5 Days Xiamen, Fujian Tulou & Mount Wuyi Discovery Tour

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 - Yongding Tulou - Xiamen (B, L)

Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster, Yuchang Building, Taxia Village, Chengqi Building

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.

Then, drive to Gaobei Tulou Cluster in Yongding to explore Chengqi Building, which has been constructed for around half a century and is now more than 300 years old. Being the largest round Tulou with most circles in Yongding, it is reputed as the “King of Tulou” and has been printed on the national stamps in China in 1986. Walk in the huge earthen building with a diameter of 72 meters to admire its amazing design of 4 circles and 4 floors with circle in circle, which was in accordance to Bagua and reaches the highest level of Tulou construction.

After the visiting, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Xiamen. Have a good sleep!

• Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster
• Yuchanglou (Zigzag Building)
• Taxia Village
• Chengqilou Interior Design

Day 3 Xiamen & Bullet Train to Wuyishan (B, L)

Gulangyu Island, Nanputuo Temple, High Speed Train to Wuyishan

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, 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. If time and energy allow (there are many steps to walk, and long queue is common), you can 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.

Then, 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!

After that, your guide and driver will escort you to Xiamen train station to catch your 2-3.5 hours’ train to Wuyishan.

Welcome to Wuyishan! Upon your arrival, your local guide and driver will meet you at the arrival hall of Wuyishan train station and then escort you to your hotel at the foot of Wuyi Mountain. Your guide will help you with the check-in procedure! The rest of the day is on your own to discover the surrounding of Wuyi Mountain. Wuyi Mountain is UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site listed since 1999 featured with enchanting waterscape and the sceneries of Danxia landform. The twisty ravines, mysterious ancient culture, famous noble of Da Hong Pao tea, and so forth make this mountain area a fabulous resort for your relaxation and fun.

• Nanputuo Temple Panorama
• Gulangyu Island
• Sightseeing from Sunlight Rock
• Shuzhuang Garden

Day 4 Wuyishan (B, L)

Jiuqu Stream, Wuyi Palace, Song Street, Tianyou Peak, Yunwo, Tea Cave

After breakfast, you will spend this full wonderful day to discover parts of the essences of Wuyi Mountain. First, take the bamboo raft fitted with rattan chairs to float down along the Jiuqu Stream (Nine Bends Stream). During the about 1.5 hours joyous scenic sailing, appreciate the enchanting natural scenery with red rockery mountains and emerald grooves along the banks, watch the mysterious hanging boat coffins on the cliff, admire different landscape of the nine bends and have fun at the shoals and pools one by one. Followed by is a cultural visit to the over 1,000-year old Wuyi Palace, which is the most ancient Taoist temple at Mount Wuyi and was one of the six great Taoist temples in Song Dynasty. Walk around to imagine that ancient emperors sacrificing to Wuyi God in the past with the serene charm and find the two 900-year old cassia trees. Next, stroll at the nearby Song Street, a 300-meter long imitating street full of architectures of Song styles in the regions south of Yangtze River, to savor the interesting charm of Song featured old street hidden among the lush mountain and water wonderland.

After that, climb up the Tianyou Peak (Heavenly Tour Peak) that is the “No.1 Landscape of Wuyi Mountain”. Stand on the great observation deck to have a bird view of the tens and hundreds of red Danxia mountains with lush forests, bending green stream, laughing visitors on the rafts, etc. You can also immerse into the wondrous sightseeing of frequent mists lingering after rain. Enjoy the multiple caves of Yunwo and the extraordinary Tea Cave, and encounter with the misty scenery when in right time and season.

After the visiting, be escorted back to your hotel at Wuyi Mountain. Have a good sleep!

Optional Evening Activity: Appreciate the world large-scale live performance of Impression Da Hong Pao directed by Zhang Yimou, to know more about the culture of tea, admire the charming night view of Mount Wuyi, and the perfection combination of the natural mountain, water into the performance.

• Wuyi Mountain
• Wuyishan Tianyou Peak Photographing
• Wuyishan Jiuqu Stream
• Wuyi Palace

Day 5 Wuyishan & Wuyishan Departure (B, L)

Dahongpao Scenic Area, Shuilian Cave, Xiamei Village, Flight/ Train off Wuyishan

In this morning, you’ll visit the Dahongpao Scenic Area (Big Red Robe Scenic Area) to see the shiny green plantation of the Dahongpao tea that is the national treasure in China and is famous as the ancestor of the first cup of black tea around the whole world. Have a look at the six seed Dahongpao tea trees of over 340 years old there grow on the cliff and the its Chinese name written in red by the side and enjoy the refreshing tea aroma there! Then go to the Shuilian Cave (Water Curtain Cave) area to appreciate the fancy waterfalls and the springs flying from the 100-meter high summit of the cave which is about 100 meters high and wide.

After that, drive about 10 minutes to Xiamei Village which is over 1400 years old and was the start of the Ten Thousand Li Tea Road used for shipping Dahongpao to overseas countries in Europe and Central Asia since the 17th century.  Enjoy a leisure historical walk around the old village to see the over-900-meter long ancient Dangxi Stream for tea shipping floating across the village, over 30 featured old dwellings of Qing Dynasty charm keeping exquisite carvings on the bricks and wood and the tea houses serving their tea lovers, etc. to feel the rich tea culture of this famous old village of tea!

After the tour, your guide and driver will escort you to the airport/train station to catch the flight/train to your next destination or back home. Tour ends.

• Wuyishan Dahongpao Scenic Area
• Wuyishan Xiamei Ancient Village