Ancient Maritime Museum is the only museum that reflects the history of ancient Chinese maritime transportation with two sites -- the old one in the Kaiyuan Temple and the new one in the East Lake, built in 1959 and 1991 respectively. There are over 10,000 collections, including a sanked wreck from Song Dynasty. Besides maritime collections,the museum also has many cultural and religious collections.

From the hundreds of thousands of cultural relics like real boat parts, stone, wooden and iron anchors, and models of sea boats through the dynasties, the rises and falls of ancient port city Zaitun are vividly revived. The new site, in the shape of a giant sea boat to set sail, boasts four exhibition halls: Hall of Quanzhou Port & Ancient Sea Transportation, Hall of Quanzhou Ancient Boat Models, Hall of Religious Stone Inscriptions, and Hall of Quanzhou Folk Culture. The famous statue of Vishnu (one of the three major Hindu gods) exhibited is the only Indian relic existing in China, a testimony of the Sino-India cultural exchange in the 14th century.