Quanzhou is a walking town, and most of its sights are free

The Kaiyuan Temple with its twin stone pagodas, the Qingjing Mosque from 1009, the Maritime Museum with its Arabic and Syriac tombstones — the UNESCO listing here covers a whole trading system, and the pieces of it are scattered through a town that was never tidied up for visitors.

Start on West Street in the morning, take every lane that looks interesting, and follow the incense. Temple fairs and opera happen without warning; if you hear a gong, go and look.