Location: 12 km outside Muyuzhen 木鱼镇, the tourist center in Shennongjia, and 4 1/2 km from the entrance to Guanmenshan 官门山景区 and Shennongtan 神农坛景区 scenic areas. For maps and details about the entire Shennongjia Geopark, see this post. The entrance to Tianshengqiao: The scenic area is rather small, one hour is enough. It's crowded and … Continue reading Shennongjia – Tianshengqiao scenic area 神农架 天生桥 →

Hubei Province, Shennongjia UNESCO Global Geopark of China 湖北省 神农架世界地质公园 Official web site: English and Chinese How to get there: 4 hours by bus from Yichang Central Bus Station 宜昌中心站 to Muyu Zhen (Muyuzhen) 木鱼镇. Yichang is the second largest city in the province, and Muyu Zhen is the main tourist center in Shennongjia. The bus … Continue reading Shennongjia 神农架 →

Location: Hebei Province, Laiyuan County 河北省 涞源县 Official website (quite useful, in Chinese): http://zx.mimk.cn/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=lists&catid=53 How to get there: 2 1/2 hours nonstop by highway bus from Peking Yongdingmen Bus Station 北京水定门客运站 to Laiyuan County, and from there 30 minutes by bus or taxi. We spent a full day (7 hours) in the scenic area. If … Continue reading Baishishan (White Stone Mountain) 白石山 →

Location: Hebei Province, Laiyuan County 河北省 涞源县 Official website (quite useful, in Chinese): http://zx.mimk.cn/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=lists&catid=55 How to get there: 2 1/2 hours nonstop by highway bus from Peking Yongdingmen Bus Station 北京水定门客运站 to Laiyuan County, and from there 30 minutes by car. We spent 3 hours in the scenic area. Entrance: 50 yuan. Time of visit: … Continue reading Xianrenyu Valley 仙人峪 →

Hebei Province, Laiyuan County, Wulonggou changcheng 河北省 涞源县 乌龙沟长城 Official website (quite useful, in Chinese): http://zx.mimk.cn/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=lists&catid=63 How to get there: 2 1/2 hours nonstop by highway bus from Peking Yongdingmen Bus Station 北京水定门客运站 to Laiyuan County, and from there one hour by taxi (around 100 yuan) to Wulonggou (there are also buses, but they are … Continue reading Wulonggou Great Wall 乌龙沟长城 →

Location: Peking, Haidian District  北京 海淀区 Official website (in Chinese): http://www.bjfhl.com/ How to get there: Subway line 16 to Beianhe 北安河 and then bus 16 to the entrance. An alternative route: Bus 346 from the Summer Palace (Xiyuan junction 西苑枢纽站), 45 minutes. Time needed in the scenic area: at least half a day.

Location: Peking, Yanqing District 北京 延庆区 Official website in English and Chinese How to get there: 80-90 minutes by highway bus 919 from Deshengmen 德胜门 to Yanqing. The buses are very frequent. The route passes close to the Great Wall. From Yanqing it's a 20 minutes ride by taxi (or local bus Y43) to the entrance. … Continue reading Beijing Longqingxia Ravine (Gorge) 北京 龙庆峡 →

Location: Chongqing City, Yunyang County, Longgang National Geological Park 重庆市 云阳县 龙缸国家地质公园 Official website (in Chinese): http://www.cqyylg.com/ How to get there: Bus/car from Lichuan City 利川市 (2 hours) or from Fengjie County 奉节县 (3 1/2 hours). Chongqing City is 6 hours away. Time of visit: October 2017 It's a very beautiful place, but the fog was … Continue reading Yunyang Longgang (“Dragon Jar”) (云阳龙缸) →

Location: Chongqing City, Fengjie County, Xinglong Village 重庆市 奉节县 兴隆镇 Note: This place is often confused with another famous scenic area with a similar name in Wulong 武隆 district, which also belongs to Chongqing City. These two Tiankeng Difeng ("Heaven Pit Earth Crack") 天坑地缝 are far away from each other, 6-7 hours by car. See … Continue reading Tiankeng Difeng (“Heaven Pit Earth Crack”) 天坑地缝 →

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi City, Taiyanghe Village湖北省 恩施市 太阳河乡 Official website: www.sbysl.cn/ Time of visit: October 2017 How to get there: Bus from Enshi City Guabangyan Bus Station 恩施挂榜岩车站 (also called Qiaoxi, Western Bridge, Station 桥西车站), to Taiyanghe 太阳河. The bus stops just outside the entrance to the stone forest.We spent 3 hours in the scenic … Continue reading Suobuya Stone Forest 梭步垭石林 →

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Prefecture, Jianshi County, Huaping Village 湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 建始县 花坪乡 Official website (in Chinese): http://www.yesanhe.com/ Time of visit: October 2017 How to get there: Bus from Enshi City Guabangyan Bus Station 恩施挂榜岩车站 (also called Qiaoxi, Western Bridge, Station 桥西车站), to Huaping 花坪. The buses leave Enshi 7:00 and 9:30, and return from … Continue reading Yesanxia 野三峡 (Yesanhe 野三河) – Huangheqiao (Crane Bridge) Peak Forest Canyon 黄鹤桥峰林峡谷 →

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Prefecture, Jianshi County, Gaoping Village 湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 建始县 高坪镇 The official name changed from Shimenhe to Enshi Dixingu (Geocentric Valley) in 2019. Official website in Chinese and in English . Time of visit: October 2017 How to get there: Bus from Enshi City Guabangyan Bus Station 恩施挂榜岩车站 (also called Qiaoxi, Western Bridge, Station … Continue reading Shimenhe “Stone Door River” = Enshi Dixingu (Geocentric Valley) 石门河 (恩施地心谷) →

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Prefecture, Lichuan City 湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 利川市 How to get there: Less than 30 minutes by taxi from Lichuan City. Time needed in the scenic area: half a day. No entrance, no tickets. During the 4 hours we spent here, we only met a couple of singing peasants, no tourists. Time of … Continue reading Qingjiang Ancient Riverbed (Gu Hechuang) 清江古河床 →

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Prefecture, Xuan'en County 湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 宣恩县 Time of visit: October 2017 Official web site: http://www.shizig.cn/  (in Chinese) How to get there: One hour by car or bus from Enshi City to Xuan'en County, and another 20 minutes by car to Shiziguan. Time needed in the scenic area: half a day.

Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Prefecture, Lichuan City湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 利川市 Official websiteEnglish: http://en.tenglongdong.net.cn/index.htmlChinese: http://www.tenglongdong.net.cn The cave is located 7 kilometers outside Lichuan City, take Tenglong Avenue (腾龙大道) to Tourist Road (旅游路), it follows Qingjiang River (清江) all the way to the cave. It's a nice footpath well separated from the main road (which is not too … Continue reading Tenglongdong (Tenglong Cave) 腾龙洞 →

Not much detailed information is available in English; many photos (and info in Chinese) can be found here. Luyanping is a canyon close to Enshi Grand Canyon 恩施大峡谷, see this post for more details. How to get there: Around one hour by car from the Enshi Grand Canyon entrance. Our hotel helped us to find a … Continue reading Luyuanping Canyon 鹿院坪 →

Also referred to as Mufu Canyon 沐抚峡谷. Location: Hubei Province, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 湖北省 恩施土家族苗族自治州 Official website: Chinese  and  English  How to get there: One hour by tourist bus or taxi from Lichuan City 利川市, or 90 minutes from Enshi City 恩施市. Both cities are easily accessible by train. Time needed: One full … Continue reading Enshi Grand Canyon 恩施大峡谷 →

Location: Hunan Province, Chenzhou City, Suxian District  湖南省 郴州市 苏仙区 18 km from Chenzhou, 1/2 hour by taxi. Official web site in Chinese: http://www.feitianshan.net/article/. An English version is available here but it's not so useful. Feitianshan is close to Gaoyiling, a 30-40 minutes walk (difficult to find the way, but the locals are helpful), and then a … Continue reading Feitianshan (“Fly Heaven Mountain”) 飞天山 →

Hunan Province, Chenzhou City, Suxian District, on the border between Qiaokou Village and Zixing City 湖南省 郴州市 苏仙区 桥口镇与资兴市交界处 高椅岭风景区 For more information in Chinese and photos, see: Mafengwo and this site No tickets, no entrance. 40 minutes by bus or taxi from Chenzhou. Close to Feitianshan, the scenery is similar, but we liked Gaoyiling … Continue reading Gaoyiling 高椅岭 →

Hunan Province, Chenzhou City, Yizhang County, Mangshan National Forest Park 湖南省 郴州市 宜章县 莽山国家森林公园 Official website: http://www.chinaczms.com (only in Chinese, not a very useful site) It takes 3 hours by bus from Chenzhou City to Mangshan. The bus stops close to the ticket office. Time of visit: April 2018 There are 4 scenic areas. One … Continue reading Mangshan 莽山 →