Things to do in Zhangzhou
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Zhangzhou
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: dry, comfortable, pomelo season, clear tulou hills, and Dongshan pleasant; come just after Golden Week.
Second best: warming up, green hills, cherry blossom around the Nanjing tulou, with rain increasing through April.
Wet and humid run up to lychee season, which peaks in June into July; sightsee early in the day.
Worst for comfort and best for the sea: hot, humid, typhoon prone, with peak swimming, seafood and rafting.
Quiet and mild, the emptiest tulou of the year, with Spring Festival festivities but small shop closures.
What's on
- Dongshan Guandi Cultural Tourism Festival 13th day of the 5th lunar month, usually June
Cross-strait Guandi pilgrimage and processions at the Dongshan Guandi Temple, a source temple for Taiwan worship.
- Pinghe Pomelo Festival early to mid October
Celebrates the Guanxi honey pomelo harvest in Pinghe, the county that grows a huge share of China's pomelos.
- Lychee Season June to July
Not one festival but a citywide season: markets, orchards and dessert shops bend around the fruit.
- Spring Festival in the Ancient City late January to February
Lantern lit lanes, temple activity, puppet performances and red turtle cakes in the old city.
Best things to do in Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou Ancient City
A lived in Tang pattern old city of red brick Minnan lanes, archways and temples, best wandered by day and again after dark.
Zhangzhou Confucian Temple
The old city's quiet pick, a Song founded temple with Ming carving and a Zhu Xi teaching connection, free and calm.
Zhangzhou Puppet Art Performance Hall
The easiest way to see Zhangzhou glove puppetry live, a signature local heritage performed with astonishing hand skill.
Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster
Four round earthen fortresses around one square one in terraced hills, the classic tulou view and still lived in.
Taxia Village
A Hakka water village of tulou along a stream, and the best place to sleep for a misty tulou morning.
Hekeng Tulou Cluster
Fourteen tulou in a Big Dipper pattern above farmland, quieter than Tianluokeng and still a working village.
Yunshuiyao Ancient Town
A cobbled ancient road under giant banyans between two great tulou, Heguilou and Huaiyuanlou, best early or late.
Dongshan Fengdongshi Scenic Area
The famous wind moved rock plus Guandi Temple and clifftop boardwalks, Dongshan's emblem half day by the sea.
Where to stay in Zhangzhou
Xiangcheng and the Ancient City
first visit, food and history
Sleep in or beside the old city and evenings are snack streets and puppet shows, mornings start with lu mian.
Longwen and Wanda Plaza
best full service hotels
The new city across the river holds the two best reviewed big hotels, about ten minutes by car from the old city.
Dongshan Island
beaches, seafood and sunrise
Nanmen Bay is lively with restaurants and the night market, Jinluan Bay is quieter with sea view sunrise rooms.
The tulou hills and Hua'an
one slow tulou night
Sleeping in the hills turns the tulou into a place, and Hua'an's county hotel is the practical Eryi Lou base.
Think twice about
- Zhangzhou Station and Longhai
An industrial transport sprawl south of the river, 20 to 30 minutes from everything, with nothing to walk to at night.
- Longwen Wanda district as a sightseeing base
The hotels are the city's best but the district is malls and avenues, so you commute to all the charm.
- Zhao'an town as a base
Good day trips but a thin hotel and dining scene for foreign visitors and almost no English support. Visit, do not base.
- Yunshuiyao commercial core in peak weeks
The busiest, most commercial tulou strip at holiday times. Stay in Taxia instead and day walk Yunshuiyao.
Best restaurants in Zhangzhou
Fucheng Yan Ji
The aged braise lu mian: no toppings to choose, because the seafood and pork are dissolved into the gravy itself.
Lu Mian Hai
The clear braise lu mian: a light broth kept plain so generous chosen toppings do the talking.
Gong Yuan He Shang Dou Gan Mian
Afternoon only dried tofu noodles by the park, Zhangzhou's shou zhua style snack at its best known address.
Jianguo Oyster Omelette & Oyster Noodles
The classic old city two dish snack order: lacy edged oyster omelette plus a bowl of oyster noodles.
Lao Guo San Jiao Guo
Crisp triangular fried pastries from the ancient city branch, made to be eaten standing up, two at a time.
A Jun Tofu Pudding
Silken tofu pudding under a generous pile of savoury toppings at a permanently busy Qingnian Road shop.
Royal Banquet
An immersive costumed banquet dinner by the ancient city, theatre and Minnan set menus built for group occasions.
New Sunshine Restaurant
A locals' Dongshan seafood stall restaurant: boiled baby squid, steamed grouper and seaweed fried rice at clear prices.
Outdoor things to do in Zhangzhou
Hua'an Dadi Tulou Cluster
Eryi Lou, the largest round tulou, covered in murals, with the tulou museum beside it and far fewer buses than Nanjing.
Lingtong Mountain
A steep climb to a temple wedged under a cliff boulder, with a waterfall in front of it after rain.
Sufeng Mountain Ring Road
A smooth coastal ring road made for a late afternoon e-bike ride, sea on one side and green hills on the other.
Jinluan Bay Beach
Dongshan's sunrise beach, where low tide wet sand mirrors the dawn sky on the island's east side.
Maluan Bay
The island's serviced swimming and water sports bay, calmer and more family oriented than the open coast.
Fishbone Sandbar
A fishbone shaped sandbar that rises at low tide for walking and clam digging, then vanishes back into the sea.
Volcanic Island
Black basalt columns and lava coast in China's only coastal volcanic geopark, with photo props you can take or leave.
Haxi Rafting
A summer mountain stream rafting run in green Zhao'an hills, the prefecture's best supported whitewater day.
Best hotels in Zhangzhou
Xiyue Minnan Courtyard Hotel
A red brick Minnan courtyard hotel inside the ancient town itself, with eating streets at the door.
Grand New Century Hotel Zhangzhou
A large, well run upscale hotel near the old town, the comfortable mainstream choice for families and groups.
Homeinn Selected Hotel (Zhangzhou Tengfei Road Ancient City)
The budget tier done properly: a clean, predictable chain hotel at the ancient city's edge on Tengfei Road.
Crowne Plaza ZHANGZHOU by IHG
The city's flagship international hotel in Longwen, with the largest rooms, pool, gym and fullest breakfast.
Wanda Realm Zhangzhou Hotel
Five star hardware at a domestic brand price beside Wanda Plaza, the sweet spot hotel of the city.
C&D Hotel, Dongshan, Zhangzhou
Dongshan's top rated full hotel near Nanmen Bay, with ocean view rooms in a town of guesthouses.
Dongshan Fulaixi Hotel
A modern seaside hotel facing Jinluan Bay, the base for sunrise without the Nanmen Bay crowds.
Dongshan Island Language Hotel
A small design led guesthouse hotel in the Nanmen Bay lanes, the budget pick with style on Dongshan.
Is Zhangzhou expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥220 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥450 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,100 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Zhangzhou Puppet Art Performance Hall: a few days ahead
- Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster: a few days ahead
- Taxia Village: a few days ahead
- Yunshuiyao Ancient Town: a few days ahead
- Hua'an Dadi Tulou Cluster: a few days ahead
- Fishbone Sandbar: a few days ahead
- Haxi Rafting: a few days ahead
- Orient (Xiamen) Golf & Country Club: weeks ahead
- Book the Taxia or Yunshuiyao tulou night as soon as dates are fixed, especially for weekends and holidays.
- Book Dongshan rooms a week or more ahead for July and August weekends, when prices roughly double.
- Arrange puppet show times, the Royal Banquet, golf and hired cars a day or more ahead through your hotel.
- In Golden Week and Spring Festival, book trains on 12306 well in advance; they sell out.
Is Zhangzhou safe?
- Central Zhangzhou has no neighbourhood to avoid for safety; the old city is busy and family filled at visitor hours.
- Heat and sun are brutal June to September: sightsee early, siesta, and re-emerge in the evening.
- Swim at serviced Maluan Bay, respect Fishbone Sandbar tide times, and never swim in Nanmen Bay harbour.
- Typhoons roughly July to September can close island sights, boats and rafting; build a flex day in summer.
- Emergency numbers are 110 for police and 120 for ambulance.
Zhangzhou travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Day tripping the tulou from Xiamen means six plus hours in a vehicle for three hours among the buildings.
- On Dongshan, confirm seafood price per jin, cooking fees and the total before anything is cooked.
- At Volcanic Island, paying for every photo prop add on turns a fair geopark day into a disappointment.
- Yunshuiyao at midday is souvenir stalls and loudspeakers; go early or late and enter the two great tulou.
- Skip tulou tea experiences that end in a sales room; buy tea at a marked price in the old city or Taxia.
Getting around Zhangzhou: public transport and more
- Walk the old city and use Didi or taxis in town; rides are cheap and traffic is the variable.
- Zhangzhou Station sits in Longhai, a 20 to 30 minute drive from the old city, and Xiamen Gaoqi Airport is about an hour by car.
- For the tulou, hire a car with driver through your hotel or join a platform day tour; foreign licences are not valid in China.
- For Dongshan, train to Yunxiao Station then bus or taxi 30 to 40 minutes to Tongling Town, and rent an e-scooter on the island.
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign card before arriving; snack shops, tickets and rentals assume it.
Who Zhangzhou suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Zhangzhou your trip
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