Fuzhou

Capital of Fujian, on the southeast coast. Three Lanes and Seven Alleys historic district, the Fujian tea heritage, and the gateway to Wuyi Mountain.

Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian province, an ancient port city on the Min River with a history of maritime trade that predates the Song dynasty. It tends to be skipped by foreign visitors who head directly to Xiamen, but Fuzhou has a more interesting historical core and a food culture that is arguably more distinctive.

The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys district (Sanfang Qixiang) is the centrepiece. The pattern of three north-south lanes and seven east-west alleys was established in the Tang dynasty and the district retains — after extensive restoration — a concentration of late-Ming and Qing-era wooden architecture found nowhere else in Fujian. The buildings are the courtyard residences of merchant families and minor officials: two and three storey timber-framed structures with ornate carved brackets, whitewashed gable walls, and interior rock gardens. Several are open as museums or have been converted into teahouses and restaurants within the historic fabric. The district functions as both a living neighbourhood and a heritage site, which makes it more interesting than a pure reconstruction.

Fuzhou sits at a crossroads in Chinese migration history. The Hokkien-speaking people of coastal Fujian were among the most prolific emigrants of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, dispersing to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and further. The overseas Chinese communities of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are substantially Hokkien-speaking and maintain cultural and religious connections to Fujian. The Fuzhou connection is particularly strong in the Fujianese American community.

Fujian cuisine (Min cai) is one of China's eight canonical regional styles. It is built on the light handling of seafood, the use of red rice wine (Fujian red wine) in braising and saucing, and a preference for subtle flavour over assertive seasoning. The canonical Fujian dish is Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (fo tiao qiang): a slow-braised composite of abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin (now often substituted), fish maw, scallops, pork, and various other ingredients, assembled in a clay pot and steamed for hours. The smell is strong enough that the name implies even a Buddhist monk would break his vows for it. Fish balls, oyster pancakes, and light broths define the everyday register.

Wuyi Mountain (Wuyishan), four hours north by high-speed rail, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the home of the oolong rock teas — Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui, Shui Xian — that are among the most valued teas in China. The mountain landscape of eroded red-rock cliffs and bamboo forest is worth the trip independently of the tea.