SPLENDORS OF QUANZHOU, PAST AND PRESENT

Quanzhou is, as the author puts it, a “legendary city” and the largest metropolitan area in its Fujian province; it’s home to nearly 9 million residents and the home of a port with a thriving economy. The author became enchanted with Quanzhou when he first visited the city in 1989 but soon realized that it was virtually unknown outside of China, particularly among English speakers. In these pages, Brown sets out to correct that situation. This encyclopedically thorough account of its history and culture seems designed for the prospective tourist; for example, the author generally provides his insights in the form of lists—temples and architectural relics to view, areas to wander, cultural sites to visit, foods to sample, and much more, all delivered in a casually friendly style: “Let’s face it, eating is a big part of life, so we might as well enjoy it, and Chinese are masters of both cooking and eating.” Brown pauses here and there to dispense history lessons, furnishing a brief description of Confucianism, for example, and explaining that the tea defiantly thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party in 1773 came from Fujian. The author also seems to aim for comprehensiveness; readers learn what particular beer to drink in Fujian, for instance, as well what puppet festivals to visit. However, he usefully points out that while Quanzhou is a vibrantly modern city that plays a leading role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative—an infrastructure-building program—it also has a notable ancient history; he notes, for example, that the famous Ashab Mosque was constructed more than 1,000 years ago.  

The author’s approach combines painstaking meticulousness with a goofy lightsomeness. For instance, while complaining about the mu, an obscure Chinese unit of land measure, he writes, “I don’t want to have a cow over ‘mus’ but sometimes they’re enough to make me bleat.” Much of the information he provides is eccentric, as when he relates that girls in Quanzhou’s Hui’an County wear a belt that carries “not only a girl’s dowry but also her marital insurance.” As one wearer shares, “My husband doesn’t dare leave me because I have all his wealth around my waist.” The one notable failing of the book, though, is borne out of a kind of identity crisis: It seems to double as a tourist guidebook and as a book-length advertisement for Quanzhou, as Brown avoids conveying even a hint of criticism about the locale; unlike other travel guides, he never counsels readers on what to avoid. One gets the impression that Quanzhou is an urban utopia, bereft of any crime or inconvenience, and one can’t help but wonder what might be missing from the account. However, as an English-language guide to Quanzhou, it’s incredibly informative and well organized and a good resource for people making their first trip there.