Under the Song and Yuan, Quanzhou was one of the busiest ports in the world.
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history
Medieval travellers such as Marco Polo knew the city as Zaitun, from 刺桐, the coral trees once planted around its walls, and it is still nicknamed 刺桐城. In 2021 its Song and Yuan sites were listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
usage
The official name is 泉州市. It governs the county-level cities of 晋江市 and 南安, and its Hokkien is one of the roots of the Hokkien spoken in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
