Anping Bridge

The seemingly endless Anping Bridge was built between 1138 and 1151. About 2,255 meters in length, it is China's longest stone bridge and one of the marvels of bridge construction in Quanzhou. It stretches across the Quanzhou Bay like a long rainbow, linking Anhai in Jinjiang County to Shuitou in Nan'an County.

  Humming the ancient music

The rising and falling melodies wafted out from the deep lanes and old houses are no less ancient than the time-honored historic sites in Quanzhou. The ancient Nanyin Music, Liyuan Opera, Gaojia Opera, and Puppet Show, sharing a common prosperity here, attract many tourists.

People here, old and young, are very fond of their Nanyin Music and Liyuan Opera, which have become their popular pastime. It is amazing that the older people can hum virtually any piece, and most young people can manage even a couple of lines in this era of pop music.

Nanyin Music, admired as the "living fossil of ancient music," originated in Quanzhou and has existed for more than 1,000 years. Featuring wind and string instruments such as the lute and the vertical flute, it has close ties with ancient imperial music, Buddhist music , poetic rhythm, and drama tune. For hundreds of years it has been handed down by oral instruction and spread from Quanzhou to other parts of Fujian, Taiwan Province, and among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and Europe.

In Quanzhou, there are more than 500 Nanyin Music consortiums who have republished a batch of Nanyin pieces in numbered musical notation, giving a new lease of life to the old melodies which are being applied for an honor as a masterpiece of UNESCO's oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

Quanzhou's Liyuan Opera, Gaojia Opera, and Puppet Show have inherited the rhythm scheme and the style of simplicity and elegance of Nanyin Music, while also mingling with Quanzhou dialect and some folk music. The Liyuan Opera still reserves a lot of repertoires of Nanyin Music.

Sauntering into the heart of the ancient city, one may have the feel of Quanzhou as a tolerant city, where people can freely bring their habits, lifestyles, and skills into full play, the essence of which will eventually be assimilated into the city's style.

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