Spring Festival Trip to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou - Quanzhou (Part One)

February 15th, high-speed train from 9:12 to 10:00, from Zhangzhou Station to Quanzhou Station, the driver was already waiting for us in the underground parking lot of Quanzhou Station, and we smoothly checked into the Quanzhou Yuehua Hotel. After a short rest at the hotel, we were ready to go out and stroll around the ancient city of Quanzhou. The hotel is about 2.5 kilometers away from the old city, so we took a taxi to the Wen Temple and started our tour from there. Our citywalk route: Wen Temple ~ Goldfish Alley ~ Guan Gong Ancient Flavor Restaurant for lunch ~ Hao Gou Qian ~ Flower Alley ~ Zhongshan Middle Road ~ Bell Tower ~ West Street ~ Tai Kui Alley ~ West Gate of Kaiyuan Temple ~ Back to West Street ~ Xiangfeng Alley ~ Tourist Center rooftop to take pictures of the twin towers ~ Youli Tiantai Coffee Bar ~ Quanzhou Cinema East Sea Poster Wall ~ Zhongshan Middle Road ~ Dinner at Tumen Beef East, the beef rice is super delicious. Quanzhou is the most suitable city for Citywalk I have ever visited. The Minnan ancient houses that can be seen in the streets and alleys really have a unique charm. I personally like to explore a city in the way of Citywalk, using my eyes or camera to record some different surprising moments. ⭐Wen Temple: Quanzhou Wen Temple is one of the largest Confucian temples along the southeast coast. The architecture includes the styles of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, as well as the Minnan characteristics of stone-to-brick, sloped roofs, swallowtail ridges, etc., ⭐Goldfish Alley: A very narrow alley with many trendy young shops, where you can see fish patterns everywhere, such as carps leaping over the dragon gate, etc., ⭐Flower Alley: At night, the whole street is lit with horse lanterns, standing among the crowd gives a sense of time travel, and the entrance to Flower Alley is full of fresh flowers, ⭐Zhongshan Middle Road: The more than 2 kilometers long Zhongshan Road in Quanzhou is a model of Sino-Western commercial street architecture and is also the most completely preserved arcade building complex in the country. At the end of Zhongshan Middle Road is the Bell Tower, where the white bell tower and the bustling street scene complement each other, ⭐West Street: A great street to stroll, with various snacks and intangible cultural heritage projects like hairpin flower making to experience. It's super crowded during the Spring Festival, ⭐Xiangfeng Alley: An alley where you can take pictures of the west tower of Kaiyuan Temple. In the middle of the deep alley, you can see the tower body, ⭐Kaiyuan Temple: The largest Buddhist building in Fujian, with east and west towers on each side, one of the 22 ancient sites that were successfully included in Quanzhou's World Heritage application, 📷Recommended photo spots ⭐The hottest photo spot with the 'Quanzhou' sign and the twin towers, which can be shot from the rooftop of Ruibai Cloud Hotel (Quanzhou Bell Tower West Street Store), but it's not accessible now, only open to hotel guests (Picture 2) ⭐A super large 'Quanzhou' poster, located on the east wall of Quanzhou Cinema next to the Bell Tower (Picture 1) ⭐The rooftop of West Street Tourist Center, where you can overlook West Street (Picture 3), is also the best spot for shooting the twin towers, ⭐Xiangfeng Alley, the old scenery with fireworks and the thousand-year-old tower, is very feel-good for taking cultural photos (Picture 4). Tips: 1. Before going to Quanzhou, it is recommended to watch the documentary 'Return to Cìtóng City' first, which has three episodes, each about 40 minutes, to get an understanding of the origin and cultural history of Quanzhou, 2. The main street of West Street is super crowded, it is recommended to go into the alleys, which are characteristic and quiet. It is recommended to download the app 'Xiaoyuzhou' and search for 'Going to Quanzhou', which has detailed explanations of the alleys.