Fuzhou


 * This page describes the capital of Fujian Province. For the city in Jiangxi, see Fuzhou (Jiangxi).

Fuzhou (福州; Hók-ciŭ in Fuzhou dialect, Fúzhōu in Mandarin) is the capital of Fujian Province in China. An older romanisation is "Foochow". Population is about 4.4 million in the city, 7.1 million for the whole prefecture.

Fuzhou is known in China as a city of parks, plazas and man-made green space, designed to compensate for its extensive urban sprawl and the heat effects of concrete and asphalt. This phenomenon is so pervasive that entire research papers and case studies are written about Fuzhou's green space evolution.

Districts
The name "Fuzhou" is somewhat ambiguous; it can mean either the city itself or the entire prefecture. In terms of administrative divisions, Fuzhou has the typical Chinese structure. There is no separate government specifically for the city of Fuzhou; instead the Fuzhou officials administer the entire Fuzhou Prefecture, which is divided into urban districts and more-or-less rural counties. Each district or county has its own local administration. The person who gets called "mayor of Fuzhou" in English is actually the chief administrator for the prefecture.

Within the city itself &mdash; the area this article covers &mdash; there are four districts. Cangshan (仓山区; Cāngshānqū) is south of the river. Gulou (鼓楼区; Gǔlóuqū) and Taijiang (台江区; Táijiāngqū) are downtown areas right on the north side of the river, and Jin'an (晋安区; Jìn'ānqū) is north of those. In general these district names will not matter for travellers, but they are used in addresses.

Other areas within the prefecture are covered in separate Wikivoyage articles:
 * Mawei (马尾区; Mǎwěiqū), the port area, 20 km downstream, east of downtown
 * Changle (长乐区; Cháng​lè​qū), a town of about half a million with the airport, on the coast to the east beyond Mawei
 * Fuqing, an industrial town of about half a million, on the coast south of Fuzhou
 * Pingtan, an island off the coast next to Fuqing
 * Minhou, a large region on both sides of the river, partly suburbs and partly still quite rural. Several universities have campuses there, and they all employ foreigners as English teachers.

Wikipedia has a full list of administrative divisions, with a map. It includes several which Wikivoyage does not yet cover.

Understand
Fuzhou is an old port city and has been an administrative center since the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE). Marco Polo visited it around 1290. In the era of tea clippers, Fuzhou exported more tea than any other Chinese port. Much of the best tea came from the Wuyi Mountain area, up the river from Fuzhou.

Today, it is the provincial capital and administrative center, and also a major center for light industry. Nike has a factory there, and a Taiwanese firm that makes shoes for Adidas, Reebok and others has four. All are large factories, with several thousand employees each. Fuzhou is right across the straits from Taipei, and there is fairly heavy Taiwan investment.

The city is on the Min River, a few km inland from the sea, and the actual port is in the downstream suburb Mawei which has been a center for shipbuilding for several hundred years. In 1884, the French destroyed a dockyard at Mawei, sinking a good part of the Chinese navy and killing hundreds. There is a museum to commemorate this. For a more general view of Fujian's seafaring history, visit the Maritime Museum in Quanzhou.

There are many mountains and waterfalls in the hinterland around Fuzhou, while sandy beaches are abundant in the coastal areas, especially in the town of Changle and the island of Pingtan.

The region has its own culture and language, and an architectural style distinct from other regions in China and Fujian, which can be found both in the city and in the towns and rural areas around it. The city has the oldest wood structure in South China (Hualin Temple) and has one of the largest historic downtown districts in China "Three Lanes and Seven Alleys" with over 200 residences from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Fuzhou, and more generally Fujian, has always been outward-looking and some people in more-or-less every overseas Chinese community in the world can trace their ancestry to the area, with some examples of places where Fuzhou people form the majority among the ethnic Chinese community being the Malaysian cities of Yong Peng, Setiawan, Sibu and Miri. Fuzhou people also form the second largest group after the Cantonese people among the Chinese community of New York City. There is also an enclave of Fuzhou people in Shanghai.

In recent decades, most of the illegal Chinese immigrants smuggled to Western countries and to Japan and Taiwan have come from the Fuzhou region, with Changle, Fuqing and various more rural areas as the main sources. The trade is largely controlled by the region's "snakehead" gangs who are not at all nice people. In 2003, the Taiwan coast guard intercepted a boatload of young women presumably bound for Taipei's brothels; the crew threw them overboard to get rid of the evidence and several died.

Talk
Fuzhou and the surrounding area have a local language called Fuzhou Hua (福州话, literally Fuzhou speech), which is part of the Mindong (闽东话, literally East Fujian speech) branch of the Min family of Chinese dialects. This is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin (standard Chinese) or any other Chinese dialect, not even other Min (Fujian) dialects. The same language is spoken by some in the overseas Chinese communities of New York and Southeast Asia where it is known as Hokchiu or Foochow in the latter, and on the Taiwan-controlled islands of Matsu. These days, Fuzhou Hua is primarily spoken by the elderly and middle-aged people; most younger locals cannot speak it unless they were raised by their grandparents or grew up in the countryside.

As everywhere in China, Mandarin or standard Chinese is widely spoken. It has been the only language used in government and education for decades and acts as the lingua franca for Chinese from different regions to communicate. Fuzhou, like any prosperous coastal city, has many migrants from poorer provinces who have come seeking work; nearly all of them speak Mandarin but not Fuzhou Hua.

By plane
There is an official airport express (航空快线) that is misspelled "ARPORT EXPRESS" in English. There are regular departures from the airport to town and from town to airport between 05:30 and 21:30 (departure times vary by destination). The shuttles leave from different stations in town, and the ¥50 ticket can be purchased online and on Wechat (Chinese language only, the official account is 元翔空港快线). Although a Chinese name and ID card number is required during booking, these details are not checked. Travel time is about an hour.

By train
There are two railway stations in Fuzhou. The (old) Fuzhou Railway Station in the northeast of the city (the northern edge of the city center). The (new) Fuzhou South Railway Station, which was built in an empty field some on an island some 20 km south of the old station; there is now some development around it, of little interest to a visitor.

Both railway stations are served by Line No. 1 of Fuzhou Subway; the ride between the two takes just over 40 min. The (old) Fuzhou Railway Station can be reached via #5 or #22 city buses, or it is cheap and quick by taxi from anywhere in central Fuzhou. If going to Fuzhou South, a taxi to it will be ¥50 or so from downtown and take about half an hour, about half the time it takes from the subway.

By taxi
Taxis are cheap, from ¥10 for short trips and under ¥30 for almost any trip in town. Taxi rates are ¥10 for the first 3 km, and then ¥1.4 per km and one more after 23:00. Taxis are more available in the downtown area and always available at train stations/Fuzhou airport.

Taxi stands exist across Fuzhou. Beware that almost all taxis will refuse to stop if there are traffic cameras nearby, especially at parks with entrances along busy roads. It is always more advisable to identify a nearby taxi stand and wait there.

If leaving Fuzhou proper (going to a more rural district), taxis will often round up to a multiple of ¥10 to compensate for the lack of return visitors. If you're having trouble finding a taxi driver that is willing to go to a rural district, going to a train station is generally a good idea. Taxis line up for hours at a time at train stations and are desperate for fares.

Didi Dache operates in Fuzhou. It is possible for foreigners to sign up with a Chinese phone number, and to use a foreign credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or Amex). However, your bank must support a second factor fraud screening, such as Securecode for Mastercard or SecureKey for American Express. Many of its drivers will also wait at train stations, shopping malls and outside higher end restaurants, haggling prices with potential clients, however, these trips are not covered by rideshare app insurance and have no protections since they're completed out of the app. It's inadvisable to take an unlicensed driver unless you're fluent in Mandarin or are genuinely stuck. They are generally very aggressive and may follow you, just reply No need, thank you ("Bu Yao, Xie Xie") until they get the message.

By bus
Buses are often crowded, but run often and more-or-less everywhere for ¥1. Most are air conditioned. If the bus you require is packed just wait until the next one, or the one after, it should only take 5–10 minutes, being stuck on a dangerously overloaded bus with several dozen/hundred people sweating all over you is an experience best avoided, especially in the summer months. However, you should be aware that bus service stops at 22:00, so the last buses are often very crowded and sometimes you cannot get one. Taxis and enterprising drivers will offer group rides from crowded bus stops to other parts of town, usually for ¥15.

As of January 2019, there are construction sites for the new metro lines all over the city, blocking multiple lanes of many main roads and causing huge traffic jams. Make sure to leave early if you need to be somewhere on time, as even short distances might take 30–60 minutes due to the traffic.

By Metro
Fuzhou has opened metro lines, , , and. Another two lines are under construction, and several more are planned. Line 6 opened in August 2022, with a second phase extension to Shibakongzha under construction and Line 4 opened partially in August 2023.

When you take the subway, you should buy a single journey ticket from ticket vending machine. TVMs only accept ¥1 coins and ¥5, ¥10, and ¥20 banknotes, if you do not have change, you can exchange the change in Customer Service Center. Reloadable cards are available from customer service desks at each station, and can be used on both lines. As each line of the subway is operated by different companies, cards can only be reloaded on the line that you purchased the card on.

If you are carrying handbags or luggage, these bags must pass through the X-ray checks at the stations. Take out any liquids and hand them to the security officer for inspection, where you will be asked to take a sip or have the liquid weighted. Although they may not offer it, you have the option to ask for either. It is inadvisable to bring cans and un-resealable beverage containers through security.

All Metro announcements are trilingual in Mandarin, Fuzhou Hua and English.

Architecture and buildings




Parks and nature


Fuzhou is a city of parks; the number of parks is extreme for a city of its size and stature. Fuzhou has embraced a very strong emphasis on creating densely compacted communities that tend to lack much beyond concrete, and retroactively compensating for this with green spaces.



Buy
The most famous handicrafts of the area are:

There are also carvings in wood and jade, paper umbrellas and combs made of ox horn. As a general rule, these are generic crafts procured from Alibaba, T-Mall or Taobao, and resold to tourists. Unless you see an active workshop producing these goods in the store, assume that it is being resold and that there is a considerable markup over the original price.

You may be offered ivory. Most nations have banned ivory to protect endangered species; do not buy it unless you are certain it is fake. In China, this is quite likely, but it is hard to be certain and it might be harder yet to convince customs officials if you try to bring it home.

It is generally a very poor idea to purchase Western branded goods in Fuzhou, as these product almost always carry a substantial markup.



Eat
Local specialties include:

Splurge

 * Korean restaurant (in Ramada Hotel). One of the best Korean restaurants in the city. BBQ in the table and good quality. Try the meat selection and the vegetables. More than ¥200/person.
 * Korean restaurant (in Ramada Hotel). One of the best Korean restaurants in the city. BBQ in the table and good quality. Try the meat selection and the vegetables. More than ¥200/person.



Budget
There are a number of cheap hotels around Fuzhou Railway Station. (The new Fuzhou South Railway Station has a lot fewer lodging options in its vicinity). However, be sure to call ahead to confirm that they can register foreigners.



Splurge
There are some nice hotels in Fuzhou:

Connect
The area code for Fuzhou is 591.

China Unicom and China Mobile will register phone plans with foreigners; however, smaller outlets may sometimes lack the knowledge to do so. A passport is required, and it's highly advised to visit an outlet in a highly trafficked area.

Go next

 * Mount Wuyi - scenic area famous for tea, ancient cliff burials and relics of the 3000-year-old Minyue Culture. The landscapes here are surreally beautiful.
 * Xiamen - three hours by bus, an hour and a half on the new fast train.
 * Qinyun Mountain - a scenic mountain area about 65 km from Fuzhou near the small town of Yongtai. Lots of great walks through river valleys with tons of sub tropical flora and fauna and those ubiquitous waterfalls. Worth an overnight visit.
 * Langqi Island - a 45-min bus ride from Fuzhou, via Mawei. On the east of the island there is a splendid beach with few visitors. Cute old ferry takes you there from the mainland for ¥2.
 * Fujian Tulou - round earthen houses built for multiple families and easy fortification when two main doors are closed. Southwestern part of Fujian Province. Many tourist buses leave out of Quanzhou and/or Xiamen.
 * Quanzhou - old city between Fuzhou and Xiamen, reachable by bus or train. Around the year 1000 this was the main shipping port for south China and Marco Polo wrote extensively about it when he visited. Good temples and a 1000-year-old mosque, which has been rebuilt.