The Holy Tombs
Early missionaries.
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A historic Muslim cemetery at the foot of Lingshan hill east of Quanzhou, one of the oldest Islamic sites in China, centred on the «Holy Tombs» of two early Muslim missionaries; it has been part of Quanzhou's World Heritage Site since 2021. Local tradition holds that four Companions of the Prophet came to China under the Tang and that the third and fourth were buried here, while historians doubt so early a date; inscriptions record that Arab Muslims repaired the two tombs in 1323. The admiral Zheng He, born into a Muslim family, visited in 1417 before one of his great voyages and left a stone tablet recording his visit, which still stands; a stone gallery wraps around the two tombs, with old gravestones scattered nearby. Entry to the Lingshan hill park is free, open 07:00–19:00, per visitor guides. Visit modestly and quietly, and pair it with the nearby Quanzhou Maritime Museum, which displays Muslim gravestones carved in Arabic.
Early missionaries.
From 1417.
Around the tombs.
Foot of Lingshan hill, east Quanzhou
Local tradition says two Companions of the Prophet who came under the Tang; historians doubt so early a date, but inscriptions confirm Arab Muslims repaired the tombs in 1323.
