West Lake Park (西湖公园, Xihu Gongyuan) is Fuzhou's oldest public garden — a classical Chinese landscape designed around an artificial lake first excavated in 282 AD. At 42 hectares (104 acres), it is a full park rather than a pocket space, with three main islets connected by moon-bridges, lakefront pavilions, a small zoo, and the Fujian Provincial Museum at its northern edge.
Come for a 60–90-minute walk at any time of year; come for peony and lotus in May–July; come at dusk for the lakefront lights. Paddle boats rent cheaply from the south gate. Unlike Hangzhou's West Lake, this one is almost entirely local — it is where Fuzhou families picnic, not where tour buses unload.
Getting there: Metro Line 1 to Pingshan, 10-minute walk. Free admission; museum separate ticket.