Quanzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty is…

Quanzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty is a bustling port of call visited by a plethora of different foreigners, from Muslim Arabs, Persians, Egyptians, Hindu Indians, Middle-Eastern Jews, Nestorian Christians from the Near East, etc.

Muslims from foreign nations dominate the import and export industry.

To regulate this enormous commercial center, the Northern Song government establishes an office in Quanzhou in 1087 for the sole purpose of handling maritime affairs and commercial transactions.