City guide · Jiangxi

Wuyuan travel guide: the East and North lines, Huangling, the rapeseed and the village pass

China's 'most beautiful countryside' — dozens of white-walled Huizhou villages strung along streams and terraced into the hills, and two weeks a year of gold.

  • Known forHuizhou villages · rapeseed · autumn drying
  • Typical spend¥1,200–1,500 for three days
  • Ideal length2–3 days
  • PaceGentle — dawn starts and long drives between villages

Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10

The short version

Wuyuan is a county of around 360,000 people in northeast Jiangxi whose villages are the whole reason to come — give it 2 days for the East and North lines, 3 if you hit the rapeseed bloom in late March or early April, or the red maples and drying racks of November. The villages are scattered and gated, so you need a car, a driver or the local minibuses, plus the ¥210 five-day village pass.

  • The rapeseed window is late March to early April; the autumn colour peaks in November at Shicheng and Huangling.
  • Villages run along an East line, a North line and a thin West line, strung far apart.
  • The tourist-group village pass is ¥210 for five days and covers 14 villages; single-village tickets are ¥60.
  • Huangling, the 'drying autumn' postcard village, is NOT in the pass — it needs its own ticket and cable car.
  • Be in a village at first light; the beauty is in the dawn mist before the tour buses arrive.

City guide

First impressions

Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.

Rapeseed terraces and a white-walled village below
Rapeseed terraces and a white-walled village below
The drying racks at Huangling — the 'drying autumn' village
The drying racks at Huangling — the 'drying autumn' village
Likeng's stream, little bridges and Huizhou houses
Likeng's stream, little bridges and Huizhou houses
Rainbow Bridge at Qinghua, eight centuries old
Rainbow Bridge at Qinghua, eight centuries old

Walking into Wuyuan, everywhere I looked were golden rapeseed flowers set against Ming and Qing villages — a scroll of countryside after countryside. Deeper in, standing in the sea of flowers, it felt like a fairyland, and I had become a figure inside the painting.

Traveller note — 'Walking into Wuyuan'

The whole of Wuyuan is covered in camphor trees, and many of them have stood beside their old villages for centuries. The smell of camphor is the first thing that hits you — there are little blocks of camphor wood for sale on every stall.

Traveller note — 'Spring's Wuyuan, a Yellow Waltz'

Wuyuan is a county, not a town, and its beauty is spread across dozens of villages within it. They are Huizhou villages — whitewashed walls, black tiled roofs, horse-head gables curving up at the corners — set along streams, folded into hills and terraced with rice and, for a fortnight a year, rapeseed. This corner of northeast Jiangxi was once rich on Huizhou merchants' money, and the villages still carry the carved halls, ancestral temples and stone-flagged lanes that money bought.

For most of the year Wuyuan is a slow, quiet place of tea and rice, and honestly a lovely one. Then, for two weeks in late March and early April, the rapeseed flowers open and the whole county turns to gold — terraces of it at Jiangling, whole villages ringed by it, the most photographed landscape in southern China. A second, quieter season comes in November, when the maples at Shicheng turn red and the villagers at Huangling lay chillies, corn and persimmons out to dry on round bamboo trays.

The villages are far apart and each is paid for separately or with a five-day pass, so Wuyuan is not a place you wander into; it is a place you plan. The East and North lines fan out from the county town of Ziyang, and the best of the county is often the road between the sights rather than the sights themselves — a lane of rapeseed, a stream with women washing clothes on the stones at eight in the morning.

It is genuinely rural: the food is Huizhou and spicy, the guesthouses are converted farmhouses, and the evenings are silent. If you want nightlife or polish, this is not your place. If you want to walk into a Chinese ink painting, it is.

Wuyuan

Don't leave without

Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.

  1. Stand on Jiangling's viewing platform while the rapeseed terraces light up
  2. See the drying racks at Huangling stacked with chillies, corn and persimmons
  3. Walk Likeng's little bridges and stream at first light
  4. Cross the 800-year-old Rainbow Bridge with the green water running under it
  5. Find the old camphor trees and the 1-km country path between the two Xiaoqi villages
  6. Climb to Shicheng for red maples and dawn mist in November
  7. Eat the bag-tied red carp, steamed pork with rice flour and a bowl of steamed rice cake

Highlights

What not to miss in Wuyuan

Jiangling's rapeseed terraces

Jiangling's rapeseed terraces

The best place in Wuyuan to see the bloom — golden terraces spilling from the ridge into the valley, with white-walled villages folded in among the yellow. Viewing platforms 1 and 2 are joined by a stone path.

Huangling, the drying village

Huangling, the drying village

A mountainside village where, each autumn, every window and rooftop carries bamboo trays of drying chillies, corn and persimmons — the image on half of China's tourism posters. Reached by cable car, and ticketed separately.

Likeng and its bridges

Likeng and its bridges

A Li-surnamed water village 12 km out, threaded by a stream and crossed by little bridges — the classic 'small bridge, flowing water, family home' scene. Long popular, so busier than some.

Upper and Lower Xiaoqi

Upper and Lower Xiaoqi

Two villages at the end of the East line: Lower Xiaoqi with its ancient camphor trees and busy lanes, and quieter Upper Xiaoqi up a 1-km country path lined with rapeseed in spring.

Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge

An 800-year-old covered bridge, 140 m long with four piers, five spans and eleven pavilions, standing in the green water at Qinghua — one of China's oldest and longest gallery bridges.

Shicheng's autumn maples

Shicheng's autumn maples

A tiny walled hamlet in the north, famous for its red maples and dawn mist, and the second of Wuyuan's two great photographs. It is the reason photographers come in November.

Suggested itineraries

The two-day sweep, and the three-day slowdown

The two-day plan splits neatly by line — East one day, North the next. The three-day plan adds the West line and a race-day for the rapeseed at Jiangling.

Two days: East and North

2 days

The workable minimum — one line a day, with the drive in between as good as the sights.

  1. Day 1

    The East line

    Start at Moon Bay (Yueliang Wan) for the curve of the island and its reflections, then on to Likeng for the stream and the bridges.

    Push on to Wangkou and its old merchant wharves and the Yu ancestral hall, then Jiangwan, then the two Xiaoqi villages, and finish at Jiangling for the rapeseed terraces at dusk.

    Stops: Moon BayLikengWangkouJiangwanXiaoqiJiangling

  2. Day 2

    The North line

    Head out from Ziyang to Sixi and Yancun, the twin villages used as a location for the film Liaozhai, with their fine Ming and Qing carving.

    Then Rainbow Bridge at Qinghua, lunch in the town, and on to Shicheng or a walk through Longevity Village (Hongcun). Return to the county town in the evening.

    Stops: Sixi and YancunRainbow BridgeQinghuaShichengHong Village

Three days: add the West and the bloom

3 days

For photographers and anyone here in the rapeseed fortnight — slower, with a dawn at the terraces.

  1. Day 1

    The county town and the East line

    Look in on the Wuyuan County Museum in the morning, then Moon Bay, Likeng and Wangkou. Afternoon at Jiangwan and Xiaoqi.

    Sleep near Jiangling or Xiaoqi so you are on the terraces at dawn.

    Stops: County MuseumMoon BayLikengWangkouXiaoqi

  2. Day 2

    Jiangling at dawn, the North line by day

    Be at Jiangling's viewing platform for first light on the rapeseed. Then swing north to Sixi and Yancun, Rainbow Bridge and Hong Village.

    If it is autumn, run out to Shicheng for the maples; if not, finish at Huangling's drying racks and the cable car down.

    Stops: JianglingSixi and YancunRainbow BridgeShichengHuangling

  3. Day 3

    The West line and out

    Take the thin West line to the Mandarin-duck lake at Fuchun, where 2,000-odd pairs of mandarin ducks winter, and on to Wengong Mountain.

    Or run east to Sanqingshan if you are continuing, or west to Jingdezhen and its kilns. Otherwise, slow morning in a village and out.

    Stops: Mandarin-duck lakeWengong MountainQingfeng CaveHong Village

Sights

The villages worth your time

Ticket prices in China change without much notice. Most of these are covered by the ¥210 five-day pass; confirm on arrival.

Jiangling

Rapeseed · In the pass

Jiangling

The single best place in Wuyuan for the rapeseed bloom: a village at the far northeast of the county, terraced with flowers that spill from the ridge down into the valley, with white-walled hamlets folded in among the gold. Platform 1 is where the buses stop; Platform 2, a stone path further down, gives the classic view.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Daylight; come at dawn in the bloom fortnight
Where
Far northeast of the county
Getting there
Minibus from the county town, about ¥8; or ¥15 from Xiaoqi
Time needed
2 hours

Tip This is the most traffic-choked spot in Wuyuan in late March and April — go early or mid-week, and park well back. In the cold dawn, bring a jacket; the temperature swings hard at altitude.

Huangling

Drying racks · Separate ticket

Huangling

A 500-year-old village hung on a mountainside, famous for its 'drying autumn': every autumn, every window and rooftop is stacked with round bamboo trays of drying chillies, corn and persimmons, a blaze of colour against the white walls. It is the most photographed village in China, and the cable car ride up gives a fine view of the terraces.

Ticket
Separate ticket including the cable car — not covered by the village pass
Hours
Roughly 07:30–17:30
Where
East line, about 40 km from the county town
Getting there
Cable car from the base station; the ride is part of the experience
Time needed
Half a day

Tip The drying trays go up in autumn but the village is worth seeing year-round. Eat in one of the small restaurants on its old 'Heaven Street' — the food is plain and good, and the view over the terraces is the point.

Likeng

Water village · In the pass

Likeng

A Li-surnamed village 12 km from the county town, threaded end to end by a stream that the lanes cross on little stone bridges — the 'small bridge, flowing water, family home' scene that defines Wuyuan. It has produced officials, scholars and one Southern Song martial-arts champion, and it has been developed for tourism longer than most, so it is busier and more commercial.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Daylight
Where
12 km from the county town, on the East line
Getting there
Any East-line minibus passes the village mouth, about ¥8
Time needed
2 hours

Tip Go in the first hour of the morning, before the groups arrive. The 500 m from the road to the ticket gate is a pleasant walk; the tea houses up on the bridges are a good place to sit it out if it gets busy.

Upper and Lower Xiaoqi

Villages · In the pass

Upper and Lower Xiaoqi

The two villages at the end of the East line, widely called the prettiest pair in Wuyuan. Lower Xiaoqi has the ancient camphor trees and the busier lanes; Upper Xiaoqi, quieter, sits up a 1-km country path lined with rapeseed and framed by hills. Xiaoqi holds three of Wuyuan's four 'ancient' honours — culture, architecture and old trees.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Daylight
Where
Northeast of the county, at the end of the East line
Getting there
East-line minibus; you can also walk between the two villages
Time needed
2–3 hours

Tip The 1-km path between Lower and Upper Xiaoqi, with rapeseed on both sides in spring and the hills closing in, is the prettiest walk in the county. Buy a jar of the plum or osmanthus wine sold on the old street.

Rainbow Bridge

Covered bridge · In the pass

Rainbow Bridge

A covered wooden bridge of some 800 years, 140 m long and 3 m wide, with four piers, five spans and eleven pavilions, standing in the green water just west of Qinghua. Named for Li Bai's line about twin bridges and falling rainbows, it is the oldest and longest gallery bridge in old Huizhou, and it has survived every flood and war since the Song.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Daylight
Where
Just west of Qinghua town, on the North line
Getting there
Minibus from the county town to Qinghua, about ¥10
Time needed
1 hour

Tip The beauty is in the piers — heavy, silent, immovable — with fast water on one side and a mirror-flat pool on the other. Walk down to the water on both banks for the full view.

Sixi and Yancun

Villages · In the pass

Sixi and Yancun

A pair of villages by the Si river, founded in the Southern Song and used as a location for the TV adaptation of Liaozhai (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio). The stone-flagged lanes, the merchant houses and the fine carved beams, brackets and window lattice make this the best place in Wuyuan to read Huizhou architecture up close.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Daylight
Where
13 km from Ziyang, on the North line
Getting there
Minibus from the county town
Time needed
2 hours

Tip Look up: the carving is in the beams and roof brackets, not at eye level. It is quieter than the East-line villages and better for a slow wander.

Shicheng

Autumn colour · In the pass

Shicheng

A tiny walled hamlet in the far northwest, ringed by gnarled trees that turn a deep red in November. At dawn, mist settles between the old walls and the white cottages, and the village all but vanishes — the second of Wuyuan's two great photographs, and the reason serious photographers visit in autumn rather than spring.

Ticket
Included in the ¥210 pass · ¥60 single
Hours
Best at dawn, November
Where
Gutan township, northwest Wuyuan
Getting there
One minibus a day from the county town; easier to charter from Qinghua
Time needed
Half a day

Tip The single daily minibus leaves the county town in the morning and returns about 11:00–12:00, so it does not work for a dawn visit. Charter a car from Qinghua the night before if you want the mist.

Eating

What Wuyuan tastes like

Wuyuan cooking inherits the Huizhou tradition but leans on steaming and 'paste' dishes, and runs spicy. If you want it mild, tell the kitchen before you order.

Bag-tied red carp (hebao hong liyu)

Wuyuan's signature dish, and the 'red' of its four-colour trademark: a carp raised in the terraced paddies, the colour of a silk purse, steamed whole. Few bones, firm sweet flesh and a clear broth — quite unlike ordinary carp.

Steamed pork with rice flour

A Huizhou classic done in the Wuyuan way: pork rolled in toasted ground rice and steamed over lotus root, so it comes out soft, rich and faintly sweet, the fat turned to something tender rather than greasy.

'Paste tofu' (hu doufu)

The first dish to a Wuyuan banquet: soft tofu cooked down with minced meat, dried shrimp and stock into a thick, savoury paste, finished with coriander or spring onion. Fresh and very moreish — a spoon over rice and it is a meal.

Steamed rice cake (zhengqi gao)

Breakfast, and the one Wuyuan locals eat most mornings: a thin sheet of rice batter steamed with mushroom, dried shrimp and bean sprouts, then scattered with spring onion and chilli oil. The best ones come from homely roadside stalls.

Sweet-and-sour goose neck

Not actually goose neck: minced pork mixed with bean flour, rolled in a tofu skin into a neck-thick cylinder, fried and glazed sweet-and-sour. A Wuyuan banquet dish, sharp and moreish and unlike anything on a standard menu.

Local rice wine

Home-brewed in the villages and sold everywhere; lighter and sweeter than the factory kind. Try the osmanthus and plum versions, but mind the alcohol — the aftertaste is deceptive.

Where to eat

Restaurants worth the address

Phone numbers are local landlines; add +86 and drop the leading 0 if calling from abroad.

Local · Very popular

Cunli Cunwai (Village Inside and Out)

One of the most popular restaurants in the county town, the kind Wuyuan people go to themselves. The local dishes are done properly and the service is attentive — but it gets crowded and loud, and you may have to wait for a table.

Order
Bag-tied red carp, steamed pork with rice flour, paste tofu
Where
162 Wengong North Road, the county town
Phone
0793-7367977
Spend
About ¥48 a head

Tea house · In the village

Guangming Tea House (Likeng)

Inside Likeng, sitting over the little bridges and water. Upstairs there is a viewing platform looking over the whole white-walled town, and the tea-house menu does good local food with a rare view. A perfect place to stop halfway through the village.

Order
Local dishes; a pot of tea with the view
Where
Inside Likeng village
Phone
0793-7370999
Spend
About ¥46 a head

Farmhouse · Xiaoqi

Old House Restaurant (Lao Wu)

A busy farmhouse restaurant inside the Xiaoqi scenic area, cooking over a wood stove — the rice in particular tastes of it. Order the braised carp, the greens-and-mushroom soup and the paste tofu, and sit down to a proper country meal.

Order
Braised carp, greens with mushroom, paste tofu
Where
Xiaoqi, Wuyuan
Phone
0793-7297402
Spend
About ¥40 a head

Wine shop · Rainbow Bridge

Zha Ji Wine House

A branch of the well-known local wine house by Rainbow Bridge, where you can taste before you buy and the owner will talk you through the range. The osmanthus and plum wines suit a low tolerance; some varieties are stronger than they taste.

Order
Osmanthus wine, plum wine, glutinous rice wine
Where
Rainbow Bridge scenic area, Qinghua
Spend
About ¥15 a head

Restaurant · By the North Bus Station

Wei Fu

A larger, more polished restaurant directly opposite the North Bus Station, designated by the county tourism office and popular for banquets. The kitchen covers Wuyuan specialities plus Hangzhou and Sichuan dishes. Prices are on the higher side for the county, but the setting is clean and smart.

Order
Wuyuan specialities plus Hangzhou and Sichuan dishes
Where
Opposite the North Bus Station, Dongsheng Road
Phone
0793-7210777
Spend
About ¥70 a head

Sleeping

Where to stay

Farmhouse guesthouses are the way to do Wuyuan — around ¥50–100 a room, more in the bloom fortnight, Lantern Festival and National Day. Book ahead in those weeks.

Heritage guesthouse · from ¥110

Ligeng Tang

The best-known guesthouse inside the Xiaoqi scenic area, at the entrance arch of the village, and the subject of features in Chinese and foreign media. Richly Huizhou in feel, with restored rooms, a small gallery of antiques and a courtyard for collectors to gather.

Price
Rooms from ¥110
Where
Inside the Xiaoqi scenic area, Jiangwan town
Phone
0793-7201837

Hotel · from ¥411

Wuyuan International Hotel

The county town's flagship five-star, on the busy folk-custom street next to the old folk museum, about 30 km from Jiangwan. Big, modern and comfortable, with wifi, breakfast and fine views from the upper floors — the pick if you want a proper hotel rather than a farmhouse.

Price
Rooms from ¥411
Where
128 Wenbo Road, the county town
Phone
0793-7388888

Budget hotel · from ¥208

Super 8 (Qianshuiwan)

A clean, modern economy hotel with rooms, restaurant, business and meeting facilities, near the bus station, supermarkets and the food street. Seven floors, 24-hour hot water and free toiletries — a safe, simple base in the county town.

Price
Rooms from ¥208
Where
221 Wengong North Road, the county town
Phone
0793-7215666

Inn · from ¥97

Chaxiang Tea House Inn

A century-old house inside Likeng, between the little bridges and the water. Two floors: the ground floor for tea and lounging, the upper floor for meals, with rooms in the side wing. Modern bathrooms and 24-hour hot water — quiet after the day-trippers leave.

Price
Rooms from ¥97
Where
Tongji Bridge head, Likeng, Qiukou town
Phone
0793-7370291

Farmhouse · from ¥60

Hong Village Farmhouse Courtyard

A 1970s timber Huizhou house in Hong Village (a North-line stop) with six guest rooms and a host who cooks the local dishes properly. Travellers gather for a home-cooked meal — the cheapest and most sociable way to stay in Wuyuan.

Price
Rooms from ¥60
Where
115 Hong Village, Qinghua town
Phone
13850083592

Getting around

Arriving, and moving between villages

Wuyuan is spread out and the villages are gated. Plan your transport before the sightseeing.

By high-speed rail

The easiest way in now: Wuyuan Station sits on the Hefei–Fuzhou high-speed line, a few minutes from the county town. It has transformed access to what was once a place you had to reach by bus.

Station
Wuyuan Station (Hefei–Fuzhou high-speed line)
To the county town
A few minutes by taxi
Good from
Huangshan, Shangrao, Hefei, Fuzhou

By air

Wuyuan has no airport of its own. The nearest is Shangrao Sanqingshan (SQD); Jingdezhen and Tunxi (Huangshan) airports are also close, all within about two hours by road.

Nearest
Shangrao Sanqingshan (SQD)
Also close
Jingdezhen, Tunxi (Huangshan)
To Wuyuan
About 1.5–2 hours by road from any of them

By road

Wuyuan is bounded by four directions of highway: east from Quzhou (150 km), south from Shangrao and Yingtan, west from Jingdezhen and Jiujiang, and north from Huangshan (120 km, about 2 hours). Much of the loveliest scenery is on the lanes between the villages, so the drive is part of the point.

From Huangshan
About 120 km, 2 hours
From Jingdezhen
About 85 km, 1.5 hours
From Shangrao
About 170 km, 3.5 hours
From Quzhou (Zhejiang)
About 150 km, 2.5 hours

Local minibuses

Village-to-village transport is by minibus from the Wuyuan bus station. They mostly leave the villages early and return by early afternoon, so the useful window is roughly 09:00–14:00.

Fare
About ¥6–10 by distance
Best hours
Roughly 09:00–14:00
Note
Some villages have no direct minibus; you may need to change at Qinghua, Jiangwan or Fuchun

Car and driver

Almost every visitor ends up chartering a car, because the villages are scattered and the buses are thin. A sedan with a driver runs about ¥300 a day; a minibus for a group about ¥500 — worth it the moment you are three or more people.

Sedan
About ¥300 a day
Minibus
About ¥500 a day
Note
Prices rise in the golden-week holidays; agree the route and the price before you set off

Do not accept unsolicited offers from drivers at the station. Use your guesthouse or a reputable company, agree the full-day route and price in advance, and start early.

Bicycle

Hiring a bike is the most relaxed way to see the countryside, at ¥20–30 a day. Be warned that the terrain rolls and climbs, the lanes can carry fast traffic, and one of the East-line stretches runs along a cliff edge — ride it only if you are confident.

Hire
About ¥20–30 a day
Terrain
Rolling, with some steep climbs
Watch out
Some lanes are narrow and alongside drops

Shopping

What to take home

Buy tea and inkstones in the villages, where they are cheaper and you can see what you are getting. The county-town shops mark things up.

Wuyuan green tea

The 'green' of the four colours, grown on the hills since the Tang and recorded in Lu Yu's Classic of Tea — bright, faintly sweet and quite different from the roasted teas of Fujian or Guangdong. Taste before you buy.

Longwei inkstone (She inkstone)

One of China's four great inkstones, cut from Longwei Mountain and, because Wuyuan was once part of Shezhou, also called a She inkstone. Look for the fine grain and the sound; a good one is a lifetime object, a cheap one is a paperweight.

Jialu oil-paper umbrellas

Handsome, light, old-fashioned umbrellas that have travelled with Huizhou merchants since the Ming and Qing — pretty, practical and a fine gift, especially for anyone who lives somewhere rainy.

Mountain produce and rice wine

Dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tea oil and wood ear from the hills, plus the home-brewed rice wines. Light, local and easy to carry — check what will clear customs before you load up.

Practical

The numbers to save

Staffed English help is thin in Wuyuan. Save these before you need them.

Emergency (police / ambulance / fire)110 · 120 · 119
Wuyuan People's Hospital47 Beimen Street · 0793-7348258
Wuyuan Chinese Medicine Hospital54 Nanmen Street · 0793-7351413
Post office30 Tianyou East Road, Ziyang town · 0793-7357626
Tourism bureau0793-7343605
MoneyICBC, CCB, ABC and Bank of China all have branches in the county town; banks open about 13:30–18:00
Ticket ruleThe pass must be activated within three hours of purchase — it voids if unused
SafetyThe county is safe and the people genuine; in the off-season avoid walking remote trails alone

Tips

Small things that save a trip

Be in a village at dawn

Wuyuan's beauty is in the morning mist, and it is gone within an hour of the first tour bus. Sleep in a village the night before rather than driving out in the dark.

Keep the pass — you will be checked

The ¥210 pass covers 14 villages and is checked on entry at each, so do not throw it away, and activate it within three hours of buying it.

Do not skip Huangling over the ticket

Huangling is not on the pass and needs its own ticket and cable car, and some budget-minded visitors skip it. Do not — the drying racks are the single most photographed image in China, and the cable car view is worth the ride.

Agree the route and price before the car moves

If you charter a driver, fix the full-day route and the total price before you set off, and start early enough to be at Jiangling or another sight by dawn if that is the plan.

Tell the kitchen if you want it mild

Wuyuan food is Huizhou and often hot. Locals are happy to tone it down, but they will not unless you ask, and by then the wok has already gone in.

Layers and rain gear, whatever the forecast

The county is hilly and the temperature swings hard between dawn and midday; spring and the June–July plum rains bring sudden wet. Bring a waterproof and something warm for the dawn start.

Background

Why Wuyuan looks like this

Geography and climate

Wuyuan lies in the far northeast of Jiangxi, where the province meets Anhui and Zhejiang, and it is a county of hills and river valleys — the reason its villages are scattered among the slopes and streams rather than gathered on a plain. The upper reaches of the Le'an and other rivers cut through it, and the terraces that carry the rapeseed are cut into exactly this hilly ground.

The climate is mid-subtropical: warm and wet, four distinct seasons, an average around 17°C. Spring brings the rapeseed in late March and early April, summer the heat and, in June and July, the plum rains, autumn the red maples, and winter the New Year customs — lantern-lighting, dragon dances — under a cold sky. The county's worth visiting in more than one season, which is rare in a place this famous for a single two-week flower.

History and culture

For most of its recorded history Wuyuan was part of old Huizhou, the prefecture that also covered the villages of southern Anhui, and it shares their culture: Huizhou architecture, Huizhou food, and, most of all, Huizhou learning. The prefecture was famous for producing scholars and officials — it was nicknamed 'Zou-Lu of the Southeast', after the birthplaces of Mencius and Confucius, no small boast — and the county's ancestral halls and stone-flagged merchant lanes are the physical record of that.

Among the names it produced are the Song scholar Zhu Xi and the modern engineer Zhan Tianyou, the 'father of China's railways'. Wuyuan was shuffled between Anhui and Jiangxi in the twentieth century before settling in Jiangxi in 1949. Today its four seasons of village life, and its self-conscious title of 'China's most beautiful countryside', have made it one of the country's most-visited rural destinations — which is both its fortune and, in the rapeseed fortnight, its chief problem.

Travel with them

Wuyuan on screen and in print

Not guides — a TV drama, two books and a song, made here or about living here.

TV drama

Lone Hero (Gujun Yingxiong)

Dir. Meng Fan, 2012

A 34-part war drama set in 1942 among the New Fourth Army in the south, and shot entirely on location on Wuyuan's hills — the crew spent months up there for the sake of the light and the landscape. Watching it is a good way to see the county's hills and water before you go.

Book

Mr Gao's Village Life in Wuyuan

Gao Laoye and Gao Laoye's Wife

A hit Chinese forum thread turned book: a Shanghai office-worker couple describing their rural life in a Wuyuan village, a kind of Chinese 'A Year in Provence'. Plain, warm and funny, and the best cure for anyone who thinks they would rather be here than at work.

Book

Wuyuan Village Countryside

Qin Jian

Part of the 'Chinese Rural Image' series, a photographic record of the county's villages, houses, bridges and memorial arches, with notes on transport, lodging and photography. If you want to know which village to see first, it is a good place to start.

Music

Moon Bay (Yueliang Wan)

Tong Li

A sweet, gentle song that takes the name of the little crescent island near the county town and drifts through the dream-like Jiangnan of 'Spring in Dream'. Play it on the drive to Moon Bay at dawn and it is exactly the mood the place is selling.

The questions visitors ask us most about Wuyuan, answered plainly.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.

When do the rapeseed flowers bloom in Wuyuan?

Late March to early April, with the peak shifting a week either way by year — Jiangling has the biggest and most photographed terraces. The mild downside is that it is also the busiest place in the county, so go at dawn and early in the week. Outside this fortnight, Wuyuan is green, quiet and far cheaper.

Is Wuyuan worth visiting outside spring?

Yes — autumn is the second peak. In November the maples at Shicheng turn red and the villagers at Huangling dry chillies, corn and persimmons on bamboo trays, giving you the other great Wuyuan image. Summer is lush and wet, and winter is bare but atmospheric, with the New Year and Lantern Festival customs.

How do I get around Wuyuan's villages?

The villages are scattered across the county and linked by local minibuses costing ¥6–10 that mostly run mid-morning. Because they are slow and infrequent, most visitors hire a car and driver for about ¥300 a day, which lets you chain villages on your own schedule. Cycling works but the roads roll and climb.

Do I need the Wuyuan village pass?

If you plan to see several villages, yes — the five-day pass is ¥210 and covers 14 villages, versus ¥60 for a single village. Huangling is not included and needs its own ticket and cable car, and Jiangwan sells separately at ¥120. Activate the pass within three hours of buying it.

What should I eat in Wuyuan?

Huizhou cooking with a Wuyuan twist: heavy on steaming and 'paste' dishes, and generally spicy. Order the bag-tied red carp, steamed pork with rice flour, 'paste tofu', the steamed rice cake for breakfast, and sweet-and-sour goose neck, washed down with local rice wine. Tell the cook if you want it mild.

What is the best thing to buy in Wuyuan?

The 'four colours of Wuyuan' — red (the pouched red carp), green (Wuyuan green tea), black (Longwei inkstones from the She inkstone family) and white (Jiangwan snow pears). Add oil-paper umbrellas from Jialu and dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Buy tea and inkstones in the villages, not the county-town shops.

Can I combine Wuyuan with Huangshan or Sanqingshan?

Easily. Huangshan is about two hours north by road, and Sanqingshan is a bus ride away to the east. Many travellers thread Wuyuan between the two as a village-and-countryside break between the granite peaks. Jingdezhen, the porcelain city, is 1.5 hours west.

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  • The rapeseed window is late March to early April; the autumn colour peaks in November at Shicheng and Huangling.
  • Villages run along an East line, a North line and a thin West line, strung far apart.
  • The tourist-group village pass is ¥210 for five days and covers 14 villages; single-village tickets are ¥60.

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