Private Day Tour to Yunshuiyao Ancient Village from Xiamen

Walk under ancient banyans and step inside 200-year-old earth towers

A private day tour from Xiamen to Yunshuiyao Ancient Village with experienced guide, driver and hotel pickup. The tour covers a 2.5-hour drive each way, includes visits to the village's ancient banyan grove, Huaiyuan Tower (a double-ring earth building) and He Gui Lou (Fujian's tallest tulou), and runs 7 to 9 hours total. Admission tickets and lunch are not included. Gratuities are optional.

Step-by-step itinerary

Private day tour to Yunshuiyao Village

• Pick up at hotel lobby
• Drive 2.5 hours to Yunshuiyao
• Visit Yunshuiyao Ancient Village
• Explore Huaiyuan Tower
• See He Gui Lou tulou house
• Return to hotel

The experience

Your driver picks you up at your hotel and drives 2.5 hours in a private, air-conditioned car to Yunshuiyao Ancient Village. A local guide meets you there and leads you through the cobbled paths that wind under the highest concentration of thousand-year-old banyan trees in Fujian province. These trees have stood as witnesses to centuries of village life, and walking beneath them puts you inside the physical space where generations of families lived.

After the village, the guide takes you to Huaiyuan Tower, a double-ring earth building with an ancestral hall at its core: the inner courtyard covers 190 square meters and once served as the family study room. Then you visit He Gui Lou, the tallest tulou house in the province, built more than 200 years ago when traditional rammed-earth construction techniques reached their peak. Both buildings stand as examples of how this architecture was engineered to house entire extended families and withstand centuries of use.

The driver returns you to your hotel at the end of the day. Bottled water is provided during the tour. You can book a guide who speaks English, French, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese, and you choose your departure time to fit your schedule.

What’s included

• Experienced tour guide in your chosen language.
• private driver and air-conditioned car.
• hotel pickup and drop-off.
• bottled water throughout the day.

Options for this experience

4 options

Mandarin Chinese Guide9 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 10:00Includes pickup

English Guide9 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 10:00Includes pickup

Korean Guide or Japanese Guide9 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 10:00Includes pickup

French Guide9 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 10:00Includes pickup

You pick the guide language when booking.

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day9 departure times: the first at 06:00, the last at 10:00

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish, French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 12 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effort

Operated by Elephant Tour

Is this one for you?Choose this private tour if you need flexible departure times and a guide who speaks your language while exploring the ancient banyan trees and earth buildings at your own pace.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English, French, Korean, Chinese and Japanese.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

How long is the drive from Xiamen to Yunshuiyao Ancient Village?

The drive takes 2.5 hours each way in a private air-conditioned car, so you spend about 5 hours on the road over the full day.

What are the banyan trees like at Yunshuiyao?

Yunshuiyao has the highest concentration of thousand-year-old banyan trees in Fujian province. You walk under them on cobbled paths that lead through the ancient village.

What is Huaiyuan Tower?

Huaiyuan Tower is a double-ring earth building and one of the most exquisite and best-preserved tulou structures in the area. Its ancestral hall at the center of the inner courtyard is where family children studied, and it covers 190 square meters.

What is He Gui Lou?

He Gui Lou is the tallest tulou house in Fujian, built more than 200 years ago using traditional rammed-earth construction techniques at their peak. It demonstrates how the architecture was designed to shelter large extended families.