A complete 2-day, 1-night guide to Liyang, a hidden gem near Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.
Preface
This humble city in Jiangsu province is also home to the ambiguity in the poem "A loving mother sews the clothes for her wandering son," which I memorized by heart as a child. Although it was a summer trip, braving the scorching heat, I couldn't help but marvel at Liyang's picturesque landscapes, the swaying bamboo shadows, and the four seasons of Jiangnan all captured in this painting.
About Transportation
High-speed rail station: Liyang Station
Bus Station: Liyang Passenger Transport Terminal
Practical Information
①If you are not planning to stay in a hotel and prefer to have fun, it is recommended that you stay near the high-speed rail station, because all tourist lines depart from Liyang High-speed Rail Station.
② Highway 1 South Line:
High-speed Railway Station - Tianmu Lake Landscape Park - Youran Nanshan - Shenma Farm - Xinlong Ecological Park - Lijiayuan Village - Nanshan Bamboo Sea Bus Station
(08:40/09:40/10:40/11:40/12:50/13:50/14:50/15:50, no 08:40/15:50 flights on weekdays)
③Route 1 North Line:
High-speed Railway Station - Bieqiao Hometown - Tianlu Goddess Station - Goddess' Heart - Lvzhuang Reservoir - New Fourth Army Memorial Hall (08:00/13:00)
Scenic spot 1: Nanshan Bamboo Sea
Highlights: One of the "Top Ten Bamboo Seas" in China, a national 5A-level scenic spot, with 35,000 acres of lush bamboo!
Basic Information
Ticket price: ￥90
Address: Nanshan Bamboo Sea Scenic Area, Lijiayuan, Hengjian, Liyang City, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province
Opening hours: 08:30-17:30 (last admission at 17:00)
Special Line: Liyang High-speed Railway Station - Highway 1 Tourist Special Line (South Line) - Get off at Nanshan Bamboo Sea Bus Station
Bus: Liyang Bus Terminal, take Route 72, and get off at Yushui Hot Spring Station - about 1.5 hours
Driving: Navigate to "Nanshan Bamboo Sea Parking Lot Area B"
Must-see scenic spots
Note: The following order is arranged from low to high
Jinghu area
Highlights: The green and silky lake is like a mirror of the sky and bamboo forest!
Tips:
① Belong to the first stage of climbing - at the foot of the mountain, ￥15/one-way train, about 8 minutes, can directly reach the second stage cable car station.
②If you take the train, you won’t be able to see the "Bird Paradise" and the "Bamboo Sculpture Art Museum" along the waterside corridor.
The train drop-off area and the cable car point are the dividing lines between the following two scenic spots: climbing to the left is the "Historical and Cultural Area", and climbing to the right is the "Wu Yue Scenic Area".
Historical and Cultural District
Highlights: Panda House (two pandas) and Jiming Village (Qing Dynasty ancestral hall and Ming Dynasty ancient residence, etc.)
Tips:
①￥80/round trip/ground cable car (also called "ground rail" or "Internet celebrity train")
②The only way to access this line is by taking the underground rail; it is not possible to reach it on foot!
Wuyue Scenic Area
Highlights: "Wu Yue Di Yi Peak" at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, with a 360° panoramic view of the spectacular bamboo sea
Tips:
￥80/round trip/cable car, about 3 minutes one way to reach the cable car passenger platform, you need to walk about 3,000 steps to reach "Wu Yue Di Yi Peak".
Practical Information
① Booking online in advance is cheaper than the retail price.
② Health code - wear a mask - scan your ID card to enter the scenic area.
③There is no restaurant in the scenic area, so be sure to prepare snacks and water.
④After entering the scenic area, walk a distance and you will find a luggage storage locker next to the wine shop.
⑤ When taking the scenic area's means of transportation, it is recommended to reserve 5 hours to visit the "must-see places" I mentioned above.
⑥ There's a small stand at the main intersection of the scenic area, selling water for ¥2 a bottle. It's the cheapest! At the top, it's almost ¥6 a bottle.
Attraction 2: Liyang Museum
Before I even visited the Liyang Museum, I was struck by the architecture in photos. Upon checking, I discovered that the museum building had even won the Professional Architecture Award at the LICC London International Creative Competition! It's truly a landmark building for Liyang tourism.
The museum boasts a collection of 4,501 artifacts, showcasing a wealth of early finds from the Stone Age to the modern era. While strolling through the museum, you'll find immersive displays showcasing the collections from various eras.
Basic Information
Ticket price: ￥0
Address: South Street, Liyang City, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province
Opening hours: 09:00-17:00 (last admission at 16:00)
Bus: Route 12/26/29
Must-see at the Expo
First floor: The museum's treasures and thousands of collections are gathered here, from the Neolithic Age to the modern era
Treasure of the Museum
Description: Chunhua Ge Tie of the Ming Dynasty (at the end of the first floor, a typical production of Nanke, one of the three existing sets of Ge Tie)
First-class cultural relics - 4 pieces in total
Description: Neolithic stone adze with wooden handle / Neolithic jade sceptre / Song Dynasty silver lotus saucer / Song Dynasty silver lotus box
Second-level cultural relics - 25 pieces in total
Description: Song Dynasty chrysanthemum covered celadon plate/"Tao Si Shen" etc.
Level 3 cultural relics - 93 pieces in total
Content: What I remember most clearly is the "Spring and Autumn Golden Melon Seeds", which are about the size of the little finger nail. There is a pattern on the front, which is said to be a commemoration of the three dou and three liters of golden melon seeds scattered by a trustworthy woman in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Second floor/third floor: The second floor mainly has some real-life layouts to show the folk customs of early Liyang. The third floor is the Planning Hall. It is recommended to focus on the first floor and take a slow tour.
Practical Information
①Monday【Closed】
②Exhibits have codes that can be scanned to read the explanations
③After entering the museum, you can get a museum brochure
④ If you carefully explore the artifacts in the museum, it will take about 2 hours. It is huge!
⑤ In the lobby on the first floor of the museum, there is a cultural and creative "bamboo shoot ice cream" for sale, ￥15/stick
⑥ Be sure to bring your ID card! You need to show your ID card - register - health code - mask to enter
⑦The green cave for taking photos is outside the museum. You need to take the stairs to go up. It is not accessible after entering the museum!
Attraction 3: Bieqiao Original Township
Features: Pretend to be in New Zealand! Perfect for girls to check in and take photos, or for taking photos with kids ~ full of childlike innocence!
Basic Information
Ticket price: ￥0
Address: Near the Bieqiao Yuanxiang Flower Sea, Bieqiaotang, Liyang City, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province
Opening hours: 08:30-16:30
Special Line: Liyang High-speed Railway Station - Highway 1 Tourist Special Line (North Line) - Departs at 08:00/13:00 - Get off at Bieqiao Yuanxiang Station - Approximately 45 minutes
Bus: Liyang Bicycle Passenger Transport Terminal - Take Route 1 and get off at Houzhougong Bus Station - The journey takes about 1 hour
Self-driving: Navigation "Bieqiao Yuanxiang Inception"
Photography Guide
① Good weather: Take photos as you like! Wear a puff-sleeved princess dress and a big straw hat to create a manor-like atmosphere.
② Bad weather: If you come to Liyang specifically for tourism, don’t be discouraged by bad weather. You can use weather-changing software. If such a scene is not accompanied by blue sky and white clouds, you can’t get the effect in my picture, nor can you capture the feeling of New Zealand manor. While changing the blue sky, remember to use HSL to adjust the saturation of the grass green and the saturation of other surrounding colors.
Practical Information
① If you take bus No. 1 and get off at Houzhougong Bus Station, you can go to the intersection and take an electric tricycle. It costs ¥10/one way and takes about 10 minutes. My sister and I took a car, which was only for two passengers. Don't expect to walk there forever!
② Carry sunscreen with you and refill it at any time!
③ At the intersection of the "Hobbit House" and the trail, there's a small shop called "Flower Sea Corner." They offer affordable prices! Even if you brought your own water, it's useless in the summer heat; you'll just crave ice water. Sometimes when the owner isn't in the shop, you can pick it up yourself! You can also pay directly by scanning the QR code.
④ It is recommended to wear solid colors. Even if the weather is not good, the picture will not look dirty due to mixed colors.
⑤ The best season is mid-spring to early autumn. In mid-spring, the grass is green, and in midsummer, the blue sky is a bonus! In early autumn, some leaves and grass turn yellow, creating a truly artistic effect. Going there in other months won't give you the desired effect.
⑥Daomeng Space and Hobbit House are connected and can be reached in about 3 minutes on foot.
Liyang Food
Specialties
Clay pot fish head: a classic river dish, it is the head part of silver carp, which is fried first and then boiled. It is snow-white in color and extremely tender.
Black Rice: Glutinous rice is soaked in sugar cooked with the leaves of the black rice tree. The cooked glutinous rice is purple-black and has a plant aroma.
Stir-fried white celery: a seasonal vegetable in winter and spring, the rhizome is white and rich in water.
Liver Tie-up: Use pig intestines as a "tie" to tie together pork belly, pork liver, and bamboo shoots, and cook the four kinds of meat together.
Restaurant recommendations
When visiting Nanshan Bamboo Sea, I chose a popular restaurant that ranked "first" in the three local specialty dishes! We arrived at the restaurant around 11:30 noon on a non-working day and were seated directly without a reservation. If there are many people, it is recommended to make a reservation in advance.
Millennium Big Fish Head (Nanshan Bamboo Sea Store)
Average price per person: ￥86
Time: 08:30-20:30
Address: 400 meters north of the gate of Nanshan Bamboo Sea, Liyang City, Jiangsu Province
Parking: There's a parking lot across the street, ￥5/first hour. Their service is truly amazing. The lady boss is incredibly polite and proactively mentions details like "refills are available for the fish soup." Their strong sense of service is no wonder they're so popular!
environment:
The farmhouse is decorated in a down-to-earth style and is located just a 500-meter walk from the entrance of the scenic area.
There are power banks available for rental at the front desk. I brought a charging cable with me, and the restaurant also charged it for free!
There is air conditioning! We had a power outage and the air conditioner took about half an hour to fully start. It was a bit of a pity, otherwise we could have eaten more!
My order
Number of people: 2
Order: Set meal for 2-3 people [A la carte prices are marked at the end, and there is a 25% discount for a la carte]
Price: ￥210+￥10 (Chestnut roast chicken replaced with liver)
Dish: Tianmu Lake Casserole Fish Head￥198
Evaluation: It's truly fresh, not overly flavorful with MSG! After the dish was served, the hostess gave instructions on how to enjoy it, saying, "You can add pepper powder." We didn't add any pepper, but the fish soup still had a rich flavor! I was a bit disappointed and had a hot pot dinner the day before, so I had a lot of minced garlic, so the fish soup tasted bland. But my sister thought it was just right! So, don't overdo it the day before when eating fish head casserole.
Dish: Roasted Chicken with Chestnuts ￥75
Evaluation: We added ￥10 to this dish and changed it to one of the three treasures of Liyang [Zha Gan]. It was not particularly amazing, just braised, and not very authentic. The authentic Liyang Zha Gan is [pork belly + pork liver + dried bamboo shoots wrapped with pig small intestines], but it did not have pork liver but Jun liver.
Dish: Liyang White Celery ￥48
Comment: A specialty of Liyang. Unlike celery, it doesn't have such a strong "herbal flavor". It's a very refreshing dish. I feel more refreshed if it's chilled in the summer, haha!
Dish: Nanshan wild bamboo shoots￥40
Comments: They are all tender bamboo shoots, very tender, and there are no bamboo shoots that are hard to chew! If there are 2-3 people, I think it is enough to order one of the white celery and bamboo shoots! Their portions are really big.
Dish: Black rice￥38
Comments: Special rice, you need to dip it in sugar to eat, otherwise it is just sticky rice, a little fragrant, and the portion is so large that you can't finish it at all! If you don't particularly like sticky rice, I suggest you use their white rice.
Practical Information
①They also have a branch in Tianmu Lake Scenic Area
② Note! There is another restaurant called "Qianfu Big Fish Head" as you walk towards the scenic area, but it doesn't serve the same food.
③The restaurant's napkins, cutlery, and white rice are all free! There's also free bamboo leaf tea, a specialty of the bamboo sea, which is very refreshing to drink in the summer.
④ You can enjoy a 25% discount on a la carte orders! For example, ordering a fish head casserole cost ¥148, which is only ¥37 per person for four girls!
My sister and I ordered a 2-3 person set meal! It was totally too much! Their portions are really big! This 2-3 person set meal is for three strong men! For 2-4 girls, I think a small portion of fish head soup and some vegetables is more than enough without any waste!
Accommodation recommendations
Because my two-day itinerary was more focused on visiting tourist attractions, the only time I would stay in the hotel was at night, so I chose to stay at the "Home Inn Select" near the bus station. It was very cost-effective and very clean. There was a popular cafe and noodle shop next door, so it was convenient to have breakfast in the morning!
At ¥202 per night, a king-size bed room is even cheaper than a twin room. If you're staying in Liyang for an extra day or prefer to stay in a hotel, the following hotels can be helpful. These are the ones I've researched before traveling and have on my shortlist.
[The following hotels are near Nanshan Bamboo Sea and are within walking distance of the Bamboo Sea scenic area]
①￥3179 Name: Yu Shui Hot Spring Bamboo Valley Hotel, Features: Luxurious five-star resort hotel, with great views from large floor-to-ceiling windows.
②￥724 Name: Nanshan Bamboo Sea Zhilanqiu B&B, Features: Exotic Moroccan style.
③￥531 Name: Nanshan Bamboo Sea Three Flowers B&B, Features: Modern courtyard style, 10 minutes drive from Nanshan Bamboo Sea.
④￥444 Name: Fanpu Boutique Hotel, Features: Mountain Zen style, with swimming pool.
⑤￥340 Name: Nanshan Bamboo Sea Qingxin Rushi Boutique Hotel, Features: high cost performance, simple and comfortable style.
⑥￥328 Name: Bubble Resort Courtyard, Features: Stylish and economical accommodation.
[The following is suitable for pure hotel]
⑦￥3198 Name: Meijie Mountain Hot Spring Resort, Features: Mountain tree houses and a transparent cliff swimming pool! Perfect for a hotel stay, located between the Bamboo Sea and Tianmu Lake Landscape Garden.
⑧￥798 Name: Liyang Hantian Resort Hotel, Features: 1 km away from Hantian Bay Commercial Street, there are hot air balloon/paragliding/karting entertainment projects, as well as an American-style bar.
⑨￥905 Name: Tianmu Lake BANG-ROOMS Holiday B&B, Features: My favorite one at the time, country American style.
⑩￥388 Name: Xingchen Muxing Lake Camping Valley, Features: Wild luxury tents, the price does not include breakfast, low cost performance, suitable for those who want to experience wild luxury style.
Conclusion
I originally wanted to book the China-TravelNote Yaji Mountain Rainbow Highway itinerary, but it's only available in autumn. If you're pressed for time, I recommend this China-TravelNote day trip, which is round-trip and a great value. I also highly recommend the Water-Free Bamboo Sea Rafting, perfect for a summer getaway.
