Things to do in Quzhou
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Quzhou
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, clear and dry in October and still comfortable in November, with every mountain at its best.
Strong shoulder months, late September for the Confucius ceremony and April between rain bands.
Spring warms and greens but gets wetter, and May Day week is a booking peak.
The wettest month, flood season rain closes paths and makes Xianxia and Fugai dangerous.
Hot and oppressive, sightseeing becomes a morning sport, with full waterfalls and lively evenings as compensation.
Cold and mostly clear with thin crowds, and Spring Festival brings Nianbadu festival life and the national crush.
What's on
- Southern Confucius Birthday Ceremony 28 September
Modern dress rites at the Southern Clan Temple, national intangible heritage, held with Qufu since 2024.
- Spring Festival in Nianbadu Chinese New Year period, late January to February
Fish lantern parades and folk performance in strong years, inside the national travel peak.
- Lanke Cup Weiqi Events Movable, dates vary by year
Major Go events in the legendary home of weiqi, adding exhibitions and atmosphere around Lanke.
- Jianglang Vervain Season Early summer, roughly June
Flower seas at the foot of Jianglang Mountain, the most photographed weeks of the year there.
Best things to do in Quzhou
Longyou Grottoes
Vast hand cut sandstone caverns pumped dry in 1992, with no record of who built them or why.
Ancestral Temple of the Southern Confucius Clan
Family temple of the southern Kong clan who fled south in the 12th century, one of only two in China.
Quzhou Ancient City Cultural Tourism Area
Restored city wall, gate towers and food lanes by the river, best as a sunset walk into a night of eating.
Root Palace Buddhist Culture Tourism Area
A 5A park of monumental root carvings, giant Buddhist figures and a Five Hundred Arhats corridor in Kaihua.
Ancient Town of Nianbadu
A lived in Ming and Qing mountain town on the old Fujian road, famous for 142 surnames and 13 dialects.
Quzhou Museum
The free municipal museum that gives the Southern Confucius and border city stories their context in an hour.
Longyou Residential Court
Preserved merchant houses and clan buildings with craft activities, the calm second half of a Longyou day.
Dachen Village
An old village of lanes and ancestral architecture near Jiangshan, a pleasant half hour if you sleep nearby.
Where to stay in Quzhou
Shuitingmen and the old city
first trips, food and evenings on foot
The temple, museum, wall and spicy streets are all a walk away, with the best mid and budget hotels.
Western Development Zone
best rooms and business stays
Home to both international flags, larger rooms and pools, at the cost of riding to every dinner.
Kecheng centre
one night and rail logistics stays
Between the station and the old city, practical and cheap, with nothing to walk to at night.
Jiangshan
the southern loop overnight
Puts Jianglang at opening time and Nianbadu in the evening, in small inexpensive domestic hotels and inns.
Think twice about
- Quzhou Station fringe and highway edge motels
Nothing to walk to, poor food and a taxi negotiation to start and end every day.
- Far western new district edge beyond the flagship hotels
A business park dead zone at night, fine inside a good hotel and bleak outside one.
Best restaurants in Quzhou
Yao Yue Lou
The top ranked local banquet room, for a private room dinner and a Southern Confucius style set with a group.
XIE FAMILY KITCHEN
The spicy local favourite whose duck feet draw a queue by late afternoon, so arrive before five.
FANG JIA CAI PU
Home style Quzhou cooking, from green tomatoes with bacon to a three paws plate, at honest local prices.
Gu Pu Liang Shi
A heritage snack canteen near Shuitingmen for Qing wontons, vermicelli, meatballs and crystal buns in one sitting.
Songyuan Vegetable Market
The old city wet market at breakfast, stalls of shaobing, cakes and wontons plus every chilli product in town.
Beimen Street
The night street for the braised heads and feet of san tou yi wan, chosen by the deepest local queue.
HAO ZAO TOU
A top ranked breakfast local for congee, buns and noodles, ideal before the Jianglang day or after a spicy night.
Tulip Fugu Restaurant
A licensed fugu specialist in Trip.Best local ranking, a set format curiosity for the already interested.
Outdoor things to do in Quzhou
Jianglang Mountain Scenic Area
Three sheer Danxia fingers and the One Line Sky cleft, a UNESCO listed climb with ladders on the final pitch.
Lanke Mountain
The low hill of the rotten axe handle legend, with a stone arch, a cave and a giant Go board to walk through.
Xianxiaguan Scenic Resort
Four surviving stone gates on the ancient road between Zhejiang and Fujian, walked through bamboo forest.
Fugai Mountain
Stacked boulders and narrow cave squeezes near Nianbadu, part hike and part natural rock gym for older kids.
Yaowang Mountain Scenic Area
A kept forest park with a near 100 metre waterfall, a glass sky bridge and a long valley slide down.
Best hotels in Quzhou
DoubleTree by Hilton Quzhou
The reliable international top end in the west district, with pool and gym at mid range Hangzhou prices.
Crowne Plaza Quzhou by IHG
The second west district flag, a modern business Crowne Plaza interchangeable with the DoubleTree on rate.
Oriental Hotel
The old city workhorse by the temple and the gate, where the location beats rooms a generation older.
Shenli Hotel
A smaller old city hotel with cafe and restaurant, carrying one of the best score to volume profiles in town.
Ershisi Hostel (24)
The practical budget base in the old city, with private bathroom rooms, laundry and luggage storage.
Quzhou Hotel
The dated, serviceable namesake hotel for a cheap central night or a one night rail stop.
Is Quzhou expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥700 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Yao Yue Lou: a few days ahead
- XIE FAMILY KITCHEN: a few days ahead
- Tulip Fugu Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book trains and hotels properly ahead for Spring Festival, May Day, National Day week and summer school holidays.
- In free admission promotion periods, arrive at opening time at the grottoes and Jianglang.
- Book the Confucius ceremony week in late September and banquet private rooms through your hotel.
Is Quzhou safe?
- Watch traffic and silent e bikes rather than people, and take usual care in festival crowds.
- Wet stone at Jianglang, slippery Xianxia pavers and tight Fugai caves are the real risks, plus June rain and summer heat.
- Hike in the morning, carry water and let closures be closures.
Quzhou travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Quzhou in Zhejiang is not Quanzhou in Fujian, so check the province on every booking.
- Skip Hongmu Town, a constructed redwood attraction reviewers call an artificial landscape.
- Buy glass bridge and slide bundles only if you will ride, and never attempt Langfeng ladders in storms.
Getting around Quzhou: public transport and more
- About one hour by high speed train from Hangzhou and about two hours from Shanghai, passport as the ticket document.
- The city sights walk, Longyou is a 35 km ride hail trip, and the southern loop needs a hired car for the day.
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay and offline maps before arrival, and screenshot Chinese names for hotels and sights.
Who Quzhou suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Quzhou your trip
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