China Guide
Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Island
Wuyi Shan
The WUYI SHAN area contains some of the most impressive scenery in southern China. It's the only inland part of Fujian regularly visited by tourists, and consists of two principal parts: the Jiuqu River, which meanders at the feet of the mountains, and the Thirty-Six Peaks, which rise up from the river, mostly to its north. With peaks protruding from low-lying mists, the scenery is classic Chinese scroll-painting material, and the park, dotted with small, attractive villages, can be a tremendous place to relax for a few days, offering clean mountain air and leisurely walks through a landscape of lush green vegetation, deep red sandstone mountains, soaring cliff faces, rock pools, waterfalls and caves. Despite the remoteness, Wuyi is surprisingly full of tourists – especially Taiwanese – in high summer, so a visit off season might be preferable, when you'll also see the mountaintops cloaked with snow. Note that as Wuyi Shan has developed into a major attraction, it is losing some of its charm, and tourists have become regarded as fair game for some serious overcharging.
The sixty-square-kilometre site is bordered by the Jiuqu (Nine-Twisting) River to the south, which runs its crooked course for some 8km between Xingcun village to the west, and the main village in the area, Wuyigong to the east – where it joins the Chongyang Stream running from north to south and demarcates the park's eastern border. There is a strip of tourist hotels and other facilities immediately east of the stream, just before the bridge, in an area known as Dujia Qu. Over the bridge 1km or so, Wuyigong lies in the cleft between the junction of the two waterways and contains a bus stop and some hotels.
Bamboo-raft trips
Opening time: Depart daily between 7.30am and 4pm; 2hr
Price: ¥100
Address: Depart from the village of Xingcun (bus from Wuyi Shan Shi or Wuyigong)
The traditional way to appreciate Wuyi Shan is to take a two-hour bamboo-raft trip along the Jiuqu River. Rafts leave year round, setting off when they have the necessary six people, from the small village of Xingcun. Be prepared to be pushed, tugged, shouted at and generally cajoled into taking the final seat on a raft that is waiting to leave – even if you are travelling in a pair. At busy times the river becomes a noisy bamboo conveyor-belt, but, although it is hardly the tranquil experience it may once have been, from the first crook in the meandering river right up to the ninth, you'll still have stupendous gorge scenery all the way. Watch out for the odd, boat-shaped coffins in caves above the fourth crook; they are said to be 4000 years old, and appear similar to those in Gongxian and along the Little Three Gorges in Sichuan.
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