Capital · Historic city · Port · Fujian
Fuzhou
福州
Banyan City on the Min River, capital of Fujian for two thousand years
Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, on the lower Min River near the East China Sea. Founded as the capital of the Minyue kingdom in 202 BCE, it was the seat of the tenth-century Min kingdom, a treaty port for the tea trade, and the site of the Qing navy yard at Mawei; its Three Lanes and Seven Alleys preserve one of the best-kept old residential quarters in southern China. (Not to be confused with Fuzhou 抚州 in Jiangxi.)
Key facts
Overview
Fuzhou lies in a basin surrounded by hills, where the Min River widens towards its estuary. The old city was built around three hills, with the White Pagoda and the Black Pagoda standing on two of them, and its canals and banyans give it a green, humid character.
The city has been Fujian's capital since the Minyue kingdom. It became a treaty port in 1842 and grew rich on the tea trade, and its merchants, sailors and students played a large part in China's modernisation. Fuzhounese emigrants have formed communities in Sibu in Malaysia, New York and elsewhere.
Names and nicknames
榕城
“Banyan City”
From the banyan trees that the Song governor Zhang Boyu had planted throughout the city in the eleventh century.
三山
“three hills”
After the Yu, Wu and Ping hills inside the old walls.
冶城
Name of the Minyue capital founded by Wuzhu.
History
Wuzhu, king of Minyue, built Yecheng in 202 BCE. Under the Min kingdom (909–945) the city was expanded and adorned with pagodas. In the Qing, Fuzhou was the seat of the Min-Zhe viceroy and after 1842 a tea port. The Fuzhou Navy Yard, founded at Mawei in 1866, was China's leading shipyard and naval school until the French destroyed the fleet at the Battle of Fuzhou in 1884.
202 BCE
Capital of Minyue
Wuzhu was recognised by the Han as king of Minyue and built his capital at Yecheng.
909–945
Capital of the Min kingdom
Wang Shenzhi enlarged the city; the Black Pagoda (Wuta) dates from this period.
1065
Banyans planted
Governor Zhang Boyu ordered banyans planted across the city to give shade and prevent floods.
1842
Treaty port
Fuzhou became a major export port for black tea to Britain.
1866
Fuzhou Navy Yard founded
Zuo Zongtang and Shen Baozhen built the shipyard and naval school at Mawei; its graduates included Yan Fu.
1884
Battle of Fuzhou
A French squadron destroyed the Fujian fleet in the Min River during the Sino-French War.
Landmarks
Street or quarter
Three Lanes and Seven Alleys
三坊七巷
Old residential quarter of whitewashed walls and wooden houses, home of Lin Zexu's family, Yan Fu, Lin Juemin and other notable figures.
Temple or shrine
Drum Mountain and Yongquan Temple
鼓山涌泉寺
Chan monastery on the hill east of the city, with rock inscriptions from the Song onwards.
Historic site
White and Black Pagodas
白塔·乌塔
Pagodas on Yu Hill and Wushi Hill, landmarks of the old city.
Museum
Lin Zexu Memorial Hall
林则徐纪念馆
Memorial to the anti-opium commissioner in his family's ancestral hall.
Museum
Mawei Shipbuilding Museum
马尾船政文化博物馆
Museum of the Qing navy yard and the Battle of Fuzhou.
Park or garden
West Lake Park
西湖公园
Lake dug in the third century, with the Fujian Museum on its shore.
Neighbourhoods
Shangxiahang
上下杭
Former merchants' quarter near the Min River with guild halls and shophouses.
Yantai Hill
烟台山
Hill south of the river with former consulates and merchants' villas.
Food
Buddha jumps over the wall
佛跳墙
The celebrated banquet soup, created in a Fuzhou restaurant in the late Qing.
Fish balls
鱼丸
Springy fish balls with a pork filling.
Rouyan
肉燕
Wontons with wrappers made from pounded pork and starch.
Guobianhu
锅边糊
Rice batter cooked on the rim of a wok and served in seafood broth, a breakfast staple.
Culture
Fuzhou's culture is that of the Eastern Min: Min opera, the Fuzhou dialect, bodiless lacquer, Shoushan stone carving and jasmine tea. The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys produced a remarkable number of late-Qing and Republican figures, from Lin Zexu and Yan Fu to the writer Bing Xin and the revolutionary Lin Juemin.
Getting around
- The Fuzhou Metro links the old centre, Fuzhou and Fuzhou South railway stations and the southern districts; a line reaches Changle International Airport.
- Fuzhou South is the main station on the coastal high-speed line; Fuzhou station serves the line to Hefei via Wuyishan.
Day trips
Pingtan
平潭
Island of wind-carved granite and beaches, known for bioluminescent “blue tears” in spring.
Songkou
嵩口古镇
Old river town in Yongtai with fortified family houses (庄寨).
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Fuzhou Municipal People's Government — Fuzhou Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Fuzhou — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Fujian
- Xiamen厦门Port · Historic city · Scenic areaIsland port of Kulangsu, Koxinga and the Southern Min diaspora
- Quanzhou泉州Historic city · Port · Cultural centre · Industrial centreZaitun, the medieval emporium of the maritime Silk Roads
- Longyan龙岩Historic city · Cultural centre · Scenic areaHakka heartland of the Yongding tulou and the Gutian meeting
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