, I found something that kept me up at night. This southern Fujian city once worshipped Buddha, Allah, Mani, Jesus, and Shiva — all at the same time. Not one after the other. Together. ...