Shiniushan Mountain

Chongwu Ancient Town

Chongwu is a town in Hui'an County and is China's best-preserved granite seaside stone city, as well as a famous ancient city that resisted Japanese pirate raids (倭寇) along the coast. To an ordinary visitor, the Chongwu Peninsula may look like nothing more than a beautiful bay, but in ancient coastal defence it held an important position. The ancient city you see today was restored in 1983. Climb over a small hill and in front of you lies a sandy beach curved like a crescent moon: the famous Half-Moon Bay, also called Wufeng Beach. On the shore, Hui'an women may be seen mending fishing nets, and children digging for oysters. You can also visit Wufeng Village, built entirely of stone.

¥40

Hui'an

Hui'an is a well-known place near Quanzhou. It became famous through the film Widows' Village (《寡妇村》), a story set long ago in this small fishing village. The real draw, however, is Chongwu, an old town within Hui'an County, and the distinctive dress of the Hui'an women.

Qingyuanshan Scenic Area

Qingyuan Mountain is famous for its peaks and caves. Its name and its stone carvings are both linked to Taoism, and its scenery is equally impressive. It once captivated Laozi, the founder of Taoism, who according to legend crossed the pass westward on a green ox, as the saying "the green ox heads west, purple qi comes from the east" (青牛西去，紫气东来) recalls. Today it will just as easily keep you lingering.

¥70 · 3–6 hours

Wudianshi Historic District

Entering this traditional district, set among towering skyscrapers, is like stepping into a small world full of ancient charm. The district is dotted with ancestral halls, temples, residences and shops. It preserves 81 residential buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Republican era and modern times. You will find rammed-earth houses typical of Jinjiang, Min-South traditional "Imperial Palace-style" red-brick buildings, and Western-style mansions that blend Chinese and Western architecture. Each building tells its own story of distinctive Min-South architectural aesthetics.

Free entry to Wudianshi; the Wudianshi Folk Museum (Northward-Facing Mansion) and the Festivals and Seasons Museum inside the district are ¥10 each · 1–3 hours

Kaiyuan Temple

The most spectacular sights are the twin pagodas on either side of the temple, the tallest and largest pair of stone pagodas in China and a symbol of ancient Quanzhou. In short, a visit to Quanzhou is incomplete without seeing Kaiyuan Temple. Each tier of the pagodas has relief carvings on both sides of its door niches, sixteen panels in all, each with a distinct and lifelike expression. The waist of the plinth's Xumizuo (須彌座) base bears 39 blue-stone relief panels depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha, drawn largely from Buddhist scriptures and ancient Indian folk myths and legends, vivid and finely crafted.

1–3 hours

Cai Family Ancient Residences

The Cai Family Ancient Residences are often called a true museum of Qing-dynasty Min-South architecture. Seen from a distance, the complex looks like a pipa, large at one end and small at the other, with the gaps between the stone slabs resembling the strings of the instrument. Up close, the brick reliefs on the front walls, the carved flowers and birds on the window lattices and the decorative details are ingenious and magnificent. Calligraphy and paintings adorn the doors, walls and halls, left by many notable figures of the time in seal, clerical, regular and running scripts, each with its own charm, evoking a quiet sense of old-world nostalgia.

¥15