Quanzhou: Where Gods Live NEXT DOOR | This is China?! Ep. 7

In Quanzhou, the divine has too many addresses:
in the incense-filled courtyards of more than 6,000 temples scattered across the city;
in the small shrines — often no bigger than a mailbox — guarding nearly every shopfront;
in the household altar, where a family’s devotion settles, always carefully tended.

Here, the gods are not a single, distant authority, but a community of involved, protective neighbors — figures you live beside, appeal to, and negotiate with. And the currency of this relationship? The offerings! A spread of exotic fruits to save the gods from tangerine fatigue; a whole pig leg in gratitude for a dream fulfilled; a fried snack, its aroma offered up before the treat itself is recooked and eaten.

When a wish is whispered, the divine always listens. But sometimes, it chooses not to answer.

Join me as I wander through one of China’s most historically layered port cities, slipping past vermilion temple facades into backstreets and alleys overflowing with deities — where, often, a watchful Mao presides over the pantheon.

This is Episode 7 of This Is China?! — a series where I rediscover my own country after years abroad, with all the surprises, slip-ups, and double takes that come with it.

Today, we stay on land, among local gods, street shrines, and everyday rituals. Next time, we drift outward, toward the sea, following traces left by those who once arrived here and never quite left.

China Travel | China Travel Vlog | Travel Series China | Quanzhou | 泉州 | Chinese Religion | Chinese Folk Religion | Chinese Street Food | This is China?! | Unseen China | Fujian | Minnan culture | Chinese Temple

#chinatravel #quanzhou #chinesefood #fujian #chineseculture