Anhai

Anhai (Chinese: 安海镇) is a town in southern Fujian, China. It is located in the far southern suburbs of the Quanzhou metropolitan area. and is separated by Weitou Bay (Chinese: 围头湾) from Kinmen, which is controlled by Taiwan. Administratively, Anhai is part of Jinjiang County-level City, which in its turn is subordinated to Quanzhou.

The highest point in the town's administrative area is Mount Língyuán (Chinese: 灵源山) at 305 metres (1,001 ft).

History

Anhai was known as Anping (traditional Chinese: 安平) during the Song dynasty. The famous Song-era Anping Bridge 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 Temple is located by the eastern end of the bridge.

Anhai was an important port during the Ming and early Qing periods; its name was often transcribed by Europeans as Gan-hai. The 19th-century researchers writing for the Hakluyt Society thought Anhai (Gan-hai) was the port of "Tansuso" visited by Martín de Rada, but later research identified Tansuso as Zhongzuosuo (Chinese: 中左所), which is in modern Xiamen, some 40 km (25 mi) to the west.