been without teaching, so that they were "ignorant of the cardinal doctrines." In other words, it seems that their ancestors in China were practicing a form of Judaism but were unaware of the events of the Christian era. Ibn Battuta The Rihla documents the world travels of the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, including his journey and travels in China. Ibn Batutta left for China from the Samudra Pasai Sultanate located on the Malaysian island of Sumatra during the month of April 1346 in a junk provisioned for him from the ruler of Samudra Pasai, Al-Mailk al Zahir. In The Rihla Ibn Battuta recalls that the trip to China took just short of four months, possibly owing to stops at two ports in either eastern Malaysia, Champa, or Tonkin though the description and the locations of these places remains a mystery and are thought to have not existed at all. Historians note that Ibn Battuta's travelogue of his visit in China appear superficial, vague, though it did describe Battutas concern with the dominance of paganism in China and his dislike of most of what he saw in China with him tending to stay at his home as often as he could. In the Rihla it mentions that he first landed in the port city of Quanzhou and later met with a Chinese envoy who was the chief of customs in the city and who had met with Ibn Battuta in his previous travels and arrived in China before Battuta had, and who possibly allowed for Battuta to later visit the capital of the Yuan Dynasty to meet the emperor as a diplomat of the Sultanate of India. After a while he received word that he was to go on to Beijing to meet with the emperor, and Ibn Battuta is thought to have taken the northward route through the canal system and it is known that he first stopped at a city he called Qanjanfu which is now commonly called Fuzhou and a second stop further up the canal at Hangzhou. He stayed at Hangzhou for a few weeks before returning to Quanzhou where he would eventually leave from the southern coast in the fall monsoon season of 1346. See also Christianity in Fujian Opium Wars Unequal Treaties References History of Imperial China History of Fujian