I was checking for a trip to ZhangJiaJie on Ctrip and 'strayed' instead to other destinations by train. I discovered that WuYiShan is about two hours from Shanghai and it has two UNESCO world heritage sites.
We booked a 4 Days WuYiShan Free and Easy trip, inclusive of a tour guide, entrance fees to all attractions, and transportation.
Itinerary
Day One : Train from Shanghai to WuYiShan - Hotel - DaHongPao Impression
Day Two: Tian You Feng - JiuQu Stream Rafting - WuYiTemple - DaWang Feng
Day Three: DaHongPao Tea Plantation - Rest/Lunch - YiXianTian - HuXiao Cliff, YuNu Peak
Day One
Train from Shanghai To WuYiShan
It was my first time to the HongQiao train station, and it was massive. We departed at 12:57pm.
The train was modern and punctual. The passengers talked, chatted, watched videos on their mobile devices and played cards. While the trained stopped at a few stations, the noise was 'non-stop'.
Passenger across the aisle on mobile:"I might be transferred to ChongMing Island. It would not be easy as compared to Shanghai," Talk Talk Talk Talk.
Ladies behind us :"The strategy for the card game is complex..." Talk Talk Talk amongst them.
It was a rather noisy journey. At last, the train arrived at WuYiShan East station.
XiaoWang, our tour guide was at the train station to meet us. We checked into the hotel, and arranged the meeting time with XiaoWang for tomorrow, and got the tickets for DaHongPao Impression show.
The sitting stage is on a rotating platform, and the scene 'changed' as the platform rotated. Many of the audience members took photos and video as the show progressed. One of the ushers pointed a beam of light to the lady beside me who had leaned much too forward to take the video. The battle of the beam and video-taking ensued. The lady won as she simply ignored the beam. The group behind me chatted non-stop about their day.
The show ended and we walked back to our hotel.
Day Two
Morning
XiaoWang met us at the hotel. There were two entrances (North and South) for the QuYiShan sightseeing. Buses operate within the park, stopping at the scenic spots. We proceeded to the South Gate to Climb Tian You Feng .
Afternoon
We took the bus to the pier for the JiuQu Stream Rafting . The rafting ended at WuYi Temple.
WuYiTemple
We had a quick walk on the the Song shopping street, WuYi Temple and to see the 900+ years old tree on the WuYi Temple compound.
We then climbed DaWangFeng . After our climb, we walked back to the hotel, had dinner and took a nice stroll.
We climbed about 179 floors at the end of day one, Amazing!
Day Three
Morning
We entered the park from the North Gate for DaHongPao having told XiaoWang that we would be walking from DaHongPao to ShuiLianDong .
Afternoon
We lunched, went to YiXianTian and then climbed HuXiao Cliff and walked to YuNu Peak .
We bid XiaoWang farewell, and took a bus to WuYi Temple to walk back to the hotel via the river bank.
There was a hive of activity by the river. It was interesting to see the ladies washing their laundry and vegetables along the river bank (I wonder if they would do a separate rinse of the vegetables again?).
Day Four
A van picked us from the hotel for the train station. We had exited the train station without going into the station when we first arrived. The train station is huge (good for the Chinese New Year crowd?).
We boarded the train for Shanghai to the usual rhythm of chatting, passengers coming and going.
We arrived at Shanghai punctually.
Thoughts
There were many more domestic tourists than before, thus it is still preferable to travel during the off-peak or shoulder seasons to avoid the crowd.
It has been a few years since I last travelled out of Shanghai to other parts of China. Transportation and bookings of tours have become very convenient via the various websites such as Ctrip.
On the Same Trip:
Climbing TianYou Feng
Nine Bend(JiuQu) Stream Rafting
Climbing DaWang Feng
Walking DaHongPao to ShuiLianDong(Water Curtain Cave)
A short walk of Left YiXianTian
Climbing Tiger Roar Rock (HuXiao Cliff), Walk YuNu Peak
Hotel : YueHwa Hotel (Very good and Convenient)
Itinerary
Day One : Train from Shanghai to WuYiShan - Hotel - DaHongPao Impression
Day Two: Tian You Feng - JiuQu Stream Rafting - WuYiTemple - DaWang Feng
Day Three: DaHongPao Tea Plantation - Rest/Lunch - YiXianTian - HuXiao Cliff, YuNu Peak
Day Four : Train back to Shanghai
(thanks to Annie who negotiated a favorable deal for the trip :)Day One
Train from Shanghai To WuYiShan
It was my first time to the HongQiao train station, and it was massive. We departed at 12:57pm.
The train was modern and punctual. The passengers talked, chatted, watched videos on their mobile devices and played cards. While the trained stopped at a few stations, the noise was 'non-stop'.
Passenger across the aisle on mobile:"I might be transferred to ChongMing Island. It would not be easy as compared to Shanghai," Talk Talk Talk Talk.
Ladies behind us :"The strategy for the card game is complex..." Talk Talk Talk amongst them.
It was a rather noisy journey. At last, the train arrived at WuYiShan East station.
XiaoWang, our tour guide was at the train station to meet us. We checked into the hotel, and arranged the meeting time with XiaoWang for tomorrow, and got the tickets for DaHongPao Impression show.
DaHongPao Impression
I was not keen to watch the show but it was included in the tour. I was surprised by the number of audience members(maybe the show is included in many tour packages?). Before the show started, an announcer informed the audience not to video, talk and take flash photography of the show.
I was not keen to watch the show but it was included in the tour. I was surprised by the number of audience members(maybe the show is included in many tour packages?). Before the show started, an announcer informed the audience not to video, talk and take flash photography of the show.
The sitting stage is on a rotating platform, and the scene 'changed' as the platform rotated. Many of the audience members took photos and video as the show progressed. One of the ushers pointed a beam of light to the lady beside me who had leaned much too forward to take the video. The battle of the beam and video-taking ensued. The lady won as she simply ignored the beam. The group behind me chatted non-stop about their day.
The show ended and we walked back to our hotel.
Day Two
Morning
XiaoWang met us at the hotel. There were two entrances (North and South) for the QuYiShan sightseeing. Buses operate within the park, stopping at the scenic spots. We proceeded to the South Gate to Climb Tian You Feng .
Afternoon
We took the bus to the pier for the JiuQu Stream Rafting . The rafting ended at WuYi Temple.
WuYiTemple
We had a quick walk on the the Song shopping street, WuYi Temple and to see the 900+ years old tree on the WuYi Temple compound.
We then climbed DaWangFeng . After our climb, we walked back to the hotel, had dinner and took a nice stroll.
We climbed about 179 floors at the end of day one, Amazing!
Day Three
Morning
We entered the park from the North Gate for DaHongPao having told XiaoWang that we would be walking from DaHongPao to ShuiLianDong .
Afternoon
We lunched, went to YiXianTian and then climbed HuXiao Cliff and walked to YuNu Peak .
We bid XiaoWang farewell, and took a bus to WuYi Temple to walk back to the hotel via the river bank.
There was a hive of activity by the river. It was interesting to see the ladies washing their laundry and vegetables along the river bank (I wonder if they would do a separate rinse of the vegetables again?).
Day Four
A van picked us from the hotel for the train station. We had exited the train station without going into the station when we first arrived. The train station is huge (good for the Chinese New Year crowd?).
We boarded the train for Shanghai to the usual rhythm of chatting, passengers coming and going.
We arrived at Shanghai punctually.
Thoughts
There were many more domestic tourists than before, thus it is still preferable to travel during the off-peak or shoulder seasons to avoid the crowd.
It has been a few years since I last travelled out of Shanghai to other parts of China. Transportation and bookings of tours have become very convenient via the various websites such as Ctrip.
On the Same Trip:
Climbing TianYou Feng
Nine Bend(JiuQu) Stream Rafting
Climbing DaWang Feng
Walking DaHongPao to ShuiLianDong(Water Curtain Cave)
A short walk of Left YiXianTian
Climbing Tiger Roar Rock (HuXiao Cliff), Walk YuNu Peak
Other Information
Tour Price :Hotel : YueHwa Hotel (Very good and Convenient)