A Day in Fuzhou: Tea Culture, the Minjiang Night Cruise, and Our First Hotpot in China

Quick Answer

If you want to experience a different side of Fuzhou beyond its historic streets, spend a day with a local family, take a Minjiang Night Cruise, and end the evening with a hotpot. Our third day in the city turned out to be one of the most memorable of our trip because it combined local hospitality, traditional culture, and everyday life.

Visiting a Local Family in Fuzhou

By our third day in Fuzhou, we were getting used to the weather. The temperature was around 31°C to 33°C, but with the humidity, it felt much hotter. After exploring Shangxiahang the day before and walking along the Min River at night, we were ready to see a different side of the city.

That morning, we were invited to visit a local family’s home. We played table tennis together, learned how to prepare Chinese tea, and spent time chatting despite the language differences. 

In the evening, we returned to the Min River, this time on a night cruise instead of walking along the riverbank. We ended the day with a hotpot dinner before heading back to the hotel. 

Playing Table Tennis at Home

Our friends’ house had a table tennis table. There was even a machine that could shoot balls at different speeds, so we spent a while playing against it before challenging each other.

One thing I had never seen before was the ball picker. The tool had a long handle, and all you had to do was press it over a ball to pick it up. We didn’t have to keep bending down every few seconds, which made playing much more enjoyable. Such a simple idea, but it worked really well.

Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in China. Before this trip, I already knew Chinese players had won many world championships and Olympic gold medals.

China began investing heavily in table tennis in the 1950s, and since the sport became an Olympic event in 1988, Chinese players have won most of the Olympic gold medals. Famous players like Deng Yaping, Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, and Ma Long are well known around the world.

I also came across a story I hadn’t heard before. In 1971, a friendly conversation between an American and a Chinese player during the World Table Tennis Championships eventually led to what became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy. That small moment helped improve relations between China and the United States before President Nixon visited China the following year.

Table tennis is deeply connected with Chinese culture. For many Chinese families, it’s something they’ve grown up with for generations. For us, it was simply a fun way to escape the afternoon heat.

Learning a Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony

Our friends invited us into their home, served us Chinese tea, and showed us how to prepare it the traditional way.

The water was heated in a small electric kettle before being poured over the tea leaves in a tiny covered cup. After only about ten seconds, the tea was transferred into a small teapot and then poured into even smaller cups for drinking. We learned that leaving the tea any longer would make it too strong and slightly bitter.

Another interesting detail was that the teacups were rinsed with hot water before the tea was served. This isn’t just for cleanliness. Warming the cups first also helps keep the tea at the right temperature and brings out its flavour.

The cups themselves were much smaller than the ones we usually use at home. They were white and shaped more like tiny bowls than cups. The white colour makes it easier to appreciate the colour of the tea, while darker cups are often used for black tea because they don’t stain as easily.

Tea is also meant to be enjoyed with small snacks rather than on its own. We were served a few traditional treats, including what we first thought were raisins. They actually turned out to be dried plums with a sweet and slightly salty flavour. They paired surprisingly well with the tea and made the whole experience feel much more complete.

A bit of history behind the cup

Tea has been part of Chinese life for well over a thousand years. It became especially popular during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), when a scholar named Lu Yu wrote The Classic of Tea, the first major book ever written about tea. In those days, people usually drank tea from simple ceramic bowls.

During the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), preparing tea became almost an art. Powdered tea was whisked with hot water until it became frothy, a tradition that later inspired Japan’s matcha ceremony.

The lidded tea cup that most people recognize today didn’t appear until the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). It’s called a gaiwan. Besides being practical for brewing loose-leaf tea, it also has a symbolic meaning. The lid represents heaven, the bowl represents humanity, and the saucer represents earth. Together, they are known as the Three Talents.

Even today, many people in China still use a gaiwan, especially when preparing gongfu cha, where the same tea leaves are brewed several times so you can enjoy how the flavour changes with each infusion.

Why there’s always a snack plate next to the tea

Snacks served alongside tea are very common in China. I thought they were just something to nibble on while we talked, but they’re actually part of a long-standing tradition.

In Fujian and many other parts of southern China, tea is often served with small snacks such as dried plums, candied olives, melon seeds, or dried dates. These are known as cha dian, or “tea snacks.”

The idea isn’t to have another meal. They’re simply there to make people feel comfortable while sitting together, chatting, and enjoying tea. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, many preserved fruits are also believed to help with digestion, which is one reason they’re often served after meals.

Chinese Blessing Tags

Before we left, we were given a few small handwritten cards with blessings like these:

• 天天开心 (tiān tiān kāi xīn) – Be happy every day.
• 生意兴隆 (shēng yì xīng lóng) – May your business grow and be successful.
• 前程似锦 (qián chéng sì jǐn) – Wishing you a bright and successful future.
• 平安喜乐 (píng ān xǐ lè) – Peace, good health, and happiness.

I think most of us are familiar with the way Chinese is traditionally written in vertical columns. Our first instinct was to read the tags from left to right, just like we do in English. It turned out that each column is read from top to bottom, starting with the left column.

More than simple decorations

One fun fact about these tags is that they are not just pretty little souvenirs. They actually have a long tradition behind them. If you visit temples, historic streets, or traditional teahouses in China, you’ll often see these small square tags hanging from colourful silk tassels. Most are written by hand in a flowing style of Chinese calligraphy called xíngshū, or “running script,” so no two tags look exactly the same.

Each tag carries a short blessing for a particular occasion. Some wish you happiness, others wish you success in business, a bright future, good health, or peace. Long before greeting cards became common, people wrote these blessings by hand on fans, scrolls, red envelopes, and tags like these to share their good wishes with family and friends.

Before coming to China, I probably would have walked right past them in a gift shop without giving them a second thought. Now I know they’re much more than simple decorations. They’re a small but meaningful way of wishing someone well, and I think that’s a lovely tradition to keep alive.

Lunch at IKEA Fuzhou

By the middle of the afternoon, the temperature was still around 33°C, and there wasn’t even a little breeze. We were all feeling the heat, so when we came across a large international furniture store, we decided to step inside for a while. Honestly, the air conditioning was enough to make us happy.

Since we were already there, we stayed for lunch. The restaurant looked almost exactly like the one in the Netherlands, and even the menu felt familiar. After almost two weeks of eating mostly Asian food, my husband didn’t hesitate to order spaghetti. If I had to come up with a quote of the day for him, it would have been, “Sometimes a simple plate of pasta is all you need.”

Before leaving, we noticed a display featuring Pippi Longstocking. Seeing such a familiar character in the middle of Fuzhou was a fun surprise, especially because my boys love the series so much. It was nice to see that Pippi is loved in China too.

I wouldn’t tell anyone to visit Fuzhou just to see this furniture store. But on a hot summer day, especially if you’re travelling with children, it turned out to be the perfect place to cool down, have lunch, and take a short break before heading back outside.

Ordering Bubble Tea Without Speaking Chinese

Before meeting our friends for the evening cruise, we had a little free time and decided to walk around the shopping area near our hotel. We weren’t looking for anything specific. We just wanted to see what was there.

Of course, the first thing the boys wanted was bubble tea.

We found one of the busiest bubble tea shops, full of local teenagers. Everything was in Chinese. The menu was in Chinese, the signs were in Chinese, and the staff didn’t speak English. By then, we were already getting used to using our phones to translate everything, so we pointed the camera at the menu and hoped for the best.

We ordered three different drinks. One of them was supposed to come with tapioca pearls, but they had already sold out. A staff member walked over with her phone and used a translation app to explain what they would replace it with.

The translated message said:

“Sashimi.”

The boys and I just looked at each other.

Sashimi? In bubble tea?

Neither of us knew what to say, so we simply smiled, nodded, and trusted that everything would be fine.

Out of curiosity, I even asked an AI chatbot if people actually put sashimi in bubble tea. The answer made us laugh. Apparently, that would be one of the strangest drink combinations imaginable.

Thankfully, it was just a translation mistake. There was no raw fish in our drinks. The staff had simply replaced the missing tapioca pearls with another topping.

Every trip creates memories you’ll laugh about later. Not understanding another language can sometimes be confusing, but if you don’t take it too seriously, that’s often how the funniest travel stories begin.

Taking the Minjiang Night Cruise

The evening before, we’d already walked along the Min River, so we had a good idea of what the riverside looked like. But seeing it from the water after dark felt completely different. If you’re visiting Fuzhou for the first time, I’d definitely recommend adding the Minjiang Night Cruise to your itinerary.

We booked the Classic Minjiang Night Cruise with three adult tickets and one child ticket, since our younger son still qualified for the children’s fare. The boat leaves from Taijiang Pier and returns to the same place about an hour later, so it’s an easy round trip.

We noticed as soon as we boarded how popular this cruise is. The boat was completely full that evening.

Our cruise was completely full, and seating was available on a first come, first served basis. We spent part of the trip standing on the open top deck, which gave us great views but also showed us just how crowded the boat could get. Because of that, I personally wouldn’t recommend this cruise if you’re travelling with a baby in a stroller, a toddler, or someone who uses a wheelchair or walking aid. There isn’t much room to move around once the boat is full, so it may not feel very comfortable.

The cruise departs from Taijiang Pier and returns to the same pier about an hour later, making it an easy round trip without having to worry about transportation back.

Getting to Taijiang Pier

It’s easy to get there by public bus. Many bus routes stop at Taijiang Pedestrian Street Station, including Bus 1, 2, 3, K1, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 25, 30, 31, 37, 39, 41, 51, 71, 136, 201, 309, 312, 319, 320, and 321. So wherever you’re staying in Fuzhou, there’s a good chance one of these buses will take you close to the pier.

Entertainment on Board

There was more happening on board than we expected.

All of a sudden, a dancer appeared and performed while everyone watched. Later, she came back wearing a different costume and performed another dance.

After that, she gave a short Chinese tea demonstration using the same small white tea cups we’d seen earlier that morning at our local friend’s house. It was fun recognizing them again after learning a little about Chinese tea culture.

Each passenger also received a complimentary cup of Fuzhou jasmine tea, and there was even a small fast food counter inside the boat if anyone wanted a snack during the cruise.

We spent some time on the open top deck before heading downstairs to sit with our friend and her family. It was quite windy up there, but the view of both sides of the river made it well worth it.

Good to Know Before You Go

If you’re planning to take the cruise yourself, here are a few things that are useful to know.

• Adult tickets at the pier cost around 128 RMB, while child tickets are about 70 RMB for children between 1.2 and 1.5 metres tall.
• If you book online in advance, adult tickets are often available for around 88 to 100 RMB.
• Try to arrive at least 15 minutes before departure for ticket checks.
• If you’re travelling with a group, it’s recommended to call before 5 PM on the day of your cruise.
• Tickets cannot be refunded or exchanged, so make sure you’ve selected the correct date and departure time.
• Seats are available on a first come, first served basis. Our cruise was full, so if you want a good seat, it’s worth boarding as early as possible.

For us, the best part wasn’t the dance performance or even the tea demonstration. It was simply watching Fuzhou pass by from the river. The city had a completely different atmosphere at night, and seeing both the historic riverfront and the modern skyline from the boat made this one of our favourite experiences in Fuzhou.

Hotpot Dinner in Fuzhou

After the cruise, we walked to a nearby hotpot restaurant with our friends. It was our first time trying hotpot in China, and the whole experience was quite different from what we expected.

Instead of ordering everything from a menu, everyone picked their own ingredients. I chose a vegetarian mushroom soup, while the rest of us went with tomato soup. Each soup came in its own pot on a small cooker, so we could adjust the heat ourselves while cooking. We could also ask the staff to add more broth whenever the soup level got low. My advice is to be careful because the pots are very hot.

The restaurant reminded me more of a supermarket than a regular restaurant. There were shelves full of vegetables, fresh seafood (some of it still looked alive), meat, noodles, mushrooms, and even desserts. We walked around with bowls, picked whatever looked good, and brought everything back to our table. It was a bit similar to an all you can eat restaurant, except you paid based on what you picked. The price depended on the colour of the bowl, with each colour representing a different price. 

We didn’t get the regular-sized bowls that we’re used to in Europe or Indonesia. Instead, we were given very small bowls, just big enough for one bite at a time. They were mainly used to transfer the food from the hotpot to your mouth without dripping soup all over the table. Most of the time, it felt like we were eating almost directly from the pot on the stove.

One thing I wish I knew was how much dinner cost for all seven of us. Unfortunately, I never found out because our friends kindly treated us that evening. I also can’t remember which shopping mall the restaurant was in. We only remember that it was close enough to walk there from the cruise pier.

Nightlife

By the time we finished dinner, it was already late. The shopping mall had closed, so the escalators were no longer running and we had to use the stairs to reach the parking garage. On our way out, we noticed that the nearby nightclubs were just opening. People dressed up for a night out were arriving while we were heading back to the hotel. It was interesting to see how the city was only just starting its nightlife as our day was coming to an end.

Back at the hotel, we ended the day in our usual way. Bas read a book aloud to the boys while I packed our suitcases. The next day, we would say goodbye to Fuzhou and fly to our next destination, Beijing.

Watch the vlog on YouTube:

Today, we learned a little more about Chinese culture, tried new food, and spent time with friends in Fuzhou.
I did my best to share our day with you in this blog, but words and photos can only tell part of the story. If you’d like to see what the tea ceremony, the Minjiang Night Cruise, and our hotpot dinner were really like, you can watch our Fuzhou vlog below.

Watch now

Practical Tips 

• If you’re planning to take the Minjiang Night Cruise, try to book your tickets online before you go.
  We found out later that tickets are usually cheaper online than buying them at the pier, and booking ahead also gives you a better chance of getting on your preferred departure.
  
• A translation app on your phone will make the day much easier.
  We still relied on pointing at menus now and then, but having a translator helped us with simple questions and everyday conversations.
  
• Summer in Fuzhou is hot and very humid.
  We were glad we spent part of the day indoors, whether it was visiting Ketty’s home, exploring the shopping mall, or sitting down for dinner. A few air-conditioned breaks make a big difference.

• If you’re travelling with young children, don’t expect to find seats easily on the night cruise.
  The boat was completely full when we went, and many people had to stand. We spent quite a bit of time on the open deck anyway because the river views were worth it.
  
• If you ever have the chance to watch a traditional tea ceremony, don’t skip it.
  Earlier that day we had tea at Ketty’s house, and later we saw a tea ceremony on the cruise using the same small white tea cups. It was a nice reminder that tea is still an important part of daily life in China.

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This article is based entirely on our family’s independent travel experience in Fuzhou, China.
At Twinkle So Bright, we create long-form destination content designed to remain useful long after publication. Our focus is on sharing real family travel experiences, practical insights, and destination guides that help readers plan their own journeys with confidence.
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