From April 11 to 14, the International EducationSchool organized six Chinese and international students from countries including China, Vietnam, Ghana, and Russia to visit Quanzhou, Fujian Province – the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road – for a social practice themed “Walk the Maritime Silk Road, Read Quanzhou’s Living Code.” Over the four-day journey, the “Maritime Silk Road” team explored the millennium-old port, delving into three dimensions: historical origins, cultural integration, and modern resurgence. They gained deep insights into the commercial wisdom of the Maritime Silk Road and Quanzhou’s experience in cross-cultural governance.
The team visited the Shimao Maritime Silk Road Museum and the Quanzhou Maritime Museum. Through artifacts such as trade route maps of the ancient Zayton Port (Quanzhou) from the Song and Yuan dynasties, models of ocean-going merchant ships, Arabian spice jars, Persian ceramic patterns, and exotic南洋(Nanyang) coins, they grasped the prosperity of the “greatest port of the East” and understood the commercial logic of openness, mutual trust, and win-win cooperation.
At the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, students enjoyed exquisite marionette performances and melodious Nanyin music, and tried their hand at puppet painting and paper-cutting. Through manipulating strings and crafting with brush and scissors, they truly experienced the vivid charm of millennium-old intangible heritage. In Xunpu Village, the team braided their hair into round buns, inserted bone hairpins, wrapped flower garlands, and tried the unique national intangible cultural heritage “Flower Pin Headwear” (Zanhuawei). By observing and helping each other, they deepened their understanding of this living carrier of Maritime Silk Road culture.
At the end of the trip, the team visited the Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Service Hall of the Donghai Cross-border E-commerce Ecosphere.According to Wu Xiao’ai, representative of Lingxiu Cross-border Project: “Today, Quanzhou’s cross-border e-commerce market is at a strong growth stage, becoming a new engine for Belt and Road economic and trade cooperation.” During the visit, students learned how Quanzhou, through cross-border e-commerce platforms, is moving from “product exports” to “brand exports,” and recognized the profound reshaping of traditional trade by the digital economy along the “digital-era Maritime Silk Road.”
Civilizations shine through exchanges and enrich through mutual learning. This social practice activity, “Walk the Maritime Silk Road, Read Quanzhou’s Living Code,” is a special field study organized by the International Education School for Chinese and international students to experience China firsthand. Over four days, students traced the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road by foot, validated their reflections through interviews, and captured cultural integration with their cameras. They understood the openness, inclusiveness, and mutual trust of Quanzhou as the origin of the Maritime Silk Road, and deepened their real knowledge of China’s history and contemporary development. In the future, the International Education School will continue to promote “walking” national education activities, building more platforms for Chinese and international students to engage deeply with China and learn from each other.
