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The Wheel Rock is as its name suggests. From a distance, there is a strange peak rising up among the mountains and ravines. From a distance, it looks like a rotating wheel. From a close distance, it looks like the front of an old steam locomotive speeding at lightning speed.
There are many strange peaks and rocks here, and an ancient temple on the top of the rock occupies the best viewing angle. Here, there are tens of thousands of square meters of wild redbud flowers scattered. Every year around the Qingming Festival, when spring is warm and flowers are blooming, the purple redbud flowers are in full bloom, and clusters of them sway in the spring breeze, attracting a large number of tourists.
Photographed by: Sea Breeze
Photographed by: Sea Breeze
Shooting: Sanmi
The area where Zhuanlun Rock is located, Zhuanlun Rock protrudes from the middle of Meijiang Plain
Zhuanlun Rock covers an area of 3 square kilometers, and villages are scattered around this magical mountain. Administratively, it belongs to Meijiang Town, Lanxi City, Jinhua, and borders Yiwu and Jinhua East District, spanning three cities.
South of Zhuanlun Rock, past the hills behind the main peak, you enter the Meijiang Basin. This is Yuandong Township, part of Jinhua City's East District. It's a designated agricultural demonstration township and the primary production area for Yuandong white peaches. Tens of thousands of acres of white peach orchards enter their pollination phase at the end of March, bringing tens of thousands of peach trees into bloom, a truly captivating sight.
Visitors to Zhuanlunyan who wish to reach Yuandong can choose to drive around the area on the highway, which takes about 40 kilometers. Alternatively, they can hike over the mountains, which is about 10 kilometers long and is suitable for those who frequently participate in outdoor activities.
Photographed by: Sea Breeze
Filming: Liuqu
Filming: Liuqu
There is also an ancient village called Guanyanchen Village at the foot of Zhuanlun Rock. As the name suggests, it is an ideal location for viewing Zhuanlun Rock. The main surname in the village is Chen. It was founded in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 800 years.
People who go to Zhuanlun Rock for hiking, flower viewing, and incense burning often start from here. The wild redbud flowers here are small and dense. Because they are ornamental plants that bloom before leaves, when the redbud flowers are in full bloom, the branches are only flowers without leaves. The flowers are bright and lovely, and the bark and peduncles can also be used as medicine.
There are many varieties of peach blossoms in Yuandong, mainly white peach trees with pink and rose-red colors. The branches are low and the planting is neat and dense, suitable for close viewing. Peach blossoms are a major garden flower in China. The trees have a relatively graceful posture and the flowers are abundant and gorgeous. It is one of the main flowering tree species in spring. The peach blossom area in Yuandong is large and is located in the basin. Visitors can easily appreciate the grand spectacle of thousands of peach trees in bloom from the road.
Photographed by: Dwarf Star
Shooting: Sanmi
Shooting: Sanmi
Under normal circumstances, by the end of March and the beginning of April, the average temperature in Jinhua will rise to around 15-20 degrees, and the redbud flowers and peach blossoms will gradually bloom. This is the best time to visit Zhuanlun Rock and Yuandong.
Photography: Zuo Mu Jingshu
Photographed by: Sea Breeze
Guanyan Chen Village - Banshan Pavilion - Temple - Guanyan Chen Village
Starting from Guanyanchen Village, walk up the mountain trail and admire the redbud bushes on both sides. When you reach the viewing pavilion halfway up the mountain, you can slowly walk down the mountain along the mechanized farming roads on both sides and return to Guanyanchen Village.
If you are more physically fit, you can walk to the temple on the top of the mountain, go down to the other side to Zhuanlunyan Reservoir, and then take the mechanized farming road back to Guanyanchen Village. You can then choose to drive to Yuandong Township to enjoy the peach blossom forest.
Filming: Liuqu
Guanyanchen Village - Banshan Pavilion - Temple - Zhuanlunyan Reservoir - Pingtou Village Reservoir - Zhumajian - Yuandong Township
The outdoor walk starts out the same as a leisure walk, but after passing the Zhuanlunyan Reservoir, you start walking on a mechanized mountain road. After a section of mountainside road, you take a wild road down the mountain, pass a kiwi plantation, and arrive at the Pingtou Village Reservoir.
Then, we'll walk up the mountain past the village, then over a hill and down towards Yuandong Village. We'll pass through a lush bamboo forest, and along the way, we'll see a variety of wild flowers, including cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, plum blossoms, and crabapple blossoms, creating a beautiful scenery.
Finally, we descended to the peach forest in Yuandong Township, where we enjoyed the flowers along the way and hiked to the Yuandong Township Government before returning by bus. The entire journey is about 17 kilometers, crossing two hills with a drop of more than 400 meters, and the physical requirements are higher than the leisure route.
Photographed by: Sea Breeze
If you take the leisure route, there are shuttle buses to Guanyanchen Village or Yuandong Township. To go to Guanyanchen Village, you can go to Lanxi and take a shuttle bus to Meijiang Town and then transfer to a minibus. To go to Yuandong Township, you can take a minibus from Jinhua East Station.
Here you can enjoy the flowers up close, and you can also take photos of the big scenery while climbing Zhuanlun Rock, so it is suitable to bring a wide-angle lens and a fixed-focus lens for photographing flowers.
It's best to join the China-TravelNote group's outdoor route at Zhuanlun Rock. Public restrooms are available along the route, except at Zhuanlun Rock, but there are no public restrooms along the way. There are also no shops. Therefore, you should bring your own drinking water and a meal, and wear clothing and shoes suitable for outdoor activities. Trekking poles are also recommended.
Every spring, when flowers bloom, this junction of three regions always attracts a large number of outdoor enthusiasts. Hiking through the flowers and bamboo forests of different altitudes, colors, and shapes, passing through reservoirs and quiet villages, we can get closer to the scenery.
In spring, let’s meet at the flower sea of Zhuanlun Rock and Yuandong!
