The museum boasts 10,000 cultural relics. Among them, 102 items are of the national first class, including a Song Dynasty (960-1279) boat unearthed in 1974, the remains of which are 24.2 meters long, 9.15 meters wide and have 13 cabins; the famous statue of Vishnu, which is the only Indian relics existing in China and a testimony of the Sino-India cultural exchange in the 14th century.
The museum has three exhibition halls. The Exhibition Hall of Quanzhou Ancient Boat Relics displays part of real objects of two sea boats of the Song Dynasty and stone, wooden and iron anchors of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties (960-1911) and models of sea boats from different dynasties. The Exhibition Hall of Religious Stone Inscriptions displays more than 300 stone inscriptions discovered in Quanzhou about foreign religions such as Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Manicheism in the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368). The Exhibition Hall of Chinaware displays over 500 pieces of ancient chinaware that were exported from Quanzhou Port through the dynasties. The museum also arranges the display of the history of emigrates in Quanzhou. The museum receives visitors of about 300,000 person-times each year.
Publications of the museum includeResearch of Silk Road on Sea,Quanzhou Islamic Stone Inscriptions, andQuanzhou Port & Ancient Sea Transportation, etc.