Anhai is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in southern
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the far southern suburbs of the
Quanzhou
Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
metropolitan area. and is separated by
Weitou Bay
The Weitou dialect (; Jyutping: Waitau Waa) is a dialect of Yue Chinese. It forms part of the Guan–Bao (莞寶片; , Dongguan–Bao'an dialect, Bao'an) branch of Yuehai dialects, Yuehai. It is spoken by older generations in Luohu Dist ...
() from
Kinmen
Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...
, which is controlled by the
Republic of China on Taiwan
Republic of China on Taiwan () is a political term as well as discourse regarding the present status of the Republic of China. It is proposed by former President of the Republic of China Lee Teng-hui, the first locally-born president (i.e., th ...
. Administratively, Anhai is part of
Jinjiang County-level City, which in its turn is subordinated to
Quanzhou
Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
.
The highest point in the town's administrative area is Mount Língyuán () at .
History
![安海鎮上的白塔](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/%E5%AE%89%E6%B5%B7%E9%8E%AE%E4%B8%8A%E7%9A%84%E7%99%BD%E5%A1%94.jpeg)
Anhai was known as Anping () during the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
. The famous Song-era
Anping Bridge
Anping Bridge () is a Song dynasty stone beam bridge in Fujian province. It is long. Fu et al (2002), p. 185 Mao (1978), p. 6 The bridge is also known as the Wuli Bridge (, literally ''Five Li Bridge'') because its length is about 5 '' li'', whe ...
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
Chan may refer to:
Places
*Chan (commune), Cambodia
*Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada
People
*Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田)
*Chan Caldwel ...
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
The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to its publishing rol ...
thought Anhai was the port of "Tansuso" visited by
Martín de Rada
Martín de Rada (Pamplona, Navarre, Spain June 30, 1533 - South China Sea, June 12, 1578; also known as Herrada) was one of the first members of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) to evangelize the Philippines, as well as one of the first Christi ...
, but later research identified Tansuso as Zhongzuosuo (), which is in modern
Xiamen
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
, some to the west.
Anhai regained importance in the later 19th century when
sand bar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...
s created by the
Jin and
Luo Luo may refer to:
Luo peoples and languages
*Luo peoples, an ethno-linguistic group of eastern and central Africa
**Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania or Joluo, an ethnic group in western Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania.
*** Luoland, th ...
rivers
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
blocked the principal harbor for
Quanzhou
Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
; the city retained its size and importance to local trade but maritime commerce was redirected to Anhai.
[
]
Notes
References
Township-level divisions of Fujian
Jinjiang, Fujian
{{Fujian-geo-stub