Live Your Best Lives
Lishui's scenic spots are relatively scattered. A comprehensive tour of a single county could easily take two to three days, but traveling across the region would require even longer. Therefore, self-driving is the best option, as you can easily find accommodation wherever you park your car, eliminating the need to backtrack. Independent tours typically begin in Lishui and connect via various routes, or via Longyou Town in Quzhou or Taishun in Wenzhou to surrounding counties and cities. Some routes include Wenzhou Taishun to Lishui Qingyuan, Taizhou to Lishui Yunhe, or even connecting counties and cities within Lishui.
Wuzhen → (approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes by car) → Hangzhou → (approximately 2 hours by car) → Qiandao Lake → (approximately 3 hours by car) → Jinhua → (approximately 2 hours by car) → Lishui → (approximately 3 hours by car) → Taishun → (approximately 4 to 5 hours by car) → Wenzhou → (approximately 3 hours by car) → Yandang Mountain → (approximately 2.5 to 3 hours by car) → Ningbo → (take a car and then a speedboat, the whole journey takes about 2 to 2.5 hours) → Putuo Mountain (return to Ningbo) → (approximately 1.5 hours by car) → Shaoxing (depart from Shaoxing or Hangzhou)
D1: Shanghai - (Lishui) - Suichang
Board the bus from Shanghai to Suichang, departing at 10:14 AM. There's one bus daily from Shanghai South Railway Station, and the ticket is 165 RMB. Arrive in Suichang around 4:00 PM. There are no direct buses to the scenic area, but you can charter a bus to Nanjianyan. Find a place to stay overnight.
Visitors from other cities can take minibuses to various scenic spots from Suichang West Bus Station. However, these buses run infrequently and take a long time to get up and down the mountain, so it's unlikely you'll be able to return the same day after a midday trip. It's recommended to visit Shenlong Valley first and then stay overnight at Nanjianyan. We entered the Shenlong Valley scenic area around 1:00 PM. Shenlong Valley generally offers two attractions: Shenlong Waterfall, known as the highest waterfall in East China, and the site of Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion. A farm stay costs about 100 yuan. There's no scenic transportation from Shenlong Valley to Nanjianyan, so you can only take a bus from Nanjianyan and then their bus back.
D2: Suichang (Nanjianyan-Gold Mine Scenic Area)
In the morning, we departed from Nanjianyan Farmhouse to the scenic area. Locals used to call it Shisuntou because of a mountain there that resembled bamboo shoots. Perhaps the local government chose this elegant name to promote tourism. The Nanjianyan route follows the "Bamboo Shoot Mountain" down and then up in a circular path. After entering the scenic area and walking down a short distance, we reach the observation deck, offering a panoramic view of the Nanjianyan terraces—a truly remarkable sight. The road then continues past Tianzhu Peak, Yixiantian, Tongtian Gorge, and waterfalls. The scenery is truly picturesque, and the mountain village scenery truly can dispel any worldly fatigue.
Afterward, we took a bus from Nanjianyan to the gold mines, a scenic area with both mountains and water, but primarily the mining areas from the Tang and Ming dynasties. We arrived back at Suichang Bus Station around 4:00 PM and headed to Lishui City. (Buses to Lishui are plentiful. To Qingyuan, there's one every other day, and to Jingning, there are two daily buses.)
D3: Lishui - Qingyuan Corridor Bridge
From Lishui West Station, we went to Qingyuan to see the covered bridges. Upon arrival, the Qingyuan Covered Bridge, though the closest one is in the county town, wasn't an ancient covered bridge. The ancient covered bridges can be seen in Yueshan Village, Jushui. No entrance fee is required, but the village is 50 kilometers away, high in the mountains. Buses only go there that day, but we negotiated a 260-yuan taxi. Yueshan Village only has four covered bridges, while the other dozen or so covered bridges in Qingyuan are located in different villages and counties, making them impossible to reach on foot. You can see Laifeng Bridge, Baiyun Bridge, Buchan Bridge, and Rulong Bridge. Other covered bridges in other villages include Lanxi Bridge, Mengzhou Bridge, and Yonggui Bridge. We bought some dried shiitake mushrooms at 45 yuan per pound. We took the 4:00 PM bus back to Lishui City.
D4: Lishui - Jingning (Window of the She Nationality)
From Lishui West Station, head to Jingning. This is the hometown of the She ethnic group, and its main attraction is the Grand Sacrifice. There are buses to Jingning, but no buses back. A relatively close attraction is Dajun, the hometown of the She ethnic group. If you're lucky, you might even see a She folk performance.
D5: Jinyun (Dinghu Peak)
Dinghu Peak isn't very large, and there aren't many people. But just walking around and exploring it takes over three hours. The volcanic rocks hidden in such a beautiful place are truly unique. Then, we can visit a smaller attraction, Little Chibi. Little Chibi isn't very large, but it's less crowded. The rocks are steep, and the path is difficult to navigate. We wandered around a lot.
D6: Lishui - Zhuge Bagua Village
There's a direct bus from Jinyun to Zhuge, leaving at 7:50 AM. The center of the village is a Bagua (Eight Diagrams) pattern, a combination of lake and road. The two wells are shaped like two circles within the Bagua. Everyone in the village is a master of calligraphy, and practically every house has handwritten couplets on their doorsteps. Each piece of calligraphy is reasonably priced, costing between 40 and 60 yuan. The village isn't large, and the journey from one end to the other takes only 10 minutes, but if you take your time, you'll still need several hours.