About Fuzhou
What to see and do in Fuzhou
Weather in Fuzhou
Airport in Fuzhou
Visa
Fuzhou; also seen as Foochow, Fuchow, Fuh-chau, Hock Chew or Hokchew in earlier Western documents is the capital and the largest prefecture-level city of Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is also referred to as Rongcheng which means "city of banyan trees" and Mindong (lit. East of Fujian) along with Ningde.
It is the capital of the province, and is situated on the north bank of the estuary of Fujian's largest river, the Min River, which gives access to the interior and to the neighboring provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang.
Fuzhou is an old port city; Marco Polo visited it. In the 19th century, it exported more tea than any other Chinese port. The actual port is in the suburb of Mawei. In 1884, the French destroyed a dockyard at Mawei, sinking a good part of the Chinese navy and killing hundreds.
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 an economically thriving provincial capital in China. This is due to possibility of close proximity with Taiwan. With the improvement of cross-straits relations, the Chinese government has identified Fuzhou for investment and development.
Several suburbs are administratively part of Fuzhou, though they are some distance away and fairly large ' Mawei, Fuqing and Changle. Changle, Fuqing and various villages in the area are the main source of illegal immigrants smuggled to Western countries. The largest number of Chinese illegal immigrants are from Fuzhou and Fujian Province.
Get around in Fujian
Taxis are cheap, RMB 8+ for short trips and under 30 for any trip in town.
Taxis rate: RMB 8 for the first 3 km, and then RMB 1.4 per km and one more after 11 PM.
Buses are often crowded, but run often and more-or-less everywhere. RMB 1, or 2 if they have air conditioning. If the bus you require is packed just wait until the next one, or the one after- it should only take 5-10 minutes a dangerously overloaded bus with several dozen/hundred people sweating all over you is an experience best avoided especially in the summer months.
Number 8 if you need to shop for cheese, coffee and other Western products at the German Metro supermarket.
Gu Shan (Drum Mountain) a 20 min. bus ride from town. A Taoist temple houses nationally important archives written in monks' blood as well as superb veggie restaurant. It's a 1900m climb, or a 20 min cable car journey to the top.
Bai Yun Shan. Near Gu Shan and less heavily trafficked. After the gruelling top section, you'll be rewarded by some genuinely beautiful hospitality and refreshing tea in a cave! Magic. Plus some great views over the city.
Wu Shan overlooking the main square - a short walk to the hilltop which houses a pretty average temple. However, on the way up there's plenty of entertainment in the form of musicians and singers who congregate here to practice. The White Pagoda is also accessed by the same road behind Mao Tse Dong's statue and worth a look. There are several very good arts and crafts shops at the base of the hill. Haggle for all you're worth to obtain good prices. There's also an excellent Xinjiang restaurant near the top of the road up the hill.
Qi Shan, A RMB 5 bus ride from Fuzhou plus the last stage in a mian bao chi up the winding 17km road to the site. A forest park with big, waterfalls and stunning views over receding mountain ranges from a vertigo-inducing suspension bridge. All this and monkeys to feed.
Visit A'an Tai covered market at night for cheap goodies and a lively atmosphere. It's on the corner of Jin Tai Lu and Ba Yi Qi Lu.
If pool's your game, you'd be hard pushed to find better tables anywhere in China than the Riley's club on the Yang Qiao Lu. Cheap drinks and open very late.
Eat Yu Wan - Fish balls - a Fuzhou delicacy. Minced beef and pork inside a fishy flour ball of dough in a thin broth. Excellent. Other roadside cheapies include Ban Mian (noodles with peanut sauce) and Bian Ro (a small boiled dumpling) all under RMB 2 a portion.
Dawn and dusk, visit Wu Yi Guang Chang (a central square with a huge statue of Mao) and watch the ceremonial raising or lowering of the flag by highly trained and immaculate soldiers.
Watch martial arts in Wu Yi Guang Chang, 6 AM or so until about 8, or later on weekends. There are at least half a dozen styles being practiced, armed and unarmed. The founder of Uechi-ryu karate, Uechi Kanbun, spent 13 years in Fuzhou, from 1897 to 1910. There are a group on the East side of the park who say their style is what he studied.
Go watch Fuzhou Fighting Ferrets Football Club - a motley assortment of nationalities who play at Jin Shan Wen Ti Zhong Xin every Sunday morning at 9.15.
Paintball great fun for those masochists who enjoy being hit by high velocity projectiles in delicate parts of the body - at Jin Ji Shan Gong Yuan, right on top of the hill.
The recommended season of visiting Fuzhou is in fall and winter. Then the cool and clear days, with evergreen trees describe a scene of southern latitudes, which is charming especially for tourists from northern latitudes. For a group, Fuzhou is a suitable destination for tours all the year round.
Cross-Straits Fair for Economy and Trade is held every May 18th. Tourists should avoid this period due to the shortage of restaurant tables and hotel beds, etc. around this time.
Detailed information about the Average, Maximun and Minimum Temperatures and the rainfall in Fuzhou.
January 14 C to 7 C
February 14 C to 7 C
March 17 C to 9 C
April 22 C to 14 C
May 26 C to 18 C
June 29 C to 22 C
July 33 C to 24 C
August 32 C to 24 C
September 29 C to 22 C
October 25 C to 18 C
November 21 C to 14 C
December 17 C to 9 C
Fuzhou Changle International Airport an airport in Fuzhou, Fujian, China (IATA: FOC, ICAO: ZSFZ). The airport opened on June 23, 1997, after being approved for building in 1992. The current handling capacity is approximately 6.5 million people annually.It is one of the airports has weekly chartered flights between mainland China and Taiwan. In 2007, Fuzhou airport handled 4.24 million passengers. It was 26th busiest airport in China. In addition, the airport was the 22nd busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic and the 25th busiest airport by traffic movements.
Fuzhou Changle International Airport is situated in a sandy area of southeast Zhanggang Town, Changle City, some 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) from downtown Fuzhou, and is a modern, seashore based International airport. There are now more than 80 domestic and international airlines to approximately 55 cities. Domestic services include flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jinan, Shenyang, Harbin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Kunming, Haikou, Urumqi and Xian, etc. International services include flights from Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Osaka to Fuzhou City. There are also daily scheduled flights from Hong Kong and Macau.
Tourists are advised to take the safe and comfortable airport bus to downtown Fuzhou. It will cost about RMB 20 per person to the Apollo Hotel, located on Wuyi Lu, Fuzhou City. If you want to take a taxi, the cost can be negotiated, but will be between RMB 100 and RMB 120. Returning to the airport from downtown Fuzhou, tourists can take the airport bus in the Apollo Hotel, or make a reservation for a taxi stopping at the hotel the day prior to departure and negotiate a price, which will be far more reasonable than for you to stop a taxi on the road the day of your flight.
Domestic destinations in Fuzhou
Service to following destinations were available at Fuzhou Changle International Airport (as of October 2008):
Air China (Beijing, Chengdu, Guiyang)
China Eastern Airlines (Beijing, Hong Kong, Kunming, Nanjing, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Taiyuan)
China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou, Guilin, Guiyang, Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Shantou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Urumqi, Wuhan, Zhengzhou)
Hainan Airlines (Beijing, Haikou, Lanzhou, Xi'an)
Shandong Airlines (Jinan, Nanjing)
Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Hongqiao)
Shenzhen Airlines (Shenzhen,Shanghai-Pudong,Jinnan,Harbin)
Sichuan Airlines (Changsha, Chengdu)
Xiamen Airlines (Beijing, Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Guilin, Guiyang, Haikou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hong Kong, Jinan, Kunming, Nanjing, Nanning, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Wuhan, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Xi'an, Zhengzhou)
Spring Airlines (Shanghai-Hongqiao)
Juneyao Airlines (Shanghai-Hongqiao)
International destinations of Fuzhou
Dragonair (Hong Kong)
Shenzhen Airlines (Osaka-Kansai)
Xiamen Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Singapore)
Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong)
China Southern Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
China Eastern Airlines (Hong Kong)
Cross-strait Charter of Fuzhou
Xiamen Airlines (Taipei-Songshan)
To be able to travel to Fuzhou you need to have a valid China Visa, issue from your local government at the China Embassy, Chinese visa fall into four types: diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa is further divided into the following 8 categories each marked with a letter:
(1) Tourist and family visit visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.
(2) Business Visa (F-visa ) is issued to a foreign citizen who is invited to China for visit, research, lecture, business, exchanges in the fields of science, technology, education, culture and sports, or attending various kinds of trade fairs or exhibitions, or short-term study, intern practice for a period of no more than 6 months.
(3) Student Visa (X-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for the purpose of study or advanced study for a period of six or more months.
(4) Work Visa (Z-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China to work and his or her accompanying family members, or to give commercial performances in China.
(5) Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his or her way to a third country (or region).
(6) Crew Visa(C-visa)is issued to crew member performing his/her duties on board an international train, or on an international airliner, to a sailor on board an international ocean-liner or freighter, and also to their accompanying family members..
(7) Journalist Visa (J-visa)is issued to foreign journalists. J-visa has two categories: J-1 visa and J-2 visa. J-1 visa is issued to resident foreign journalists in China and their accompanying spouses and under-age children, J-2 visa to foreign journalists who visit China for temporary news coverage.
(8) Permanent Residence Visa(D-visa)is issued to a foreign citizen who has been approved by China's public security authority to reside in China permanently.
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