From Suzhou to Quanzhou: How to Enjoy a Self-Drive Trip?

Suzhou--Lishui--Quanzhou--Fuzhou--Xiapu--Wenzhou--Hemudu Site--Suzhou

Total duration: nine days, mileage 2350 km, cost 10620 yuan.

July 30, 2022

First stop: The last secret land of Jiangnan—the paradise-like Yangjiatang Village

It's been a long time since I last went on a long self-drive trip.

Left home at 8:30, got a nucleic acid test, then had noodles, bought water and coffee, finally set off at 9:30.

Over 400 kilometers, arrived at the first stop at 4:30 PM, caught the last ray of sunlight, and saw for a few minutes the most famous "Golden Potala Palace" of Yangjiatang Village (the golden effect of sunlight on the yellow mud walls), then the sun hid behind thicker and thicker clouds.

In Yangjiatang, where there is no flat ground for three feet, more than 20 Qing Dynasty residences built with wood and earth extend upward along the slope, with a height difference of about 2 to 3 meters between upper and lower houses, presenting a huge building facade in view. It is a typical terraced ancient village in Songyang County. At the village entrance, there are two thousand-year-old camphor trees, beautifully called "husband and wife trees."

The century-old house converted into a guesthouse, with a duplex design and carefully selected furnishings, was somewhat stunning. After all, I had never lived in a house that naturally cools you down as soon as you enter the courtyard.

July 31, 2022

Before leaving, let's explore the culture of Yangjiatang Village.

"The culture of local sages is a product of Chinese agricultural civilization, an important bond guiding and inheriting Chinese civilization over centuries, with extensive and profound influence in rural areas. As a spiritual marker of a region, the culture of local sages has become a new way to explore the local cultural lineage in the new era, a new carrier to interpret local culture, and inject new impetus into rural development." — Excerpt from the preface of the Song Clan Hall.

Songyang Old Street, one store really supports the whole street [crying with laughter].

Fermented rice wine and large intestine noodles, just a heavy-flavored name.

Second stop: Songyang's Ancient Weir and Painting Town

At the entrance, the wide water surface is a tributary of the Oujiang River. On the map, it's just called "Daxi" (Big Stream), a very simple name. This was once an important trading hub, connecting mountain goods upstream and sending them downstream to Wenzhou.

On both sides of Daxi, one side is the Ancient Weir, where the national key cultural relic protection unit Tongji Weir built in 505 AD is located; the other side is the Painting Town, named for being a gathering place for artists to sketch and photograph.

The thousand-year-old camphor tree cluster is also a highlight, with the oldest being 1500 years old.

The national key cultural relic protection unit Tongji Weir is one of the five major water conservancy irrigation projects in ancient China, has existed for more than 1500 years, and still plays a huge irrigation role, benefiting the people of Bihu Plain. It is called the living Tongji Weir. Unfortunately, there has been no rain for too long, so I didn't see much today; it's not as spectacular as Dujiangyan.

Recently, there has been a severe water shortage. For nearly a month, rainfall has relied on artificial precipitation. Just in June, there was a 50-year flood. If future technology could balance floods and droughts, it would be perfect—even in the same place.

7:00 PM, rose-colored sunset over the Painting Town.

August 1, 2022

6:00 AM in the Painting Town.

No rain every day, 38°C every day, and not even a decent day to let the sun show its face properly. How annoying!

Third stop: Heyang Ancient Residences in Jinyun County

Built in the late Five Dynasties, it is a Yuan Dynasty ancient residence with a history of over a thousand years. 94% of Heyang villagers are surnamed Zhu. The area is known for its beautiful mountains and clear waters, simple folk customs, and the clan still lives together, continuing the tradition of farming and studying. It is a rare living fossil of ancient villages in Jiangnan, mainly with Huizhou-style architecture.

The Eight Scholars Gate, Rare Stones, and Weather Money all have stories. There are many ancestral halls, large and small; buying a ticket is for visiting the ancestral halls.

I encountered a group of children sketching, each with a parent providing full-time service: fanning, holding umbrellas, handing water, buying boxed lunches, pulling art tools. I chatted with one parent; her daughter has been going out sketching with the teacher for ten years, each time about ten days, not even aiming for art exams. Both parents and children are really not easy.

Jinyun local noodles and Jinyun flatbread (shenjiao) were available here and tasted good. The noodles were smooth and delicate, but not mushy; two poached eggs and a bowl of noodles cost 15 yuan. The flatbread was made fresh, with a filling of preserved vegetables (meigancai), crispy on the outside and chewy inside.

August 2, 2022

Fourth stop: Yanshixia Stone Village in Jinyun County

A barely two-lane winding mountain road, a clear indicator that the village was built to avoid war (in 1402).

Using local materials, large stones were used to build walls, small stones to fill gaps, and mud to plaster the cracks. With today's labor costs, it would be too expensive; though the government suggests unified architectural style, the dilapidated old houses won't be restored this way. A layer of stone veneer on the outside is the reality, some even using imitation stone stickers.

Picture six shows what is said to be wild Sichuan pepper, very fragrant. Touching it leaves a lingering fragrance on your hands that lasts a long time.

A painting town should have some paintings, right? In the morning, I visited an empty art exhibition and a creative district with no galleries open.

"In Paris, he often recalled the beauty of his homeland and took pleasure in reciting Dante's 'Divine Comedy' verses."

"Her friends called her 'Cocoa Nut' because of her light brown hair and beautiful milky-white skin. But what fascinated Modigliani were her strange eyes. Modigliani would tell her, 'Your eyes are the bluest I have ever seen.'"

"Seductive, dissolute, restless, but extremely talented—these were some of the distinctive characteristics of Amedeo Modigliani." — From the artist introduction at the exhibition.

What a neurotic artist image!

Ice grass jelly (bing xian cao) and cool tofu (bing liang fu), summer specialty snacks in Liandu, similar in texture to Chongqing's ice jelly, with mint water and sesame sugar. Refreshing, cool, with a grainy sugar and sesame aroma.

At the gate of the Ancient Weir Painting Town Art School.

Fifth stop: Quanzhou

Beautiful red frangipani, crystal-clear and smooth tender jellyfish-like soil shoot jelly (tu sun dong), chewy oyster omelet (o-a-tsian), ginger-rich ginger duck, motorbikes darting recklessly on the roads, all accompanied by the cross-strait crisis that seemed about to erupt—that's my first impression of Quanzhou.

From Lishui to Quanzhou, the highway service areas had no proper restaurants, so I had instant noodles at the service area for the first time [crying with laughter]. When traveling, you must have a hearty breakfast, then be able to have one good meal—that would be perfect.

A series of 22 km of tunnels was dizzying [crying with laughter]. While passing through the tunnels, we were also climbing, reaching up to 670 meters above sea level. One tunnel after another, with occasional glimpses of daylight for a dozen meters before going back in.

August 3, 2022

6:00 AM, applied plenty of mosquito repellent, went down to wander around the hotel's large garden. The temperature was not high, but humidity was extreme. After half an hour, the DSLR lens still had moisture.

I heard there are many temples in Quanzhou, but I didn't expect the first one to be in the hotel. There was a Taoyuan Ancient Temple in the garden. In this season, bodhi seeds fell all over the ground, rustling.

Plants in the south are tall and dense. Lantana can grow as big as oleander, and some trees have "hanging ghosts" (caterpillars). So besides the main path, I didn't dare go near the edges, afraid of snakes.

Eating in Quanzhou: too many delicious things, but my stomach is too small. Even though I gained two kilograms, walking 29,886 steps didn't help.

Quanzhou cuisine is light in flavor, with many snacks and desserts, which suits our taste very well.

World Heritage ancient city Quanzhou—Museum of World Religions. Numerous religious sites are scattered throughout the ancient city, mainly in Licheng District. They may be on street corners, at market entrances, in residential buildings, or beside main roads. In short, they are living, integrated into public life.

The Guanyue Temple has strong incense; you can divinate, draw lots, and even make donations via QR code.

Kaiyuan Temple: visit the East and West Pagodas and the Memorial Hall of Master Hong Yi.

Qingjing Mosque: an Islamic mosque. My daughter and I were not allowed in because our attire didn't meet requirements—no bare shoulders or knees.

In front of the Bronze Buddha Temple, there was a white orchid tree as tall as Suzhou's camphor trees. In the dark night, it was the fragrance that made me notice it.

Christian and Catholic churches are usually closed.

August 4, 2022

Continued in Quanzhou. Steps: 24,343.

Rice noodle soup with pig blood, Confucian Temple, Qingjing Mosque, Ancient House Teahouse, Lin's Green Bean Cake, Zeng's Rice Noodle Soup, Tianhou Temple (Mazu Temple), Deji Gate Site, Li Zhi's Former Residence, Deji Bridge Site, Quanzhou Museum, West Lake Park, Fangcao Garden for nucleic acid test, Puxian Little Yard for dinner, Puppet Bookstore.

Tea. On this trip, we drink tea every day. In Lishui, we brought our own tea set and tea leaves. At the hotel in Quanzhou, there was a Gongfu tea set and a bag of Tieguanyin. We drank before going out and after returning. Today at noon, we found an ancient house teahouse and drank for two hours, three packets of tea leaves, with three small dishes of homemade bayberry, dried tangerine peel, olives, and salted peanuts. It was so refreshing and comfortable. We caught a sudden shower, sitting under the eaves of the courtyard, watching the heavy rain turn into fine mist through the dense green roof—it was beautiful.

Transportation. On the first day, I realized that driving in Quanzhou requires intense concentration because electric scooters dart everywhere, even on motor vehicle lanes, and they turn right in front of your car while looking at their phones. You'll find scooters on sidewalks, pedestrian streets, and narrow alleys. Suddenly a horn blares behind you, scary enough to give you a heart attack. And any vehicle with a horn will honk without mercy.

Tourism. Quanzhou is an extremely tourist-friendly city. The old city area, Licheng District, is like one big scenic area. There are small buses similar to tourist shuttle buses, which stop on hand signals, have flexible routes, and can take you through the streets to attractions or any point, costing 2 yuan per person. There are also major brand shared scooters and public bicycles. Walking is not far, as attractions are quite concentrated. All attractions are free except Qingjing Mosque (3 yuan). I heard Qingyuan Mountain costs 70 yuan; we didn't go, as it's a bit far. Many attractions have QR codes for "Quanzhou Voice Guide"; scan to choose voice or text.

People of Quanzhou. They are the friendliest city people I've ever met. Wherever we went, they were very warm, willing to chat and introduce Quanzhou. The little bus drivers also seemed to act as tour guides, answering all questions.

Architecture. The orange-red color like carp and patterns similar to carp scales are external wall features. "Bricks protruding into stones," "white stone base, red brick wall, curved ridge roof," "swallowtail ridge," "swallow tail returning to ridge."

Quanzhou Museum. Really average. The tour route is unclear, almost zero museum souvenirs, and a bit hot.

Li Zhi's Former Residence. "Li Madman." The concept of equality was the core of Li Zhi's thought, manifested in equality between men and women, ethnic groups, sages and fools, and all things. His unconventional, daring spirit still has enlightening significance today. I studied him in high school history; it was an exam point, and I always found his ideas interesting.

Confucian Temple. The overall layout faces south with the left (east) as the learning area and the right (west) as the temple. The extraordinary architectural scale of Dacheng Hall reflects the economic and cultural prosperity brought to Quanzhou by maritime trade.

Quanzhou Tianhou Temple. I learned that the main goddess Mazu has 24 assistant deities—expanded my knowledge.

Qingjing Mosque is the oldest existing mosque in China built by Arab Muslims. Among the coastal mosques in Southeast China, except for Qingjing, all others have been sinicized into standard Chinese palace-style architecture. The "Yongle Imperial Edict" issued by Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) to protect Islamic mosques is one of the few texts I could understand there.

August 5, 2022

Aqing Snack Shop, Dongxing Zongzi (rice dumpling), visit friends in Fuzhou and try new Fujian cuisine, Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Xiaohao Beach in Xiapu to shoot sunset on a small hill.

Fuzhou belongs to Eastern Fujian, while Quanzhou and Xiamen are Southern Fujian. The languages and local cuisines are different. It reminded me of the Southern Jiangsu vs. Northern Jiangsu debate. Fuzhou is also called "Rongcheng" (Banyan City). As the car drove through the streets, the dense shade was beautiful.

The consequence of not doing homework: after dropping luggage and asking the butler, we rushed 25 kilometers, then climbed up to the viewing platform over 100 meters high, just catching the tail of the sunset glow.

August 6, 2022

Xiapu Banyan and Maple Forest, visit friends in Wenzhou, drink and eat seafood.

A photographer took photos for years, inadvertently capturing an old farmer and water buffalo walking out of the morning mist under the banyan tree, which won him a big award. That scene then became a business, driving the development of a small scenic area, a performance team, and several nearby guesthouses. It's almost impossible to shoot for free without paying.

First time in Wenzhou.

The dish names were interesting: basin vegetables, roast goose, flower balls, fish jelly, white balls, fish cake... Some names don't even hint at what the dish is.

August 7, 2022

Hemudu Site Park, North Bank Service Area of Hangzhou Bay Bridge.

In Hemudu Site Park, the Hemudu ancestors improved their water source by digging wells. This well is the earliest wooden well discovered in China, illustrating the origin of the Chinese character for "well" (jing).

There was a small exhibition on the agricultural technology revolution, quite interesting. China missed the first three revolutions, but for the fourth digital agriculture, China can do it. I still like to see advanced things, just as I like science fiction.

The world's largest tractor "BIG BUD."

The largest tractor in the world is Big Bud 747. It is very efficient, plowing 6 mu (0.4 hectares) per minute! It is also the most expensive tractor, and there is only one in the world. This tractor was custom-built by two brothers in 1977 at a cost of $300,000. They owned 400,000 mu of land and were super farmers in California, USA.

At the North Bank Service Area, I tried water mill rice cakes and red bean paste square cakes. For the first time, I ate freshly cooked rice cakes, hot and sticky, with a strong rice aroma. The red bean paste square cakes were also good, not too sweet.

End of the entire trip: nine days, 2350 km, cost 10,620 yuan.