Wuyuan

Background

Wuyuan, popularly called "China's most beautiful countryside", belongs to the historic Huizhou region; its best-known villages include Huangling, Jiangling, Likeng and Jiangwan. Most villages are built in the Huizhou style — white walls, black tiles and stepped horse-head gables — and the grove guarding the stream at each village entrance, ancestral halls, old bridges and flagstone lanes make up a complete village layout. Huangling has little flat land and climbs the hillside, so villagers dry their crops on the rooftops, a practice called shaiqiu; despite the name ("autumn drying"), it is not limited to autumn, as each season's crops are dried as they are harvested. Jiangling is known for its tiers of rapeseed terraces, Likeng for its little bridges over a stream lined with houses, and Jiangwan for Sanxing Hall and other old Huizhou buildings, as well as being a 5A scenic area. Accounts of when the villages were founded vary — Huangling, for example, is described both as "nearly six hundred years old" and as "founded in the mid-Ming". The villages are still lived in, not stage sets.

Local customs

• In spring, go to the Jiangling terrace viewpoints for seas of rapeseed blossom and morning mist
• visit Huangling's Sky Street, the shaiqiu viewing platforms and Huaxi Water Street for crop-drying scenes and terraces
• stroll along the stream in Likeng past old bridges and houses
• and see old Huizhou architecture in Jiangwan. In autumn, focus on Huangling's crop-drying
• according to guide materials, the red leaves around Shicheng are also worth seeing.

Travel tips

• The villages have lots of flagstone paths and Huangling has many steps, so wear non-slip flat shoes
• the spring blossom and autumn crop-drying seasons are peak times, so plan accommodation and transport between villages in advance
• ticket and combined-ticket rules vary by village, so refer to official announcements. Most visitors first go to Wuyuan's county town or Wuyuan Station, then link the villages by scenic-area transport or a hired car
• distances between villages vary, and if you drive, watch out for narrow country roads and peak-season traffic.
• Spring, the rapeseed blossom season, is the most famous
• autumn crop-drying and red leaves are a second peak
• summer is lush and green with fewer visitors, ideal for wandering the villages slowly
• winter is chilly and quiet, and some shops and services may scale back, depending on local conditions.