Quanzhou Old City, Kaiyuan Temple and Qingjing Mosque

Quanzhou, in Licheng District about 90 km north of Xiamen in China's Fujian province, was the great medieval port known to Marco Polo as Zayton and is now a UNESCO World Heritage city. The old city is compact and walkable, and the standard day trip centres on Kaiyuan Temple at 176 West Street, whose twin stone pagodas, the Zhenguo and Renshou towers, stand in the courtyard, alongside the Qingjing Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in China, and the Tianhou Palace dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu. The trip is among the easiest from Xiamen: a high-speed train from Xiamen North to Quanzhou Station takes about 35-50 minutes (¥45-70), followed by a Didi or city bus of 20-30 minutes to West Street. Trains run every 10-20 minutes, so timing is flexible, and intercity coaches are an alternative at ¥50-80. A sensible one-day arc begins with arrival around 9:00, then Kaiyuan Temple in the morning while the courtyard is quiet, followed by a walk along West Street and through the old lanes to the Qingjing Mosque and Tianhou Palace. Lunch is best taken in the old city, where Quanzhou snacks include oyster omelette, pork-bone soup, Quanzhou-style meat dumplings, peanut-based sweets and small-bowl noodles served at street stalls and long-running restaurants. The afternoon can include Zhongshan Road's arcaded shopfronts, the Guandi temple and the Fujian-style lantern and puppet craft shops, with a return train from late afternoon. The best season runs from October to April, when walking is comfortable; July and August are hot and midday is best spent indoors or in shade. Morning arrival avoids tour-group crowds at Kaiyuan Temple, while the lanes at dusk are atmospheric for photography. Total walking is moderate but mostly flat. Seats on the return trains rarely sell out, though holiday weekends can fill them.