For something upmarket, the eat-all-you-can buffet in the lobby of the Wenquan Hotel is a good deal, while foreign food can be sampled at the reasonable Japanese restaurant on the second floor of the Changcheng Hotel just north of Yu Shan on Wuyi Lu. More mainstream fare is available at the Daguo Fandian, near the Nanyang hotel on Hualin Lu, which has excellent-value sweet-and-sour spareribs, and seafood or vegetable hotpots; and either the Shanghai or Fenglong on Dong Jie have lower-floor dumpling canteens topped by good, mid-range restaurants. Tea is a huge institution in Fujian, worth trying at some point during your visit; the most famous variety, Oolong , is one of the few Chinese teas known by name in the West.

For snacks , the Wenquan Park area, on Wusi Lu, just north of Hu Dong Lu, is a pleasant place to sit and eat outdoors - vendors sometimes sell bagel-like "cut buns", stuffed with vegetables or a slice of spiced, steamed pork. Fuzhou also has plenty of international fast-food outlets; there's a McDonald's at the junction of Wusi Lu and Hualin Lu, and a KFC on Gutian Lu near Wu Shan.