泉州海外交通史博物館（簡稱“泉州海交館”）創建于1959年，是國家一級博物館，反映古代海外交通歷史，以及由此引發的各種經濟、文化交流為主題的海事博物館。它以中世紀東方第一大港“刺桐”（即Zayton，泉州別稱）港的歷史為軸心，通過豐富獨特的海交文物，生動地再現我國古代悠久輝煌的海洋文化，謳歌中國人民勇于征服海洋的英雄氣概，展示了中華民族對人類開辟“海上絲綢之路”的重大貢獻，以及在航海及造船技術方面的許多偉大發明。

海交館現有五個固定專題展覽——泉州：宋元中國的世界海洋商貿中心（泉州世遺總展示館）、泉州宗教石刻陳列館、中國舟船世界、阿拉伯—波斯人在泉州、泉州灣古船陳列館，陳列著不少舉世聞名的文物瑰寶，除了國家級文物宋代沉船及其大量伴隨出土物外，還有數十根木、鐵、石古代錨具，數百方宋元伊斯蘭教、古基督教、印度教石刻，各個時期的外銷陶瓷器，200多艘中國歷代各水域的代表性船模，以及數量繁多的反映海外交通民俗文化的器物。

泉州海交館堪稱中國海洋文明的縮影。在這里，您可以領略古代海洋文明的風采，感悟來自海洋的啟示。

Quanzhou MaritimeMuseum, established in 1959,is the first maritime museum in China withexhibitions on ancient overseas communication, and the relating economic andcultural interactions. Based on the history of “Zayton”(another name for the city of Quanzhou),which was crowned as the largest harborin the East during the Middle Ages, the abundant and unique exhibits in themuseum vividly represent the glorious oceanic culture of Ancient China andeulogize the heroic spirit of the Chinese conquest of the oceans. Theexhibitions also show China’s importantcontributions to the development of the Maritime Silk Road as well as the greatprogress in navigation and ship-building.

There are sevenpermanent thematic exhibitions in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum. Here one canfind a plethora of precious relics, for example, a sunken Ship dating back tothe Song Dynasty and related artifacts; wooden, iron and stoneanchors; hundreds of Islamic, Christian and Hindu stone inscriptions from theSong and Yuan Dynasties; ceramics from various periods; over 200 ship modelsfrom different historical times; folk instruments used for overseascommunication, etc.

Quanzhou MaritimeMuseum is an epitome of the Chinese oceanic culture. Here, one can learn toappreciate the ancient oceanic civilization in addition to learning about thefacts.