South China · 5 days
Fujian in 5 Days: Tulou, Quanzhou and Xiamen
Fujian packs three different Chinas into one province: the Hakka earth buildings inland, the Arab-and-Indian trading port on the coast, and the colonial island of Xiamen. Five days, one high-speed line, no backtracking.
The route
What this trip actually feels like
- Tianluokeng’s four-round-one-square tulou cluster from the hillside at sunset
- A night inside a restored earthen compound at Taxia village
- Kaiyuan Temple and China’s oldest mosque, twenty minutes apart in Quanzhou
- Gulangyu before the first ferry of day visitors lands
Best for
- Travellers interested in architecture and trade history
- Families — the tulou are walkable and genuinely fascinating to children
- Anyone adding a coastal leg to a Shanghai or Guangdong itinerary
Along the way
The places this route passes through
Day by day
The plan, as it would actually run
Arrive in Xiamen, ferry to Gulangyu
Land at Gaoqi and take the ferry across to Gulangyu, the car-free island of colonial consulates and piano museums. Late afternoon on the back lanes once the day trippers have gone back.
- Morning
- Arrive Xiamen
- Afternoon
- Ferry to Gulangyu, island lanes
- Evening
- Seafood on the island
- Meals
- Dinner included
Night 1 Fairmont Xiamen
Note. Ferry tickets are sold by time slot and sell out on weekends — book the 4pm crossing and stay overnight; the island empties at six.
Quanzhou: the maritime Silk Road port
Thirty minutes by HSR to Quanzhou. Kaiyuan Temple with its twin stone pagodas and Hindu carvings, then the Qingjing Mosque of 1009 and the maritime museum. Evening in the Xunpu oyster-shell village.
- Morning
- HSR to Quanzhou, Kaiyuan Temple
- Afternoon
- Qingjing Mosque and Maritime Museum
- Evening
- Xunpu village and seafood dinner
- Meals
- Breakfast included · Dinner included
Night 2 Hilton Quanzhou
Note. Quanzhou’s old town is best on foot between the temple and the mosque — the walk takes forty minutes and passes three religions in one street.
Inland to the tulou
Three hours by road into Nanjing county. The afternoon goes to the Tianluokeng cluster — four round buildings around a square one — from the hillside platform as the light drops. Check into the restored compound at Taxia village.
- Morning
- Drive to Nanjing county (3 hours)
- Afternoon
- Tianluokeng tulou cluster
- Evening
- Dinner inside the earthen compound
- Meals
- Breakfast included · Dinner included
Night 3 Tsingpu Tulou Retreat
Note. The viewing platform is a fifteen-minute climb; be there 45 minutes before sunset, and bring a torch for the walk back.
Yuchang, Taxia and back to the coast
Morning at Yuchang Building, the leaning 700-year-old round house, then the stone bridge and ancestral hall at Taxia. Lunch in the village, then 2.5 hours back to Xiamen for a last evening on the coast.
- Morning
- Yuchang Building and Taxia village
- Afternoon
- Drive back to Xiamen (2.5 hours)
- Evening
- Coast walk and dinner at Shapowei
- Meals
- Breakfast included · Lunch included
Night 4 Fairmont Xiamen
Note. Ask the retreat to pack a lunch — the village restaurants near Yuchang are basic and slow at midday.
Xiamen, then out
Morning at Nanputuo Temple and the botanic gardens, or the coffee lanes off Zhongshan Road if the weather is wet. Transfer to Gaoqi for the onward flight.
- Morning
- Nanputuo Temple or old-town coffee
- Afternoon
- Transfer to airport
- Evening
- Depart
- Meals
- Breakfast included
Note. Gaoqi is twenty minutes from the centre but the domestic terminal queues build — leave three hours before an international connection.
In pictures
Scenes from the Fujian Tulou & Quanzhou route
Where you sleep
Handpicked stays on this route
Fairmont · Luxury
Fairmont Xiamen
On Yundang Island facing the Taiwan Strait, with the old international airport and the Gulangyu ferry terminal both within a short drive.
- Stay 3, pay for 2
- Daily breakfast for two
- Room upgrade
- US$100 dining credit
From US$350 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Hilton · Luxury
Hilton Quanzhou
The comfortable landing point for a city that UNESCO listed for its maritime Silk Road heritage. Twenty minutes from the Kaiyuan Temple and the old harbour quarter, with a pool that children actually use.
- Room upgrade at check-in, subject to availability
- Daily breakfast for two
- Executive lounge access
- Late check-out to 2pm
From US$160 per night
Valid to 2027-03-31
Tsingpu · Ultra Luxury
Tsingpu Tulou Retreat
A restored earth-building compound in Taxia village, run as a cultural retreat: twenty-odd rooms inside rammed-earth walls, wooden galleries, and a programme of paper-cutting, tea and Hakka cooking with village teachers.
- Room upgrade at check-in, subject to availability
- Daily breakfast for two
- One cultural workshop for two
- House guide for the tulou villages
From US$320 per night
Valid to 2027-03-31
Practicalities
The things to get right before departure
Visa and entry
A mainland China visa is required. Xiamen is a 240-hour visa-free transit port for many nationalities, which covers this route if you fly onward to a third country.
Getting between the cities
Xiamen to Quanzhou is 30 minutes by HSR; Quanzhou to the tulou is 3 hours by road; the tulou back to Xiamen is 2.5 hours. A car and driver for the inland leg is essential — village buses exist but will cost you a day.
Questions
Asked by travellers on this route
Can you sleep inside a tulou?
In a handful of restored ones, yes. The Tsingpu retreat at Taxia is the most comfortable: rooms inside the earthen walls with modern plumbing, and a cultural programme run with village teachers.
How do the tulou compare with Yongding?
Nanjing county has the more photogenic clusters and fewer tour buses; Yongding has the larger, more famous buildings including Chengqilou. If you only do one, do Nanjing and Tianluokeng.
Is Gulangyu worth an overnight?
Yes, specifically because of the evening. Day visitors leave at six and the island returns to its own rhythm — the lanes, the cats and the piano coming out of the conservatory windows.
What about typhoons?
The season runs July to September. Ferries to Gulangyu are suspended in a typhoon warning, so build flexibility into the first and last days if you travel then.