East Street
Let’s start with the east gate at the intersection of Wenling Road and Donghu Street!
The first major road section is Chongfu Road.
Chongfu Road is named after the Chongfu Temple on this road.
Not far from the intersection of Chongfu Road, you can smell a strong smell of old ginger. Two hundred meters away from the intersection is the famous "Zhongji Ginger Duck". This Ginger Duck restaurant is always busy every day, and there are waves of diners queuing up to wait for the duck. Opposite Ginger Duck there is a small cake shop called Yipfu. The dorayaki and exquisite cakes sold there are all made with love by the boss. It is said that the boss used to specialize in making cakes in a big hotel! Later he came out to run this small shop by himself. The small cakes made in this small shop every day basically have no leftovers!
One hundred meters away from "Zhongji Ginger Duck" is the famous Quanzhou ancient temple - Chongfu Temple. Located on Chongfu Road, Licheng District, it was originally named Qianfo Temple, and later renamed Chongsheng Temple, Hongzhong Temple, and Chongfu Temple. Together with Kaiyuan Temple and Chengtian Temple, it is known as the three major jungles in Quanzhou. In 1982, it was designated as the third largest forest in Quanzhou by the Fujian Provincial Government. The second batch of provincial cultural relics protection units. Chongfu Temple is another temple that teaches Shaolin martial arts after the collapse of Quanzhou Shaolin Temple. After reconstruction, the style of the main hall maintains the Ming Dynasty regulations, including the Yinggeng Pagoda, the Thousand-Man Tripod, and the Dahongzhong Chongfu Temple as the "three treasures of the mountain." The Dahong Bell was cast in the early Ming Dynasty and has a loud sound. The "Chongfu Evening Bell" is one of the eight scenic spots in Quanzhou.
In the back section of Chongfu Road, near the teacher's courtyard, there are two rows of beautiful kapok trees. When spring comes, the kapok trees on both sides bloom very lively! But while watching, be careful not to get hit on the head by the thick kapok. After walking along Chongfu Road, we returned to East Street.
When it comes to eating in Dongjie, you have to start with the famous "Dongjie Restaurant Meat Zongzi". Since its establishment, the East Street Bell Tower Meat Rice Dumpling Shop (Quanzhou Licheng Lan's Bell Tower Meat Rice Dumpling Shop) has followed the traditional production techniques of its ancestors, maintained product quality, and tapped into the essence of local food culture. After more than 20 years of continuous efforts, The products are famous at home and abroad. It has won honorary titles such as "Quanzhou's Top Ten Famous Snacks", "Fujian Famous Snacks", "Chinese Famous Snacks", "Fujian Famous Snack Stores", and "China's Famous Snacks".
There are several good snack bars at the junction of Nanjun Road and East Street: Bodhi Zhai Cai Cai; Greater Kaohsiung Shaved Ice Shop is a small shop that is almost crowded in summer; come down from Greater Kaohsiung "Guoji Roujiamo" is the most authentic restaurant in Quanzhou that sells meat and buns! The dumplings inside are also great. There are two dishes that I must order every time I go there.
Speaking of East Street, we can’t miss Zhuangyuan Street. Zhuangyuan Street is a cultural and tourist characteristic street located in the back street of East Street, Licheng District. It is a pedestrian street, connected to Zhongshan Road in the west and East Street in the north. The middle section is located in Xuanmiao Temple, with an archway with Quanzhou characteristics, known as the first street in Fujian. Zhuangyuan Street starts from Zhongshan Road in the west and ends at Nanjun Lane in the east. It is 483 meters long and is divided into three blocks. , the beginning of the block is a pedestrian street inside the house, with covered bridges connecting the second and third floors. There are also three archways in the first block - "Binshore Zou Lu", "Yue Xian Haibang", and "Four Bachelors". In the center of the block It is a citizen leisure square of more than 700 square meters. On one side of the square is a large wall sculpture of "Ancestors Developed Jinjiang"; at the entrance of the second block are "Renfeng Xingchun", "Baiyun Ancient Land" and "Taikang Beginning". "Three archways, and two large wall carvings of "Zi meets Laozi" and "Laozi comes out of seclusion" on the walls on both sides of the square in the area reflect the relationship between Confucius and the Hangu Pass Order after he visited Laozi and wrote the Tao Te Ching. A different scene; the most eye-catching thing in the third block is the stone archway imitating the "No. 1 Scholar" in the Song Dynasty at the street entrance. The arch is engraved with the names of the six No. 1 Scholars in Quanzhou, including Zeng Conglong, Liang Kejia, Zhuang Jichang, and Wu Lu. The stone archway of "Zhuangyuan" and the relief sculptures of "Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate" and "Fishermen, Woodcutter, Farmers and Reading" next to them reflect the large number of talents and profound cultural accumulation in the ancient city of Quanzhou. Zhuangyuan Street was transformed from the "Zhuangyuanfang" with a long history. There are important cultural relics and attractions such as Yuanmiao Temple and Qingbaiyuanjing in the street. The renovated Zhuangyuan Street retains the architectural characteristics of traditional Quanzhou residential buildings. Through the contrast of red bricks and white stones and rich architectural sketches, an ancient street space environment with strong cultural color is constructed.
It doesn’t matter what the best tourist season is for a small attraction like this. In the eyes of young people in Quanzhou, Zhuangyuan Street is now a place where old culture and new fashion combine. Special bars take root in the neighborhood. It adds a lot of vitality to the antique Zhuangyuan Street.
If you are just going to see the old archway and browse the handicraft store, it is natural to go after 9:30 in the morning. There is also a special boutique store opened next to the archway, which are very popular nowadays. But if you are interested, you might as well go there at night Come out and walk around, it's brightly lit
We won't introduce the religion in Quanzhou in detail for now. Zhuangyuan Street also has a lot of chaotic bar culture. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Quanzhou. Quanzhou people like to drink, and they also like to do boxing while drinking. Many people hate this kind of behavior, but I really like the way Quanzhou people punch. Very smart entertainment and entertainment game.
There are not only bars in Zhuangyuan Street, but also a Chuan Chuan Xiang that has been open for many years. The food is affordable and the food is fresh and diverse. On weekends, I invite a few good friends to go there to eat Chuan Chuan Xiang, drink beer, and have a fistfight. What a joy!
The longest-running bar on Zhuangyuan Street is On the Road. Because "On the Road" is a music bar that focuses on rock, some original rock singers often hold concerts here. Just like the name of the bar, "On the Road" is also the spirit of these rock people. Although I rarely go to bars, this theme bar has always been a bar that I admire very much.
There is also a good shop called 0595 Li on Zhuangyuan Street. This store is the earliest base for street culture in Quanzhou. It is a fashion equipment store for young people who like skateboarding, graffiti, hip-hop, and hip-hop. There are many T-shirts from Taiwanese brands with good quality and affordable prices. These are also symbols of Quanzhou Chao culture.
There is also a Red Stone Restaurant in the back section of Zhuangyuan Street, which is also very good. Hongshi Restaurant is one of the earliest theme restaurants in Quanzhou that combines Chinese and Western food. The signature black pepper steak rice is very good! However, the redstone consumption will be a little higher for students. There is a boutique called ACC next to the Red Stone Restaurant. You can find some nice little home furnishings inside.
West Street
After walking along East Street, we started to move towards West Street.
First, let’s introduce the egg tart shop near the clock tower. The egg tarts there are definitely more affordable and delicious than the egg tarts at KFC. The "Happy Bear" restaurant next to the egg tart shop is also a restaurant with good quality, low price and elegant environment. Next to Quanzhou Theater: Tianluofen, Icelandic Husband.
There are a small number of old buildings preserved from the Republic of China on both sides of West Street. It makes people feel like they are far away from time. The tender spring wrappers in the middle section of West Street are also famous in Quanzhou. When spring rolls are eaten every spring, people who come here to buy spring roll wrappers can almost squeeze out long pairs of spring roll wrappers more than ten meters away. It is very spectacular!
The traffic light at the junction of West Street and Xinhua Road has its own home: the Greedy Duck. It’s also worth eating! The fragrance can spread out to half of West Street. I won’t give a detailed introduction to the Kaiyuan Temple on West Street.
Zhongshan Road
Let’s introduce Zhongshan Road. Most of Zhongshan Road are middle and lower-grade clothing stores. However, there are many good small alleys on Zhongshan Road that connect Nanjun Road and Xinhua Road. As for the Zhongshan North Road section, as long as it is mainly used for hospitals and schools, you can often see art exhibitions of some old painters in Weiyuan Building. After passing Weiyuan Building to Zhongshan Park, there is an underground bookstore in Quanzhou. Just a short walk away is Overseas Chinese Village, a place worth visiting! There are private cafes, private restaurants, and authentic old Nanyang-style old villas.
When we returned to the middle of Zhongshan Road, there was a Quannan Christian Church. In front of the church was an old Shanghai barber shop. It seemed to be state-owned and a very old barber shop, which was particularly special in this section of the road.
The first small alley in the middle section of Zhongshan Road near Xinhua Road: Tongzheng Lane. There is a Qidian Art School inside, friends who like painting can go and check it out.
Turning back again, we continue walking down the second alley: Kuixia Lane. The most famous thing about Kuixia Lane is the snack bar at the entrance! There are the most authentic meat swallows in Quanzhou and the signature noodles called Xiaodian! Because it’s delicious and cheap, business is also super good! You often have to queue up and wait for a seat.
After eating noodles, we returned to Zhongshan Road and walked forward to the third alley: Hua Xiang.
Although Hua Xiang is not a big alley, it is basically filled with small printing factories from Quanzhou. There is a nice little cafe at the entrance of Huaxiang called Ancient Coffee. It's also worth going.
Then go back to Zhongshan Road, cross Daxi Street and come to the fourth alley: Goldfish Alley. The time-honored Yuanxiao Yuan in Jinyu Alley is a treasure in Quanzhou. Tangyuan is made by putting the stuffing into a barrel filled with glutinous rice flour and rolling it into a ball. The filling is large and the skin is thin, and it is extremely sweet. The same name as the Yuanxiao Yuan is the rock sugar fungus soup, which is sweet but not greasy, rotten but not thick, and melts in your mouth. The four-fruit soup and radish sour next to the Yuanxiao dumplings are both very good! There is also a grilled chicken drumstick that tastes great next to it.
Zhongshan South Road is my favorite street because the shops and some buildings from the Republic of China period on both sides of this road are well preserved. If you look up casually, you can see the Chinese and English store names above the store and the store style that the store upholds. Now Zhongshan South Road mostly sells bicycles and electric vehicles. It has lost its former prosperity and has become very quiet and leisurely. The food on Zhongshan South Road is also mouth-watering! This is the fourth alley I want to introduce: Watergate Alley. As soon as we arrived at the alley, there was a smell of meat! Surrounded by fragrant mutton restaurants, beef restaurants, and dog meat restaurants, one is next to the other, and every business is booming! Walking further inside is a delicious fried bun shop and the most famous Shuimen Noodles in Quanzhou.
Further inside is the Five Forts. Wubao is the densest timber area in Quanzhou, but its area is not large. Wubao is a very interesting place! It has one fort, two forts, three forts, four forts and five forts. There are so many branches in just one small alley! More than a dozen families are connected together to form a fort. The most interesting thing is that there are only two houses in the Second Fort? I really can't figure out why this alley is named like this. It is said that this entire alley was first called: Bamboo Alley. It got its name because the entire alley used to sell bamboo.
After walking through the Five Forts, return to Zhongshan South Road. Go down Zhongshan South Road to Jingang Lane. There is a famous oyster omelette at the entrance of King Kong Alley! However, I didn’t find it very satisfying. Walking further down you will reach Qiaoguang Cinema. There is a Xiao Long Bao shop in front of this movie theater which is also very delicious! It is also a time-honored brand. At the end of Zhongnan South Road is the legendary Tianhou Palace
It was built in the second year of Qingyuan (1196 AD) and is located on the bank of Jinjiang River in the south of the city. Mazu Lin's Mo Niang was a civilian girl from Meizhou Island in Putian County under the jurisdiction of the Ping'an Army (Quanzhou Prefecture) from the north. She was born in the first year of Jianlong (960 AD), Taizu of the Song Dynasty. When she grew up, Lin Mo Niang was determined to live her whole life. Doing good deeds to help people is a priority, determined not to marry, devoted himself to studying medical science, and eliminating disasters and preventing diseases for people. She has a gentle temperament, is eager to help others, solves problems, and guides the villagers to avoid disasters and seek good fortunes. Anyone who is in trouble is willing to come to her for help. At that time, there was an epidemic of plague in Putian area. Lin Moniang tried her best to apply medicine to rescue the villagers, and they were cured immediately. The villagers were grateful for her life-saving grace.
Also known as Tianfei Palace, it is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Tianfei Palace is the Mazu temple with the highest architectural specifications, the earliest age and the largest scale in existence in my country. Tianhou Palace was first built in the second year of Qingyuan of the Song Dynasty (1196 AD). The government often held sea sacrifice ceremonies here for merchant ships going to sea.
Mazu’s name was Lin Moniang. She was a folk girl from Meizhou Island in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is said that when she was born, the place was filled with incense and auspicious light. She died while rescuing her father whose ship was caught in a storm. The people were grateful for her virtues and respected her as the goddess of the sea. They built temples to worship her. Local fishermen would go to Thean Hou Temple to worship before going to sea.
In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Yongxi of the Song Dynasty (987 AD), during the Double Ninth Festival, Mazu and her grandfather were sailing to the north in a boat. The west wind was blowing hard, and they encountered strong winds and waves on the way. She came to the rescue in person, her father rescued her, and her brother and herself died. Just like that, the villagers praised her for "understanding the secret method and foretelling the troubles. The villagers recovered from their illnesses. She was able to cross the sea on a chair and travel among the islands on clouds. People called her " Goddess, also called Dragon Girl." Because Mo Niang was kind to the people during her lifetime, she was revered as the goddess of the sea by the coastal people after her transformation. A temple was built to offer sacrifices. When Quanzhou Tianhouguan first built it, Weizong gave it "Shunji" as the name of the temple, which means "aiding with the wind".
Although the Tin Hau Main Hall has gone through many vicissitudes, the wooden architecture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is still well preserved, and its components from later generations are still preserved. The main hall covers an area of ??635.5 square meters; it is built on a platform base, 1 meter above the ground, and is made of granite stone Xumizuo.
The architectural structure is quite special, with rich spatial changes. The doors and windows are curved and interspersed with sparrows. The carvings are exquisite and detailed. The decorations are rich and colorful, including geometric patterns, flowers, aquariums, birds and beasts. There are phoenixes playing peonies on the supporting parts, and Ruyi in Shouliang. Visit the heart and express the female temple. The paint in the hall uses red ground to depict alternate patterns of Zhongli and Ruyi, one of the "Eight Immortals of Warmth". The green space is carved with colorful patterns of passion lotus and magpie climbing plum blossoms, which are symbols of auspiciousness. Some patterns are exotic animals, which means "longevity". The foundation reliefs in the hall are even more dazzling, with eight horses, eight treasures, fugu birds, dragons and various flowers, showing aquatic fish and dragons soaring in the air and vying with flowers. These are all patterns that express Taoist themes, which are good luck, wealth, longevity and good fortune. The objects serve as a backdrop to present the extraordinary realm of the immortal family.
The top of the hall is built in the shape of a mountain with nine ridges and double eaves falling into the water on all sides. The main ridge is the highest point of the Tin Hau Hall. At both ends, there are colorful porcelain-shaped double dragons playing with beads. The shape is exquisite and the luster is bright, expressing the appearance of the entire Spinosaurus. The supreme theme, the four forked ridge heads combined with the phoenix pattern, corresponding to the dragon and phoenix on the big ridge, with character stories on the back, accompanied by dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, basalts and double tigers, embodying good luck and a symbol of longevity. It is one of the best examples of architectural art in southern Fujian. A must.
So Thean Hou Temple is worth a visit! Don’t miss the two time-honored shops next to Thean Hou Temple. One is the four-fruit soup and the other is the mung bean cake. This mung bean cake is not inferior to the mung bean cake in Gulangyu Island!
Jubao Street
Old Street Story: Qinglong Lane Jujie
There is an old saying in Quanzhou, "Golden Green Dragon, Silver Jubao", which describes the two characters of Quanzhou. There are two streets, namely Qinglong Lane and Jubao Street.
The several dilapidated but majestic ancient courtyards in Qinglong Lane, which is just over a hundred meters long, were called "gold" in their heyday. It is not an exaggeration. According to records, during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the area south of the city was the commercial center of Citong, especially Jubao Street. As described by Chinese literati: "A city is an important place, and it is most prosperous in Nanguan. Ships and merchants from all over the world, and tribute from all over the world, all gather here." "The city is full of pearls, drunken singing and dancing, and a few people are intoxicated." Such a prosperous city Jubao Street can only give in to "silver".
Jubao Street is in the south of the city. You can reach it by turning around Wanshou Road. It is about a mile long from the street entrance to the south end of the car bridge. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, a large number of foreign merchants landed at Citong Port for trade. The imported and exported goods mainly included jewelry, spices, medicines, silks, tea, porcelain, copper and ironware, etc., hence the name "Jubao Street". The "Cheqiaotou" at the end of the street was the distribution center for Chinese and foreign goods. In ancient times, Qinglong Lane was connected to Jubao Street. Now they are only 20 to 30 meters apart through the Neigou River in the middle of Jubao Street. Qinglong Lane was once a place where dignitaries concentrated, and people did business on Jubao Street. It is quiet and convenient nearby. Qinglong Lane built residences in Qinglong Lane; it is also said that there were many banks in Qinglong Lane, which is similar to the current Financial Street. Businessmen trading in Jubao Street often have to use the banks in Qinglong Lane to circulate funds. But no matter which way you say it, Qinglong Lane is either the location of the elites of Jubao Street, or it is the economic lifeline of Jubao Street. It is very appropriate to call it "Golden Qinglong, Silver Jubao" in ancient times.
Jubao Street is named after its "Jubao", while Qinglong Lane is named Qinglong because its shape looks like a dragon drinking from a stream.
Qinglong Lane is suitable for living. It is clean and elegant, offering a sense of tranquility amid the bustle. There are only a few pedestrians in Qinglong Lane in the rain. The buildings here are full of traces of changes over time. In addition to the typical Qing-style houses, there are also small Chinese and Western houses built by some overseas Chinese who returned from Southeast Asia in the 1910s and 1920s. building. Stationmaster Yang said that in recent years, the trend of flipping over modern buildings has become more and more popular, and a large number of ancient residences have been destroyed. Even most of the existing ancient residences are seriously damaged, and the infrastructure in the ancient residences is also quite old and cannot meet the needs of modern residents. life needs. At the same time, the streetscape was also greatly damaged. The original trees were cut down, and the stone pavement that was in harmony with the ancient residential buildings was replaced with cement pavement. According to statistics, there are currently 8 relatively complete Chinese-style ancient houses and 2 small Western-style buildings in Qinglong Lane.
Nanjun Lane
In the Song Dynasty, there was a family in Nanjun Lane with "three generations and five Jinshi": Cui Gong, his sons Lize and Zhengze, and his grandsons Huang Chen and Song Chen. All five of them were Jinshi in high school and won people's admiration. Some people called them "The Heroes of the South". The locals built the Nanjun Arch for this purpose, and they have become famous ever since.
The former Namjoon Lane was widened and renamed Namjoon Road. However, as Quanzhou people, we are still accustomed to calling it Nanjun Lane. It is now a fashionable district in Quanzhou.
On the east side of Nanjun Lane is also located this ancient temple - Chengtian Temple.
Because the horizontal plaque on the first mountain gate of the temple has the word "Yuetai", it is also called Yuetai Temple.
This was originally the South Garden where the Jiedushi envoys of the Five Dynasties stayed and followed. A temple was built from the end of Baoda in the Southern Tang Dynasty to the first year of Zhongxing (957-958). It was originally named Nanchan Temple. It was built in the fourth year of Jingde in the Northern Song Dynasty. (1007) Changed its name. Its scale is second only to Kaiyuan Temple and is one of the three largest jungles in Quanzhou. The existing temple was rebuilt in the 30th year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1692). Chengtian Temple was originally named Nanchan Temple, also known as Yuetai Temple. It is located on the east side of Nanjun Lane in the urban area. It was first built during the Xiande period of Zhou Dynasty (954-959 AD) after the Five Dynasties. Initially, the temple land was dedicated by Jiedu envoy Liu Congxiao, and it is commonly known as the "former site of Nanyuan". Soon, Wang Yanbin, the governor of Quanzhou in Fujian, and the Xu and Chen clansmen donated part of the land to expand the temple. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the temple owned an area close to East Street, and the east side of Nanjun Lane was almost entirely owned by Chengtian Temple. At its peak, there were more than 40 large and small halls in the temple, including Guangxiao Temple on the left, Yuanchang Temple on the right, Yichen Temple, Shanzhi Temple, He Tui'an, Hujie Temple, etc. In each of the four corners of the temple, a Guanyin Pavilion was erected to mark the boundary. There were once more than 1,700 monks. It is known as "the first temple in southern Fujian". Together with Kaiyuan Temple and Chongfu Temple, it is known as the three major jungles in Quanzhou.
In the past 100 years or so, the temple property has been occupied many times. The original temple area was 73 acres, but now only 45 acres and 29,700 square meters remain. There are still some temple properties to be recovered.
At present, it has four locations: it is adjacent to Quanzhou No. 5 Middle School across the alley to the east, to the south is close to Jinguang Primary School, to the north is Yingge Mountain, and to the west is the street.
The name of the temple was changed several times. It was first named Nanzen Temple, also known as Yuetai Temple.
In the second year of Chunhua of Song Dynasty (991), it was renamed Shouning Temple. In the fourth year of Jingde (1007), the court gave the temple the name Chengtian. In the second year of Jiayou's reign (1056), it was renamed Nengren Temple. In the seventh year of Zhenghe (1117), it was renamed Chengtian Temple, and it remains today. The full name is "Emperor Yuetai Chengtian Temple".
Historically, a considerable number of those in power attached great importance to Chengtian Temple. Daoguang's "Jinjiang County Chronicles Volume 69 Temple Observation Chronicles" records: At the beginning of the construction of the temple, "900 stones were placed in the monk field to help attract the waste of Qingyuan." In the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers respected Buddhism. In the 29th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1292), Pingzhang Zhengshi also led his army to an expedition to Java. From then on, he went overseas to Zhugang Port. He returned without any success and was punished by being "reprimanded with a rod" and "losing one-third of his family assets." . For this reason, Yihei lost his heart "with sincerity, devoted his pure wealth, and spread the Sanskrit scriptures widely." In the third year of Yanyou (1316), he donated money to Buddhist temples across the country and engraved a stele called "Notes on Sutras in One Hundred and Twenty Great Temples", which mentioned in the stele Among those who received alms were Quanzhou Chengtian Temple...
The first alley on Nanjun Road: Xinfukou. There is a nice little cafe called Missing People. Because the location is very inconspicuous, you have to put some effort into finding friends. Further on from Nanjun Lane is Daxi Street.