Wuyuan｜One-Day Tour of 8 Free Ancient Villages with a Super Detailed Guide

Start from Shangtan Village at 10 AM, check in along the way, and you can reach Xiangao Ancient City to see the fish lanterns around five or six in the evening! The pace is not rushed, the ancient villages are small, and you can quickly finish a round. Of course, if you want a slower pace or to play in the water, you can split this route into two days.

✅ First, the route:
Shangtan Village → Longwei Village → Qingyuan Ancient Village → Sanyan Bridge → Chaguan Village → Hongguan Village → Fengshan Village → Zhang Village (I had to fix my bike and didn’t go [Cry]) → Xiangao Ancient City.
🚗 The whole trip takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes. It’s recommended to drive yourself or rent a car after getting off the high-speed train, as there are many mountain roads and uphill climbs.

1️⃣ Shangtan Village
Filming location of the movie "I Am Not Pan Jinlian." The big camphor tree at the village entrance is a popular photo spot. You can ride a bamboo raft under the tree for 30 yuan per person, buy tickets on-site, and go immediately. Another must-visit spot in the village is the guesthouse where we stayed the night before, Mingxun Bieyuan · Yunshuiyao. I’ll write a separate post about it—it's a century-old house, and if you have the budget, definitely stay a night.
2️⃣ Longwei Village
A great place to play in the water during summer, with bamboo rafts and the popular Dragon Scale Dam. The water quality is excellent. If you want to play in the water, reserve half a day here. The downside is there’s no shade, so remember to protect yourself from the sun and bring water toys.
3️⃣ Qingyuan Ancient Village
Located on a mountain, you need to climb uphill. The scenery along the way is especially beautiful, even more worth admiring than the village itself. There are few people in the village. There’s a flower-themed boutique hotel called Huazhu · She you can stay at. The big tree with many branches is lush in summer and looks great in photos.
4️⃣ Sanyan Bridge
I like to call it "Wuyuan’s Little Ili," very similar to Arxan I’ve been to [Facepalm]. Grasslands, ditches, distant mountains, old cows—truly amazing! Photography lovers must come here. In summer, there’s no one around, so you can take crazy photos for half an hour! Navigate to "Sanyan Bridge." Photos 7 and 8 were taken by driving down at the "Yuanye" sign, and photo 9 shows Sanyan Bridge, which you need to drive to the end and walk in.
5️⃣ Chaguan Village
Traveling with the Chinese textbook! This is the filming location for the sixth-grade Chinese textbook, first semester! Cow riding costs 10 yuan per time. There’s also a creek trekking spot further back. When it’s hot, the cows soak in the water. If you want to play in the water, reserve half a day here as well.
6️⃣ Hongguan Village
Just a bit ahead of Chaguan Village. There’s also a huge camphor tree in the village where villagers play cards under it very leisurely. This village is a bit commercialized, with two cafes, a bookstore, and a guesthouse by the water. It’s also a good place to stay a night.
7️⃣ Fengshan Village
A lesser-known village with almost no tourists. The stone pagoda in the village has wind chimes that ring soothingly when the wind blows.
8️⃣ Xiangao Ancient City
A newly popular spot with fish lanterns, fire pots, and fire knife and fire stick performances. The best part is it’s free! It’s very honest and photogenic, check out my previous post for more!

Wuyuan has many ancient villages besides the ones I visited, such as Zhang Village, Jujing Village, Sixi Yan Village, and more! Unfortunately, time was limited, so I’ll come back for a second visit next time!