Anhai
Anhai is a town in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the far southern suburbs of the Quanzhou metropolitan area. and is separated by Weitou Bay from Kinmen, which is controlled by the Republic of China on Taiwan. Administratively, Anhai is part of Jinjiang County-level City, which in its turn is subordinated to Quanzhou.
The highest point in the town's administrative area is Mount Língyuán at 305 m.
Anhai was known as Anping during the Song dynasty. The famous Song-era Anping Bridge crosses a tidal estuary to the west of town, connecting Anhai with its western neighbor, the town of Shuitou, which administratively belongs in Nan'an. Shuixin Chan Temple is located by the eastern end of the bridge.
Anhai was an important port during the Ming and early Qing periods. The 19th-century researchers writing for the Hakluyt Society thought Anhai was the port of "Tansuso" visited by Martín de Rada, but later research identified Tansuso as Zhongzuosuo, which is in modern Xiamen, some 40 km to the west. Anhai regained importance in the later 19th century when sand bars created by the Jin and Luo rivers blocked the principal harbor for Quanzhou; the city retained its size and importance to local trade but maritime commerce was redirected to Anhai.
The highest point in the town's administrative area is Mount Língyuán at 305 m.
Anhai was known as Anping during the Song dynasty. The famous Song-era Anping Bridge crosses a tidal estuary to the west of town, connecting Anhai with its western neighbor, the town of Shuitou, which administratively belongs in Nan'an. Shuixin Chan Temple is located by the eastern end of the bridge.
Anhai was an important port during the Ming and early Qing periods. The 19th-century researchers writing for the Hakluyt Society thought Anhai was the port of "Tansuso" visited by Martín de Rada, but later research identified Tansuso as Zhongzuosuo, which is in modern Xiamen, some 40 km to the west. Anhai regained importance in the later 19th century when sand bars created by the Jin and Luo rivers blocked the principal harbor for Quanzhou; the city retained its size and importance to local trade but maritime commerce was redirected to Anhai.
Map - Anhai
Map
Country - China
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Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dynasties. Chinese writing, Chinese classic literature, and the Hundred Schools of Thought emerged during this period and influenced China and its neighbors for centuries to come. In the third century BCE, Qin's wars of unification created the first Chinese empire, the short-lived Qin dynasty. The Qin was followed by the more stable Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), which established a model for nearly two millennia in which the Chinese empire was one of the world's foremost economic powers. The empire expanded, fractured, and reunified; was conquered and reestablished; absorbed foreign religions and ideas; and made world-leading scientific advances, such as the Four Great Inventions: gunpowder, paper, the compass, and printing. After centuries of disunity following the fall of the Han, the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties reunified the empire. The multi-ethnic Tang welcomed foreign trade and culture that came over the Silk Road and adapted Buddhism to Chinese needs. The early modern Song dynasty (960–1279) became increasingly urban and commercial. The civilian scholar-officials or literati used the examination system and the doctrines of Neo-Confucianism to replace the military aristocrats of earlier dynasties. The Mongol invasion established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, but the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) re-established Han Chinese control. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty nearly doubled the empire's territory and established a multi-ethnic state that was the basis of the modern Chinese nation, but suffered heavy losses to foreign imperialism in the 19th century.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
CNY | Renminbi | ¥ or 元 | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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ZH | Chinese language |
UG | Uighur language |
ZA | Zhuang language |