China is such a huge country! There are simply too many places to visit. You can probably spend a lifetime exploring the cities and provinces. In April (spring of 2019), I travelled from Suzhou to Wuyuan County (婺源县), Shangrao prefecture level city, Jiangxi province of China. In fact, this was my second trip to Jiangxi, the first being to Nanchang (March 2019). Wuyuan is indeed the finest place in China to experience the rapeseed flowers, in a real Chinese countryside atmosphere. The county is widely famous in China for the yellow rapeseed flowers (油菜花, Yóucài huā) blooming in the spring season (check out: Why I Love China?).
In this blog-post, I’d share my memories of Wuyuan trip.
Wuyuan city brief
Wuyuan County, one of the six counties of the ancient Huizhou, is located in the northeastern part of Jiangxi Province, at the junction of the two provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. The county’s land area is 2,967 square kilometers, including forestland and cultivated land. It governs 16 townships, 1 street, 1 industrial park, and 197 village (residential) committees, etc. with a population of 360,000.
The country is also known as the “Book Township” and “Tea Township”. It is a famous cultural and eco-tourism county and is often praised as “the most beautiful country in China” by the Chinese and outside world. In September 2017, Wuyuan was awarded the title of “China Natural Oxygen Bar”.
Best time to visit Wuyuan
The best time to travel to Wuyuan is arguably the spring season, from mid-March to early May. However, the flowers are usually in full bloom only in April.
Economy
The GDP of Wuyuan stands at 10.643 billion yuan (2018).
In 2017, Wuyuan County completed a total production value of 10.1 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6%; total fiscal revenue of 1.451 billion yuan, an increase of 6%; fixed asset investment of 11.45 billion yuan, an increase of 13.6%.
Retail sales of social consumer goods totaled 5.544 billion yuan, an increase of 13.5%, foreign trade exports of 200 million US dollars, an increase of 28%. The urban residents per capita disposable income of 23,627 yuan, an increase of 9%; rural residents per capita disposable income of 11,825 yuan, an increase of 10%; financial institutions deposit balance of 17 billion yuan, an increase of 17%.
Overall, the balance was about 10 billion yuan, an increase of 19.5%.
How to get to Wuyuan?
Well, my preferred mode of long-distance transportation, in China, are the high-speed trains. They are convenient, on time, fast and affordable.
If you are coming to Wuyuan by train, you’ll need to get down at the Wuyuan Railway Station (婺源站), a High-speed train station. It’s located about 10km from the Li Keng scenic area. It is a medium-sized station on the Beijing-Fuzhou high-speed railway and Jiujingyu railway line. The station is one of the main train passenger stations in Jiangxi Province.
Once you reach the Wuyuan Railway Station, you’ll see the so many taxis right next to the station exit gate. Many taxi drivers would ask you to take a taxi to the scenic areas. They approached me as well, but they were definitely not pushy. Anyways, I ordered taxi using Didi App and reached the Li Keng scenic area in about 20 minutes.
You can also get to Wuyuan by a regular bus or flight. Although Wuyuan doesn’t have its own airport, there are a few airports in the vicinity of Wuyuan, such as: Jingdezhen Airport, Huangshan Airport and Nanchang Airport.
Wuyuan weather
Wuyuan is located in the low hilly area, upstream of the Le’an River. Mountains and hills account for 83% of the total area. The terrain slopes from northeast to southwest.
In fact, the county is situated in the mid-subtropical zone and has the characteristics of the East Asian monsoon region. The climate is mild, rainfall is abundant, the frost period is short, and the four seasons are rather distinct.
The average annual temperature is 16.8 °C. The hottest month is July with an average temperature being around 28.0 °C. The extreme maximum temperature of 41.0 °C was recorded on August 28, 1967; the extreme minimum temperature of -11.0 °C appeared on January 16, 1967. The average precipitation over the years is 1962.3 mm. The April-June is the obvious rainy season.
Wuyuan transportation
Well, there are regular minibuses (班车) connecting different Wuyuan scenic spots. However, the bus timings are not always reliable. I often used the local buses to get to the famous travel attractions, and sometimes, I’d wait for 30 minutes or so for the buses. Anyways, the usual timings of the buses are between 7am to 5pm. The fares depend on the distances; usually you’ll pay about RMB 10-15.
Finding a taxi in Wuyuan is not at all a problem, however, make sure to negotiate the price beforehand. Also, the Didi taxi App wasn’t very helpful in Wuyuan, probably the number of Didi taxis are not enough in the county.
Wuyuan food and drinks
The most famous Wuyuan specialties include Red squid/carp/mackerel (荷包红鲤鱼), and Wuyuan tea (婺源绿茶). The Red squid, short head and short tail, high back and round belly, comes in orange, red and bright colors. The redheaded carp has been part of Wuyuan dishes for more than 300 years. The redheaded mackerel is rich in nutrients, with a protein content of 20% and a fat content of 3%. The meat is tender and delicious.
Also, Wuyuan has a long history of tea production and has become a famous tea area since the Tang Dynasty. Each of the scenic village is full of multiple tea-houses.
To get an authentic Chinese feel of Chinese food, you are recommended to eat inside the villages. The Brook Hotel (傍溪居, Bàng xī jū), located in the Li Keng scenic area, could be one of the preferred places, as apart from the delicious food, they also have English menus. However, the restaurant may be closed by as early as 8pm.
Wuyuan hotels
I was staying with the Li Keng Yuan Lai Guesthouse. The Guesthouse is located in the scenic area. So, in order to get to the accommodation, after arrival in the county, first I had to buy the ticket. Here is the complete address:
- Li Keng Yuan Lai Guesthouse, Li Keng Scenic Area, Wuyuan, 333200, China. Phone: +86 173 7935 6367
- Address in Chinese: 李坑缘来客栈, 婺源李坑景区内 (婺源, 333200).
The guesthouse was just okay. I was not given the room I had booked earlier online. Instead, I was transferred to another hotel in Li Keng, for the same price and similar room. Rest everything was okay. Having a basic knowledge of Mandarin helped a lot.
Top things to do in Wuyuan
Now let’s discover some of the top things to do in Wuyuan! Well, Wuyuan has 1 AAAAA-level tourist scenic spot and 12 AAAA-level tourist scenic spots. It is the county with the largest number of AAAA-level scenic spots in China.
Buy combination ticket
Well, you’ll need to have a valid ticket to visit the scenic areas. To save unnecessary hassles, time and money, etc. you’d better buy a Combo Ticket of Wuyuan (婺源的组合票, Wùyuán de zǔhé piào). With one combination ticket, you’ll be able to visit most (but not all) of the Wuyuan travel attractions. Usually, the ticket price is RMB 210 (Li Keng included) for an adult and RMB 105 for children (between 3.9 and 4.9 feet, free if a kid is under 3.9 feet).
During my trip, I reached Wuyuan late in the evening. I had to buy the ticket in order to get to my hotel. There were many touts at the ticket counter offering the adult ticket with discounted prices. I was not sure how the touts bought the ticket. Probably they bought the ticket for a half-price using some student ID and sold for slightly higher price, ensuring both discount to the customer and profit to themselves. After asking some people nearby, I bought the adult ticket for RMB 180.
The ticket is valid for 5 days and includes the 14 scenic spots, listed shortly.
List of Wuyuan Travel attraction and scenic spots
I’ll arrange the Wuyuan scenic spots in two groups for the ease of travel (if you follow the directions). You can search the locations in Baidu.
Direction 1 – Wuyuan Travel attractions
- Likeng Village (李坑景区/小李坑, Lǐ kēng jǐngqū/xiǎo lǐ kēng),
- Wangkou Village (汪口景区, Wāng kǒu jǐngqū),
- Jiangwan Village (江湾, Jiāng wān),
- Xiaoqi Village (晓起, Xiǎo qǐ),
- Jiangling Village (江岭/江岭风景区, Jiāng lǐng/jiāng lǐng fēngjǐng qū).
Direction 2: Wuyuan Travel attractions
- Yancun & Sixi Villages (延村/思溪延村, Yán cūn/sī xī yán cūn),
- Yantian Camphor Tree Folk Garden (严田风景区, Yán tián fēngjǐng qū),
- Mandarin Duck Lake(鸳鸯湖公园, Yuānyāng hú gōngyuán),
- Qinghua – Rainbow Bridge (彩虹桥景区/清华, Cǎihóng qiáo jǐngqū/qīnghuá),
- Ancestral Hall of Huangcun Village (黄村百柱宗祠景区, Huángcūn bǎi zhù zōngcí jǐngqū),
- Lingyan Cave (灵岩洞, Líng yándòng ),
- Dazhang Mountain (大鄣山, Dà zhāng shān),
- Wengong Mountain (文公山风景区),
- Shicheng Village (石城, Shíchéng).
Explore Wuyuan rapeseed flowers
Wuyuan scenic areas include the beautiful and spectacular landscape throughout the county. The most beautiful season in Wuyuan is the spring, when the rapeseed flowers (油菜花) are in full bloom. They offer the exemplary flower gardens for the sightseeing.
The most beautiful rapeseed flower in Jiangxi is in Jiangling and Qiling. As such, my best Wuyuan experience was exploring the Jiangling. Here you can just keep walking in the terraced villages.
Jiangling is full of layered terraced fields. The flowers and white walls of the houses reflect each other and form a beautiful natural panorama. Every time you come to Wuyuan, you will find so many flower fields.
It is located in the Shiyuan Mountain Range, covering an area of 15 square kilometers and surrounded by thousands of acres of terraced fields.
In the spring, the rapeseed flowers were fully bloomed. With its unique terraced terrain and the white-walled hustle and bustle of the Huizhou architectural complex, Wuyuan is beautiful and magnificent.
There is also a 1,260-meter cableway overlooking the rapeseed sea. While sitting on the high-altitude cable car you can take at a glance at the mountains, overlooking the smoke and rain, the clouds and the thousands of acres of terraced flowers. Cableway, giving visitors different views, is a great way to explore the beautiful scenery of Wuyuan from a new perspective.
Wuyuan Buildings
Wuyuan is one of the best preserved places in China today. The county has properly preserved 113 ancient temples, 28 ancient buildings, 36 ancient houses and 187 ancient bridges. The villages generally choose to have water in front. The small rivers in front of the village (Shuikoushan, Shuikoulin) and the trees on the Houlong Mountain behind the village have always been carefully protected by the villagers. Since the establishment of nature reserves in 1992, rivers, forests, ancient houses, ancient trees, ancient bridges, ancient temples, ancient palaces, ancient buildings, ancient monuments and rare birds have been duly protected. All these further ensured national ecological and cultural tourism.
Wuyuan nightlife
Well, beer and rice wine are available at a few restaurants and guesthouses, especially in the Li Keng village. There seemed to have no bars in the villages. Moreover, since the shops usually close by 10pm, having a late night party is probably not an option (unless you organize at your guesthouse).
Anyways, I was staying at the Li Keng village and had a great experience exploring the nightlife. There are a good number of eateries and teahouses worth stopping by. You can just keep walking from one end to another of Li Keng.
In summary, traveling to Wuyuan was indeed a wonderful experience. I loved the scenic areas, food, rapeseed flowers, teahouses and everything Wuyuan offered. As such, if you are traveling to Jiangxi province, especially in the spring season, Wuyaun is a must visit county!
That’s all in this post about traveling and top thing to do in Wuyuan county. If you have any question about traveling, living or working in China, do let me know in the comments! Feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
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Last updated: Thursday, August 8, 2019