Fuzhou Hotels
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Banghui Hotel Fuzhou from $42.00 USD • Fuzhou Hotel Fuzhou from $44.00 USD •
Fuzhou Lakeside Hotel
Sights for tourists in Fuzhou are thin on the ground. Apart from a few minor towers
and temples, the only two areas of town with any special character are a couple of
streets of old wooden houses in the west around the Lin Zexu Memorial Hall , and the
former foreign concession area south of the Min River. The Min River boat tour is also
well worth joining, if you can catch a day when it runs. Other than that, you could take
a few hours to visit Gu Shan , a hill 9km outside the city, dotted with temples and
relics, but crowded to bursting with day-trippers.
A stroll down the wide, rather anonymous main boulevard, Wusi Lu , has a few points
of interest. Moving from north to south, the first place you come to, off Wusi Lu on the
east side, and a little north of Hudong Lu, is Wenquan Park , a shady area of bamboo
huts with rattan tables and chairs where you can take snacks and tea. South of the park
on the main road, just past the Huaqiao Hotel, there's a string of small antique shops .
A long, two-kilometre haul farther south (take bus #51), to the junction with Gutian
Lu, brings you to the huge expanse of Wuyi Square , dominated by a colossal statue of
Mao Zedong looking out over the square from the north. This statue was erected here to
commemorate the Ninth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1969, which was
significant in that it ratified Maoism as the "state religion" of China, and
named the mysterious Lin Biao (subsequently disgraced) as official heir to Mao's throne.
Just behind Mao's statue, the large modern building is Yushan Hall, sometimes used for
exhibitions, while behind here, accessible by climbing up to the west of the hall, is Yu
Shan (Jade Hill; daily 8am-6pm; ¥4), supposedly the cultural heart of the city, but its
sights don't amount to much. As you walk up beyond the entrance, the first lane on your
left leads to the thousand-year-old Bai Ta (White Tower), beside a temple and a small
exhibition of the contents of a Song-dynasty tomb excavated in Fuzhou, which includes
the preserved bodies of a man and a woman and some silk garments. Back on the main path
leading up the hill again, you'll reach the summit in about ten minutes, scattered with
big old trees, and giving views over the city.
West from Yu Shan, across Bayiqi Lu, is another small hill, Wu Shan. From Wushan Lu,
take the first road on the right, then another lane to the left and you'll find the Wu
Ta (Black Tower), constructed of black granite, dating back to the same era as the White
Tower and containing some attractive statuary. Freshly restored, you can climb up the
seven floors to the top for great views over the surrounding area, and the tiny temple
immediately next door.
North from Wu Shan, you'll soon reach the east-west Daoshan Lu. The most interesting
and characterful old street in Fuzhou, lined with trees and wooden houses, and fringed
by tiny alleys, runs north from here, initially called Aomen Lu, and shortly becoming
Nanhou Lu. On Aomen Lu, west side, you'll find the Lin Zexu Memorial Hall (daily
8am-5pm; ¥2), a quiet, attractive couple of halls and courtyards with funereal statues
of animals and big trees. Lin Zexu (1785-1850) is fondly remembered as the patriotic and
upright Qing-dynasty official who did more than any other individual to fight against
the importation of opium by foreigners from Hong Kong in the early part of the
nineteenth century, having thousands of chests of the drug destroyed and even writing
persuasive letters to Queen Victoria on the subject.
The northwest of the city is dominated by Xi Hu Park (daily 7am-9pm; ¥4) and the
adjoining Zuohai Park - basically a funfair - farther north. Xi Hu itself is an
artificial lake, formed by excavations some seventeen hundred years ago. Today you can
go boating or stroll with the masses here. Once within the grounds, Fuzhou Provincial
Museum had been completely demolished at the time of writing, though it's hoped only to
replace the building - the interesting historical collection included a 3500-year-old
coffin-boat removed from a Wuyi Shan cave. You can reach the south entrance to Xi Hu on
buses #1 and #2 from the southern end of Bayiqi Lu, or #810 from the train station.
Finally, if you're walking back from Xi Hu Park to the northern part of Wusi Lu,
along Hualin Lu, you'll pass the obscure Hualin Si , a Tang-dynasty temple located in a
grassy garden, which has recently undergone extensive restoration (bus #20 from Bayiqi
Lu runs past).