14 Days in Fuzhou

The lanes and alleys of the old city, a national key heritage site since 2006, keep Ming-Qing courtyards and the former homes of Lin Juemin and Bing Xin; South Back Street handles snacks. Cross the river to Shangxiahang, the merchant quarter of guild halls and old warehouses.

1. fuzhou sanfang qixiang
2. fuzhou shangxiakang

Yongquan Temple was founded on Drum Mountain in 908, and more than 500 rock inscriptions line the climb from the lower gate. Back down for the evening cruise on the Min River.

1. fuzhou gushan yongquan
2. fuzhou minjiang cruise

The hill in Cangshan holds the villas, consulates and a 19th-century stone church that followed Fuzhou's 1844 treaty-port opening. Finish with a slow loop of West Lake park, dug in 282 and ringed by lotus beds.

1. fuzhou yantaishan
2. fuzhou west lake park

Pingtan is a county of Fuzhou, reached in about 35 minutes on the Fuping railway, open since December 2020, after the 2010 road bridge first linked the island. It is Fujian's largest island; the blue-tears glow of the plankton shows from April to August, most often April to June.

1. fuzhou pingtan island

The hillside at roughly 800 m above the city grew into a summer resort from the 1880s, with stone villas, an old church and shaded paths; cooler air all day.

1. fuzhou guling

Markets, tea houses and laundry — a deliberate pause before the long runs start.

1. fuzhou city markets

Up the Dazhang river valley into Yongtai county, the old market town of Songkou keeps flagstone lanes, Ming-Qing shopfronts and a listed historic-town title; a slow riverside day, back by evening.

1. fuzhou songkou town

An honest neighbour day — about an hour south by HSR. Quanzhou's entry on the UNESCO list in 2021 as a Song-Yuan era world trading port anchors a day around the twin 13th-century stone pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple and the old port lanes; back to Fuzhou by evening.

1. quanzhou

The HSR line through to Wuyishan, open since 2015, puts the mountains about an hour away. Arrive at midday, settle in and take the first stretch of the nine-bend valley in late light; overnight here.

1. wuyishan

The bamboo rafts drift the nine bends below the red cliffs, and the climb to Tianyou Peak gives the bend-by-bend view. Wuyishan joined the World Heritage list in 1999 as a mixed natural and cultural site; evening rail back to Fuzhou.

1. wuyishan

A quiet day after the mountains — the lake dug in 282 in the morning, the Zhenhai tower view from Ping Shan, first raised in 1371 and rebuilt in 2009, late in the day.

1. fuzhou west lake park
2. fuzhou zhenhai tower

Back across for the villages and stone houses skipped on day 4 — and, between April and August, a second chance at the blue tears after dark.

1. fuzhou pingtan island

A last unhurried pass through the lanes and their courtyards, snacks packed for the train, and one more evening cruise down the lit-up Min.

1. fuzhou sanfang qixiang
2. fuzhou minjiang cruise

A market breakfast of fish balls and rouyan dumplings, a last riverside walk, then onward from Fuzhou station or the airport.

1. fuzhou city markets