# Wuyuan travel guide (婺源) Jiangxi Province · East China, China · 12 places Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/destinations/jiangxi/wuyuan ## Quick itinerary - **Day 1:** Wuyuan → Moon Bay → Likeng → Wangkou → Jiangwan → Huangling (overnight stay) - **Day 2:** Huangling → Xiaoqi → Jiangling → Wulongyuan → Wuyuan - **Day 3:** Wuyuan → Sixi and Yancun Villages → Rainbow Bridge → Wolong Valley → Likeng Village (Ikeng) ## The feel of the place - **Wuyuan:** The character “婺” is pronounced wù. Mentioning this may seem a little unnecessary, but you'll understand once you're there. Locals often write “婺源” as “务源,” probably to simplify the characters. For an outsider, knowing this makes a big difference when you're standing at the ticket window of the station. - **Huizhou Culture:** Wuyuan is now administratively part of Jiangxi, but for about a thousand years it belonged to Huizhou, serving as one of the six counties of Huizhou. They say there are three taboos when visiting Wuyuan, and the first is never to call its people “Jiangxi laobiao” (country cousins). Ancient villages, rivers reflecting the hallmark of Huizhou-style architecture—horse-head gables (马头墙), white walls and grey tiles, and roofs with upturned eaves carved with all kinds of patterns, reaching toward the sky and standing out strikingly against the blue sky and green trees. Wuyuan is one of the old roots of Huizhou culture, rich in content and deep in heritage, and it has developed distinctive schools and styles in many fields. Whether in Neo-Confucianism, painting, architecture or language, Huizhou culture influenced almost all of Chinese culture during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Administratively, Wuyuan no longer belongs to Anhui, but it cannot be separated from Huizhou culture. - **Wuyuan Girls:** Wuyuan's young women are a pleasant surprise. Once you enter Jiangxi, beautiful women seem far less common than in Jiangnan, yet Wuyuan girls each have a demure, graceful charm and the pure elegance of a lotus rising from the water. The evening scene by the river in Wuyuan County town is especially striking. The girls have a habit of strolling along the riverbank, and when the setting sun reflects on the water, they become a scene in their own right. ## The feel of the place ### Walking Rhyme To make the most of Wuyuan, memorise the Wuyuan Walking Rhyme: “To see the mountains, head east, not west; to see the water, head north, not south; stay outside the city, not inside; take the bus early, don't delay.” ### Preparation and Enquiries ### Language The Jiangxi accent is not too hard to understand, though it sounds less soft, and communicating in Mandarin is no problem. ### Climate and Best Season Wuyuan is at its most beautiful in spring and summer, especially in April, when azaleas already carpet the hillsides, joined by green tea bushes and yellow rapeseed flowers. That is why some say Wuyuan is China's most beautiful countryside. July and August also offer pleasant scenery and weather. ## Getting there & around ### Getting There and Away Wuyuan lies at the junction of Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces. You can reach it directly by high-speed train or long-distance bus, or fly into a nearby city's airport and continue from there. ### Airports Airports near Wuyuan include Jingdezhen Airport, Huangshan Airport and Nanchang Airport. ### Railway Wuyuan Railway Station opened officially in July 2015 and runs high-speed trains to major cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Lanzhou, Xiamen and Wuhan. ### Road Wuyuan's main roads include Provincial Highways 307 and 308, the Hangzhou–Ruili Expressway (Jing-Wu-Huang Expressway) and the Hangzhou–Xinjing Expressway (De-Wu Expressway). Wuyuan Bus Station is the main long-distance hub, with coaches to out-of-province cities such as Wuhan, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, and shuttles to cities within Jiangxi such as Nanchang, Yingtan, Jingdezhen, Shangrao and Jiujiang. ### Getting Around Locally Getting from Wuyuan county town to the individual sights is much easier. Minibuses to villages and towns depart from the new Wuyuan Bus Station in the Wuyuan Development Zone. For saving time and convenience, however, hiring a car is better. A minivan (seats six or seven) costs about ¥200–300 per day in the low season and ¥300–500 in the peak season. Bargaining is key when hiring, and routes on the eastern line are more expensive. - **Wuyuan Railway Station** — (Jiangwan Avenue, Wuyuan County) - **Wuyuan Bus Station** — (12 Caishi Avenue) ## Eat & drink Local cuisine shows a clear Huizhou style, with steaming, poaching and paste-style cooking (“hu”) as its specialities. Dishes rely mainly on hu preparations, such as tofu hu and bracken hu, and on fen (powder-steamed) dishes, such as powder-steamed fish and powder-steamed pork. In fact, “hu cai” are steamed dishes, and Wuyuan is the only place in Jiangxi with this distinctive style. Eating the steamed dishes before drinking the local rice wine helps keep you from getting drunk too quickly. ### Recommended Dishes - **Wuyuan Fish** — Red carp is delicious and renowned too, so don't miss it when you are in Wuyuan. The most affordable choice is freshwater fish. The water here is clean and unpolluted, so the fish taste especially fresh. Steamed soft-shell turtle, Hebao red carp, grass carp, huangyatou and black carp are all dinner-table essentials. - **Fen-Steamed Pork** — This is undoubtedly a home-style dish that everyone in China knows. What sets Wuyuan's version apart is that it is steamed with cured pork rather than fresh pork, which gives it a somewhat different flavour. ## Shopping Wuyuan is known for “red, green, black and white”, with each colour representing a local speciality. ### Jialu Paper Umbrellas Jialu paper umbrellas come in vivid colours, exquisite patterns and many different sizes. Even as a craft object alone, they are worth buying. - **Red** — Hebao Red Carp: Wuyuan's Hebao red carp has a vivid red colour and a purse-like shape, with tender flesh. It is a nationally recognised high-quality freshwater fish. Legend has it that a Wuyuan native returning home in glory brought them from a pond in the Imperial Garden. - **Green** — Wuyuan Green Tea: pale green leaves and a rich, fragrant taste. It was already recorded by Lu Yu in the Tang dynasty's “Classic of Tea”. - **Black** — Longwei Inkstone: famed for its “bronze-like ring, iron-like colour, firm and smooth nature, and fine ink-holding ability.” - **White** — Jiangwan Snow Pear: crisp, juicy, delicious and free of grit. ## Where to stay Finding accommodation in Wuyuan is no problem, as locally run guesthouses are very common. The military guesthouse by the bridge in Ziyang Town is also an inexpensive option, and the county government guesthouse is worth considering too. - **Huihe Weizhi Hotel (Wuyuan High-Speed Railway Station Branch)** — Warmly designed, with a reception desk and a guest lounge on the ground floor. The décor has a distinctly Jiangnan flavour. (39 Wenbo Road, Wuyuan County, 0793-7479888) ## Things to see - **Jiangwan** (★★★★): Admission ¥60; Opening hours 7：30—18：30; Time needed 3 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/jiangwan - **Likeng Scenic Area** (★★★★): Admission ¥60; Opening hours 7：30—19：30; Time needed 2–3 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/likeng-scenic-area - **Upper and Lower Xiaoqi** (★★★★): — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/upper-and-lower-xiaoqi - **Sixi and Yancun Villages** (★★★★): Admission ¥55; Time needed 2–3 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/sixi-and-yancun-villages - **Likeng Village (Ikeng)** (★★★★): Admission ¥60; Opening hours 7：00—17：30; Time needed 2 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/likeng-village-ikeng - **Jiangling** (★★★★): Admission ¥80; Time needed 4 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/jiangling - **Shicheng Village** (★★★★): Time needed 2–3 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/shicheng-village - **Huangling** (★★★★): Admission ¥145; Opening hours 8：00—18：00; Time needed 0.5–1 day — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/huangling - **Wolong Valley** (★★★★): Admission Entrance ¥55; cable car ¥50 one way, ¥100 round trip; Opening hours 7：30—17：00; Time needed 3–4 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/wolong-valley - **Wangkou** (★★★): Admission ¥55; Opening hours 7：30—17：00; Time needed 1–2 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/wangkou - **Qinghua Town Rainbow Bridge** (★★★): Admission ¥60; Opening hours 7：30—17：30; Time needed 1 hour — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/qinghua-town-rainbow-bridge ## Day trips & beyond - **Jingdezhen** (★★★★): Admission ¥95; ¥110; Opening hours 8:00–17:00; 9:00–17:00 (closed Mondays); Time needed 3–4 hours — https://cnatrip.com/en/places/jingdezhen --- Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), pp. 1479–1490. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.