Licheng District 鲤城区

Setting and landscape

The district lies on the Quanzhou plain, with Fengze District (丰泽区) to the east and north, Nan'an (南安市) to the west and Jinjiang (晋江市) to the south. The land falls from west to east and the Jin River runs through it; terraces and plains cover more than 70 per cent of the area. Its highest point is Zimao Mountain (紫帽山), at 517.8 metres. The district government describes summers without extreme heat and short winters without severe cold.

History

The seat of Wurong prefecture (武荣州) moved into what is now Licheng in 700; the prefecture was renamed Quanzhou in 711, and in 718 Jinjiang County was created with its seat here. The district government describes the area as the political, economic and cultural centre of the Jin River basin for the more than 1,300 years since. In November 1950 the State Council approved turning the Jinjiang county town and eight suburban townships into a county-level city named Quanzhou; when Quanzhou became a prefecture-level city in May 1985, that city became Licheng District, and in 1997 it was split into Licheng, Fengze and Luojiang (洛江区).

What to see

Eight of the 22 components of the World Heritage site "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China", inscribed on 25 July 2021, lie in the district. Kaiyuan Temple (开元寺), a national protected site, has twin stone pagodas that the district government lists as the tallest surviving pair in China. The Quanzhou Confucius Temple (府文庙) is described as the largest surviving Confucian temple complex in southern China, and Qingjing Mosque (清净寺) as the oldest surviving mosque in China, built of granite and diabase in an Arab style. The Tianhou Temple (天后宫) is presented as a centre from which Mazu worship spread overseas.

The other components are the site of the Song imperial clan office (南外宗正司遗址), the maritime trade office site (市舶司遗址), the Deji Gate ruins (德济门遗址), the only one of Quanzhou's seven city gates to survive, and the Southern Song stone beam bridge of Shunji (顺济桥遗址). West Street (西街) is a historic street district, and Zhongshan Road (中山路) is lined with arcaded shop-houses and a Romanesque clock tower.

Food and local crafts

The district promotes two named snacks: Shuimen Guozai noodle porridge (水门国仔面线糊), fine noodles cooked in a seafood stock, and the Lan family's Zhonglou meat rice dumplings (蓝氏钟楼肉粽), a brand with more than a century of history. The craft of building traditional southern Fujian houses (闽南传统民居营造技艺) from Licheng is on the national intangible-heritage list.

Highlights

• Kaiyuan Temple 开元寺: National protected site; its twin stone pagodas are listed by the district government as China's tallest surviving pair.
• Qingjing Mosque 清净寺: Described by the district government as China's oldest surviving mosque, built of granite and diabase.
• Quanzhou Tianhou Temple 天后宫: Presented as the centre from which Mazu worship spread overseas.
• Deji Gate ruins 德济门遗址: The only one of Quanzhou's seven old city gates to survive.
• Shuimen Guozai noodle porridge 水门国仔面线糊: Porridge of fine noodles cooked in seafood stock.