Quanzhou Maritime Museum
Quanzhou Maritime Museum
Introduction
The Quanzhou Maritime Museum consists of an old and a new section. The old section, situated in the east of the Buddhist Kaiyuan Temple, is used for exhibiting ancient boats. The new section, completed in 1991 and located near the scenic East Lake Park, resembles a large sailing ship afloat on the sea. The two sections cover a total area of 35,000 square meters with a built-up area of 17,300 sq m and an exhibition area of 11,000 sq m.
There are seven permanent thematic exhibitions in the museum, displaying a variety of precious relics related to the ancient maritime culture of Quanzhou and the city's contributions to the nation's shipbuilding, navigation, defense, and cultural exchanges, as well as major inventions of the nation in shipbuilding and navigation.
Exhibits of particular interest include a sunken ship from Quanzhou that dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was unearthed in 1974, dozens of wooden, iron and stone anchors, hundreds of stone stelae and tombstones with Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and Hindu inscriptions, ceramics from the Dehua county of Fujian, over 200 ship models from different historical periods, as well as folk instruments used for overseas communication.
Address: 425 Donghu Street, Fengze district, Quanzhou, Fujian province Hours:Summer: 8:30 - 17:30 Winter: 8:30 - 17: 00 Closed Mondays (except for national holidays) General admission: free (passport required for entry)