5 Days Xiamen & Fujian Tulou Highlights Tour
UNESCO Gems at Leisure International Island & Hakka Villages
UNESCO Gems at Leisure International Island & Hakka Villages
Enjoy a memorable vacation with comfortable sightseeing to relax and interesting culture to savor? Why not choose Xiamen and its nearby Fujian Tulou? Xiamen with easeful refreshing coastal scenery and Fujian Tulou with excellent Hakka earthen buildings constructed on beautiful rural mountains are the 2 most popular places in Fujian.
This 5 days tour takes you to get away to the quiet and eye-pleasant rural Hakka villages in Nanjing County and Yongding County where to appreciate the global famous Fujian Tulou listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage for high architectural skills, exquisite designs and great function for communal living. You’ll not miss the must-see Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster, nice Zhenchenglou, beautiful Chuxi Tulou Cluster, etc. Besides, you’ll enjoy one full day relaxing in Xiamen with its appealing seashore sightseeeing without omitting the famous Gulangyu as a World Heritage with over 40 historical international architectures and overlook of Xiamen Island!
Day 1 Xiamen Arrival
Airport / railway station pick up
Welcome to Xiamen, the Garden City on the Sea! Your local guide and driver will meet you at the arrival hall of Xiamen airport or railway stations and then escort you to your hotel at Xiamen downtown and help you with the check-in. The rest of today is on your own to explore this beautiful city.
Arrival Ideals: Xiamen has frequent daily flights from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Xian, Kunming, etc. Besides, you can take a bullet train from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guilin, Fuzhou, Huangshan, and so on.
Evening Idea: take a leisure walk at Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street where you’ll appreciate lots of beautiful old arcade buildings in Chinese, Western and South Asian styles and also some local popular food for a good try!
Welcome to Xiamen
Day 2 Xiamen - Nanjing Tulou (B, L)
Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster, Yuchang Building, Taxia Village
After breakfast, your guide and driver will meet you at your hotels and then escort you to see the earthen buildings (Tulou) in Nanjing County with a 3-hour scenic drive. Nanjing Tulou is a key part of Fujian Tulou that are the traditional dwelling houses of Chinese Hakka people with round, square or rectangular appearance for living in family groups and have been listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2008.
First, walk up to the viewing platform to have a bird’s eye view of the must-see Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster from the best angle, which is the most famous earthen building cluster known as “Four Dishes and a Soup” with 3 round, 1 oval and 1 rectangular well preserved earthen building looking really like a set of meal on the natural tablecloth of the lush mountain an graceful rice terraces surrounding.
Next, go to discover Yuchang Building that was built during 1308-1338. It is the present oldest Tulou and the largest and highest round Tulou with highest floor height in Nanjing region. Also, it is famous as “Zigzag Building” because it looks about to totter with a maximum inclination of 15 degrees due to weather beats and earthquakes, however, it stands quite still till nowadays. Walk into this Tulou and closely look at the zigzag wooden pillars which have well supported such huge building for over 600 years.
Then, visit Taxia Village. With an “S” shaped stream floating across the entire village, two earthen buildings located just right on the two curves, and multiple big and small Tulou built along the banks, this village is reputed as a “Water Town of Taichi” with rich Tulou flavor. You will not miss Yude Building known as “Apron Building”, Deyuan Hall with outstanding sculptures of birds, beasts and flowers and also the 24 Hakka stone flagpoles beside the semilunar pond.
After the visiting, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel at Taxia Village and help you with the check-in procedure. Enjoy your overnight with rural Hakka Tulou surrounding!
Day 3 Nanjing Tulou - Yongding Tulou - Xiamen (B, L)
Hongkeng Tulou Cluster, Chuxi Tulou Cluster
After breakfast today, you will go to visit Yongding Tulou with a 20 minutes’ drive.
First, go to Hongkeng Tulou Cluster and visit Zhencheng Building from 1912 that is praised as “Prince of Tulou” and famous for its splendid design and exquisite interiors according to China’s traditional culture of Bagua. Have a close look at its most conspicuous hall, which is two floors high and has 4 circular granite columns in western features, making the Tulou with Chinese Hakka exterior and special western interior decoration. And walk to see Kuiju Building from 1834. This special palatial square Tulou constructed for 5 years is unique among all Fujian Tulou and looks like the style of Potala Palace from afar. Walk around to appreciate its diverse fancy carvings, paintings, sculptures and more awesome artistic colorful decoration on every corner. Continue to discover Rusheng Building constructed into 23 meters in diameter and 3 floors during 1875-1908, which is the smallest earthen building listed by UNESCO and also called “pocket Tulou”!
Then, drive to Chuxi Tulou Cluster that is reputed as “most beautiful Tulou cluster in China” an also the most concentrate, ancient, complete and famous Tulou cluster. Walk by the stream to visit Jiqing Building. Constructed in 1419, this Tulou is the oldest and most special circular construction in Yongding, with 72 stairs separating the building into 72 independent units. Walk upstairs to the museum to look at those old object for living and entertainment for Hakka people in the past and displays of their history, culture and art. Next, visit Shengqing Building that is a 39 meters wide square Tulou from 1799. Composed with a square exterior wall and a square cloister house inside, it looks like a Chinese character of Hui “回” meaning return from high position, which is unique in whole Chuxi! Then, take a short hike on the north mountain and have a full view of Chuxi Tulou Cluster. Immerse into the fabulous traditional Hakka rural landscape with the most eye-catching three circular and one square Tulou, the youngest Tulou with distinct white wall and other tens of various round, square, rectangular, oval, octagonal shaped Tulou scattered on the lush rice terraces slop mountain. (Optional experience: in Autumn season, you can choose to catch the rare chance to pick up local fruits and even try the primitive farm work.)
After the visiting, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Xiamen. Have a good sleep!
Day 4 Xiamen (B, L)
Huandao Road, Nanputuo Temple, Gulangyu Island
Good morning! Your guide and driver will meet you at your hotels and then take you to have a classic discovery of the refreshing Xiamen City.
First, head to Huandao Road, which is the main track of Xiamen International Marathon belting Xiamen Island. This beautiful “golden coastal line” built along the sea is praised as “Five Colors Road’ with the blue sea, golden beaches, green grassland, red track and gray highway! Take a relaxing scenic walk on the wooden plank paths to savor the pleasant seascape and palm grove, walk by various interesting sculptures, enjoy sunshine at a quiet soft beach, inhale the little salty sea breeze and feel the strong ideal island charm of Xiamen City. (Optional Activity: If you want to bike along Huangdao Road to discover more beautiful places scattered along, please tell your guide, which needs extra charge.)
Next, go to visit Nanputuo Temple (South Putuo Temple) of more than 1,000 years old. Enter the temple to admire a grand cluster of Buddhist halls with flying eaves and yellow tiles standing layer by layer under century-old trees and against the emerald mountain and pray in front of the holy Buddhas. Meanwhile, immerse into the peaceful atmosphere with locals taking a break around the large lotus pond, traditional Chinese pavilions, corridors, etc.. Later, walk about 20 minutes up to Wulao Peak to have a terrific bird’s eye view of the beautiful Xiamen University, Xiamen Port and the nearby islets on the blue sea!
Then, take a 20-minutes’ ferry to Gulangyu Island from Xiamen downtown. It is the No.1 attraction in Xiamen and also a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage with dozens of precious historical architectures built by people from the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Japan, etc. during the Second Opium War, thus, this little island of 1.88 s.q.m wide is regarded as “International Architecture Museum” with relic sites of 13 embassies from 18th-19th centuries. Roam along the old alleys to appreciate those left sites of churches, mansions, villas, banks and museums telling the historical stories of Gulangyu. Walk up to the most famous Sunlight Rock and catch the wonderful panorama of the large group of red and pink Western styled architectures with dotted emerald trees. Then, go to discover the must-see Shuzhuang Garden that is the classic model of traditional Chinese garden on the sea. Take a leisure stroll amongst the twisty corridors, ancient halls with flying eaves and blue tiles, delicate pavilions, poetic gardens and ponds, etc. facing the shimmering sea and feel its traditional Chinese literal beauty contrasting to the western charm surrounding. Step into the outstanding Piano Museum which boasts an awesome collection of nearly 100 precious old pianos from all over the world for your worthy musical inspiration. Enjoy your architectural savory and then take the ferry back to Xiamen downtown.
After the visiting, Your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Xiamen. Have a good rest!
Day 5 Xiamen Departure (B)
Flight / Train off Xiamen
After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up from the hotel to the airport/train station in time for the scheduled flight/train to your next destination or back home. Before that, you can take a rest at the hotel or go for a walk nearby. Tour ends!
1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.
Hi Rita,
The best experience ever!!!! I fell in love.
I received your lovely card and cute gifts, thank you so much.
Done it! As always it’s my pleasure to hire your company services, see you in the next adventure.
Emmy
Hi Rita,
Please kindly see the feedback below.
We are a family of 7. This private tour package definitely met our expectations! Both tour guides (Chengdu- MAY & Chongqing-DAVID) provided us a very good service, both friendly and very flexible despite the change in our tour schedules. They were also very responsible and ensured our safety, meals and transports were well taken care of, especially since we have elderly and kids in our group. Both tour guides are very fluent in English too so it is very convenient for some of the non-chinese speakers in our group.
We will look for the same tour agent again in our next trip to China!
Best Regards,
Victoria
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for the tour, and the itinerary that you planned for us was very comprehensive and detailed. We enjoyed it very much. The tour guide was also very friendly and experienced. He followed your itinerary closely and brought us to all the sites and explained in detail. He also recommended and brought us to enjoy some of the local cuisines during lunch.
Overall, we are impressed by the excellent service, reliability and quality that yourself, the tour guide and the driver has provided us. We would like to visit China again and we will not hesitate to engage your services again. Thank you!
Regards
Chun How
Hi Shirley,
I'm writing to provide some feedback on our recent Xian and Beijing trip that you put together for us.
We travel a lot, in the past year to Japan, New Zealand, China, Turkey, Africa, China, and finally this Xian/Beijing trip. I bring this up to highlight that we deal with a lot of travel professionals. You are easily the best travel professional we have dealt with through all of those trips. My wife, who happens to be Chinese asked me to make sure to keep your contact information for future China trips, with the intention of replacing the China based agent her brother usually uses for our trips.
Please let your manager know that we would probably not have used your company if not for you. Bamboo Travel is new to us and in a foreign country, so we had doubts as to what to expect. Your service was excellent from start to finish which really gave us confidence in your company. We had a little bit of an unusual itinerary and some constraints related to our other China travel prior to this tour. You were able to work through all of our issues with fast responses to our questions.
You also went what I would say was above and beyond expectations. The final example of that is a friend in the US was shipping some things to our hotel in Beijing for me to bring home to her. I contacted you to confirm the hotel name before they shipped the items, expecting I would then have to figure out the shipping details. Your reply not only confirmed the hotel, but you provided the shipping info in both English and Chinese, which saved me the hassle of trying to figure which address to use. Not a huge thing, but it's those small things that add up to a big difference in customer experience.
Thanks again for everything!
Xian:
Our guide was Waldner and we liked him from the start. We were just coming off another tour with another company which had maybe the best tour leader we've ever had. Even though we were always comparing Waldner measured up well. He was great at explaining the history of places we visited as well as answering our cultural questions. The restaurants/food were very good. He and the driver also modified the itinerary somewhat to optimize the driving based on our arrival and departure times and locations. We liked the hotel in Xian. The car (van) was very comfortable. Waldner also helped arrange tickets for a night show for us.
Beijing:
Pickup was great; even though we got in late the guide that picked us up was there and actually met us at the track. Cindy was our guide and we really liked her also. She is very knowledgeable and willing to answer (a lot of) questions. This was my 3rd time in Beijing and it was amazing what a difference having a good guide made. Cindy and the driver also modified the itinerary to optimize the driving. She also helped us book tickets to two shows, one of which was not on your list of optional items (Lao She tea house). Cindy was concerned about us ordering a cab so she stayed at the show to make sure we got back to our hotel ok. The restaurants/food were very good. The hotel was good but not great; for example we had hot water issues every day, and when I went to pick up a package that was shipped to me they just left me to dig through a pretty large pile of packages all addressed in Chinese.
To wrap up, I would rate the overall experience of looking for a trip, picking a company, and traveling 9.5 out of 10. Shirley, your service was 10 out of 10.
See you next trip!
Terry
Dear Rita,
Feedback.
The trip organised by Rita Jiang to Beijing and Xian was very well planned and enjoyable, showing the best of Chinese history, culture, heritage, and enormous progress.Your 2 guides, Linda Chua and Beryl are very good. Linda went out of her way to take us to Peking Opera at night. The kids were tired, so we did not go to Summer palace and Heavenly temple, and did not go to Xian Pagoda. It was our choice, so its ok. (I have been to all)
The 2 bus drivers were excellent, very careful, disciplined and good temperament and helpful. I could not give a tip to Beryl at Xian station, as I had to rush into toilet inside, and did not know she could not enter the train Station.
The pace was good, but the last day of train from Xian, to hotel (plus late dinner scrabbling in Beijing), then early next morning to airport was too Hectic. However, it was because we had to return on 8.12.24. we wish we could stay longer in Xian, and elsewhere. We could probably have gone to Xian by train, then fly back to Beijing by plane, but one way tickets could cost much more.
Anyway, thank you very much for all your fine arrangements. We all enjoyed the short trip.
For the kids, the major highlights were the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors, Acrobatic show. They will treasure. I will plan more trips for them to China.
Best wishes and warm regards,
Richard
excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended...
"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.
Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.
Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!
After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.
Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.
We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.
Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.
Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.
Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!
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Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.
Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!
In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!
The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.
If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.
Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.
We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.
The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.
There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.
All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!
Welcome to Xiamen
Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster
Yuchanglou (Zigzag Building)
Taxia Village
Zhenchenglou (Prince of Tulou)
Zhenchenglou with Western Inner Design
Chuxi Tulou Cluster
Jiqinglou Interior
Shengqinglou
Huandao Road
Nanputuo Temple Panorama
Gulangyu Island
Sightseeing from Sunlight Rock
Xiamen / Nanjing Tulou / Yongding Tulou / Xiamen / Wuyishan
Xiamen / Nanjing Tulou / Yongding Tulou / Xiamen
Xiamen / Nanjing Tulou / Xiamen
“Very good experience”
“WONDERFUL 25 DAYS IN CHINA - PRIVATE TOUR”
“Awesome China tour from northeast to southwest”
2,050+ Reviews
