Day 1 Shanghai → Longquan Cave → Shuidong Old Street → Ningguo
All day
From 07:15 to 07:30, meet at the designated location of China-TravelNote and sign in. Depart at 07:30 sharp, enjoy onboard interaction and itinerary briefings, and have fun all the way!
Around 12:00 PM, we arrived at Shuidong Old Street. Join us as we stroll through the streets of the Ming and Qing dynasties, where blue bricks, black tiles, wooden eaves, and horse-head walls intersect, forming a network of streets and alleys. We'll explore the "Doctor's House," "Wulong Courtyard," "Wang Tong's Oil Shop," and "Qingchangren Pawnshop." Along the way, we'll stop by blacksmith shops, tofu shops, and dyeing mills, and enjoy a local lunch.
After dinner, we explored long-lost childhood memories—shadow puppetry—and the Shadow Puppetry Art Museum. Shadow puppetry is a unique art form that cleverly blends Huizhou folk arts and crafts with opera. Listening to a shadow puppet show is like discovering a story from the past. After the show, we strolled leisurely along the cobblestone streets.
The Ningdong Temple at the entrance to the old street, built in the Tang Dynasty, is the oldest surviving temple in Xuanzhou. In one corner, the Gothic-style Shuidong Our Lady Church, the first Catholic church in southern Anhui, stands out. Strolling through the streets, you'll experience the simplicity and tranquility of ancient Huizhou's old streets.
We'll gather around 2:30 PM and depart for Longquan Cave, a 15-minute drive away. Formed approximately 3 million years ago, Longquan Cave is a limestone karst cavern. Its vast expanse, winding depths, and bizarre rock formations create a breathtaking masterpiece of art. As early as 800 years ago, scholars and poets visited the caverns to experience its wonders. Twenty-eight inscriptions from visitors throughout history remain on the cave walls. Let's retrace the steps of those who journeyed thousands of years ago and experience the wonders of history and nature.
Around 17:00, we will gather and go to the hotel in Ningguo city for accommodation.
After dinner, we made plans to play Werewolf and other games. We had a great time in the dark.
Day 2 Ningguo → Fangtang Township → Qinglongwan Reservoir → Ningguo → Shanghai
All day
Today we got up early to chase the morning fog~
On a late autumn morning, we gathered around 7:30 and set off for Fangtang Township.
The car was driving on the Xiaochuanzang Road in southern Anhui, which is known as the "Jiangnan Sky Road, Southern Anhui 318". It starts from Qinglong Township, Ningguo City in the east and ends at Caicun Town, Jing County in the west. The section we took was relatively flat, and the scenery along the way was beautiful and boundless. The houses with white walls and black tiles were hidden in the mountains, like a beautiful ink painting.
At around 8:30, we arrived at the heart of the Qinglongwan Reservoir. When the ocean of redwood forest came into view, one beautiful scene after another appeared, and a Ningguo painting slowly unfolded, I realized that any beautiful words would be redundant.
The towering mountains and white water in the distance echo with the layers of golden redwood trees beside, creating a unique wetland park scenery that is like an oil painting. We can choose to hike along the colorful fairy-tale riverbank, take a bamboo raft, and sail among the thousand-acre metasequoia forest, follow the shallow bay stream, and shuttle through the red leaf forest.
Over 2,000 mu (approximately 1,000 hectares) of densely packed redwoods nestle in the water, creating a contrasting backdrop against the vast, emerald waters like a natural tent. Sunlight filtering through the leaves creates a harmonious blend of nature and nature. The autumn scenery is captivating, yet without the usual tour groups, it's truly a unique and private experience. As autumn deepens, the redwoods transform into shades of red, then pale red, deep red, and finally golden red. These interwoven colors, reflected in the crystal-clear water, create an incredible beauty, reminiscent of the Kanas scenery of northern Xinjiang.
We returned to the city at noon, had a short rest and lunch, and then started our journey home.
Around 19:30, we returned to Shanghai. Everyone was reluctant to leave and kissed goodbye with tears in their eyes.
