Recently, through the domestic tourism promotion campaign “Beautiful China – Beautiful Life”, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has released the “City Tour” tourist popularity list, with two places in Fujian honored on the list. Gulangyu Island of Xiamen ranked third in the list of ” Beautiful City Views”, while the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys of Fuzhou was included in the list of “Beautiful City Streets”.
The Tourism Popularity List is comprehensively updated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, according to the big data on Weibo, (particularly the frequency of the destinations mentioned in the Weibo and keywords searching during the “#City Tour#” Campaign), tens of millions of netizens’ sharing, experts’ recommendations and other considerations. The Popularity List is further subdivided into five popular themes: beautiful city views, beautiful city streets, beautiful city tastes, beautiful city specialties, and beautiful city exhibitions, covering all the popular travel trends in 2022.
A small island less than two square kilometers, Gulangyu is known as the “Island of Pianos”, for it owns the highest number of pianos per capita in China. It’s also known as the “home to most architectures in the world”, for it has numerous modern buildings of different styles.
In 2017, the “historical international settlement of Gulangyu Island”, was recognized on the list of World Cultural Heritage sites. Now, this charming island can not only offer tourists rich natural and cultural landscapes, but also serve as an important window for cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
The historical and cultural block of Three Lanes and Seven Alleys is located in the center of Fuzhou, an ancient city with a history of more than 2,200 years. It started in the Jin Dynasty, was established in the Tang and Five Dynasties, and thrived in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As its ancient pattern of lanes and alleys has been well preserved so far, it’s also called the “”living fossil of ancient city street system” in China’s urban areas.
As a concentrated reflection of Minjiang culture, this place is characterized with the original residential buildings of the ancient Fuzhou, thus winning its reputation as the large scale “Museum of Ancient Architectures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties” by the architectural community.
Welcome to Fujian and enjoy the all-nation exotic style of Gulangyu Island in person. And welcome to the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys. The fascinating modern history and extraordinary cultural stories are expecting your visit.
