In the early years, Quanzhou in Fujian Province was a conveniently accessible international trading port, and there large amounts of the needed raw materials were imported from the Arab world, which at the time possessed the most advanced technology for the production of red tiles. Red tiles subsequently became a symbol of the unique Southern Min architectural technology of Fujian and Taiwan.
但藉早年福建泉州為國際貿易大港之便，有商人大量從當時製作紅磚技術進步的阿拉伯地區進口建材，紅磚也因此成為福建、台灣獨有的閩南式建料。