Buddhist pilgrims and visitors bring hustle and bustle to this famed temple in the historical quarter of Quanzhou, Fujian province.

As one of 22 monuments included in the "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China", Kaiyuan Temple is part of the city's recently gained UNESCO World Heritage status. But it has always been a top attraction for visitors to Quanzhou.

First built in 686, the biggest Buddhist temple in Fujian was given its current name in 738 during the Kaiyuan era (713-741), in the first half of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The era witnessed the dynasty's pinnacle and many temples around China were bestowed with the same name to mark that prosperous time. But the one in Quanzhou is arguably the most famous.

In the eyes of locals, its psychological significance is exceptional. The 40-odd-meter-high twin stone towers from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) stand sentinel-like above the ancient city's skyline. They ubiquitously appear on posters promoting Quanzhou as the most conspicuous landmarks of the city and are symbols of nostalgia for those far from home.

The main hall architecture demands attention for its splendor. It is not only the exquisite colorful decorations on the roof, but also the 24 sets of wooden buttresses, in the shape of flying Buddhist deities, supporting that roof.

Without the guidance of Shi Deyuan, a monk in charge of conservation and receiving visitors in the temple, one may easily walk by the stone base of the main hall without paying it much attention.

But it is special: 73 stone carvings of lions or deities with human faces and lion bodies indicate their past may be linked with something other than Buddhism.

"They resemble Hindu temples in the south of India during the Chola Dynasty (third century BC-AD 13th century)," Shi says. "It reveals a piece of precious information: there was a Hindu temple in Quanzhou before the 13th century whereas other places in ancient China rarely had such a structure."

Hindu decorative patterns are also visible on the stone pillars along the corridor of the main hall. Among the 24 pieces of relief on the pillars, nine are about Hindu deities, including Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, and other stories from epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana.

"But local styles also influenced the form of the pillars and its Hindu patterns," Shi explains. "Their counterparts in southern India have a more realistic style while these carvings are more impressionistic, showing a mixture of different cultures."

When the main hall of Kaiyuan Temple was rebuilt in 1637, these building materials were moved from the abandoned Hindu shrine to this site.

"In a well-established Buddhist temple, which had almost a one-millennium history by then, people would use architectural components from Hinduism in renovation," Shi says. "It's a rarely seen cultural phenomenon, but it just shows inclusiveness of Quanzhou culture, which is deeply rooted in the tradition of this city."

East-West communication

Quanzhou, which witnessed a booming maritime trade from the 10th to 14th centuries, is like a gateway embracing a multicultural community.

"Trade brought Quanzhou not only an influx of goods from all over the world," says Huang Haojing, a researcher at Quanzhou Maritime Museum.

"During the Song-Yuan era, a large number of foreign merchants came to live here. They participated in social affairs and married Han Chinese. Some even became officials. They gave Quanzhou a distinctively cosmopolitan characteristic."

In Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Cao'an Temple on the cliff seems isolated.

When it was first built in the 10th or 11th century during the Song Dynasty, the temple was made from thatch. That also explains its name Cao'an, which means "a temple of thatch". In 1339 during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), a stone chamber was added.

Lacking any ostentatious appearance, far away from the commercial district, the simple-looking temple is like a perfect place for a hermitage, and it has reason to be included in the 22 monuments across Quanzhou becoming World Heritage sites.

A statue of Mani in the stone chamber, also carved in 1339, is the world's only surviving rock carving depicting the main god of Manichaeism, a worldwide religion active from the third to 15th centuries, according to Wu Jinpeng, director of Jinjiang Cultural Heritage Conservation Center.

Manichaeism originated in Persia during the third century on the basis of Zoroastrianism. It was introduced into Quanzhou in the ninth century, and was then known in China as "the religion of light".