Gubei Water Town: A 2-Day, 1-Night Travelogue

Gubei Water Town is about 135 km from the city center, a 2–2.5-hour drive. I recommend staying overnight because there are drone shows, light and water dance shows, and the chance to night-tour Simatai Great Wall or overlook the water town. Overall, the travel experience in Gubei Water Town is good and services are mature. Here are a few points for your reference.

1. About driving. If you are staying in the water town, you can drive to Parking Lot P1, which is free. Because the parking lot is still a walk from the main entrance and the hotels inside the scenic area, there is a luggage delivery service on the right side of the P1 entrance. You can have your luggage sent directly to your hotel (usually taking about 1 hour). Then you can take the free shuttle bus into the scenic area to play. The shuttle bus is also free for hotel guests (just show the yellow registration slip).

2. About hotels. If your budget allows, I highly recommend the pinnacle of private baths — Shisanmei Hotel. It’s on Wangjing Street, very convenient for seeing Sun Moon Island and the light and water dance show. The rooms have an oversized outdoor soaking pool (four walls for great privacy), a sauna, and free decorations for birthdays, proposals, and such.

3. About getting around the scenic area. The area is not large — only 1.5 km from west to east, so walking is not very tiring. Of course, you can also choose a rowing boat to enjoy the unique Jiangnan water-town scenery; the whole boat ride takes about 30 minutes. Free shuttle buses are also available for hotel guests inside the scenic area.

4. About activities. Highly recommended ones are DIY plant dyeing and paper lantern making. Next to Wangjing Street, the Water Town Food Street has all kinds of specialty snacks, like Bridge Head Cake, mutton soup, skewers, and snail noodles — all substantial and filling. Night tours are also a major feature of the water town. The drone sky lantern show (at Sun Moon Island), the drone performance show (visible from Sun Moon Island, Shushe Hotel, and Hilltop Church), and the light and water dance show (3D lights + fountain + music + story) all start around 8 p.m. The performances are excellent and well worth watching. They repeat several times each night; check the water town’s mini-program for the schedule. Note that drone shows can be affected by weather, so check in advance. When it’s crowded, there may be access limits, so arrive early to grab a good spot. Of course, Simatai Great Wall is also a very good choice — the cable car ride up takes only 7 minutes. One important thing: Simatai Great Wall has a clearing period from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and does not admit visitors during that time. Don’t waste a trip.

5. About time planning.

If you follow a 2-day, 1-night plan:

Day 1: After arriving around noon, you can check your luggage and take the shuttle to Wangjing Street. Sample the various snacks, then walk from Sun Moon Island to the Water Street Historical Area, passing Yuelao Temple, Yinghua Academy, Yongshun Dyehouse, Simatai Xiao Shao, and Yuantong Pagoda Temple along the way. Then, take the shuttle bus to Cloud Coffee to enjoy the sunset before heading down for dinner. After eating and drinking your fill, follow the performance schedule to watch the drone show and the light and water dance show. After the shows, go back to your hotel for a soothing hot spring soak.

Day 2: Go up the mountain or take the cable car to Simatai Great Wall. The visit takes about 1.5–2 hours. After coming down, take a rowing boat from the foot of the mountain straight to the hotel visitor center at the main entrance (in the morning before you set out, ask the hotel to send your luggage to the parking lot).

The second day happened to be Xiaoman (Grain Buds), so I’ll end this travelogue with a poem:

Flowers not yet in full bloom, the moon not round;

Half-drunk on the hillside, we savor the joy that’s left.

Why fret over gain and loss, waxing and waning?

In the end, a little fullness surpasses everything.