12-Day Family Road Trip along the Southeast Coast in an Electric Car

I had always wanted to take the whole family on a road trip along the southeast coast to see the sea, and this summer break we finally made it happen.

I started planning more than a month in advance and booked the hotels.

All preparations were made, buying a bunch of gear and medicine for heatstroke, sun protection, cold, mosquitoes, rain, and drowsiness. Each of the six family members carried one backpack, and we also had two suitcases for clothes.

For a summer trip to the sea, of course I wanted to give my beloved car a cool, ocean-like color, so I chose Glacier Blue.

My darling evolved from a cute big white to a cool black warrior, and now it has finally transformed into my favorite blue chubby one!

The first day didn't go as planned. We were delayed by something and only set off in the afternoon. We arrived at Ningbo's first scenic spot, Tianyi Pavilion, around 4 p.m. Tianyi Pavilion is the largest private library in Asia.

Because we arrived late, we couldn't get a guide. We finished visiting in about an hour without understanding much and didn't remember anything, except for a silly lion inside.

It was too hot. After visiting Tianyi Pavilion, we drove around the adjacent Yuehu Park for a while and then headed to the nearby Gulou Snack Street. We ate a bunch of snacks there for dinner. After eating, it was almost dark, so we strolled around Ningbo's Old Bund. There were many people walking, some old buildings, and the river view was okay.

After the Old Bund, we went to the hotel. On the first day, we booked the Ningbo Romon Hilton Hotel, mainly because it had Tesla Superchargers and was right next to Romon Paradise. We could see the amusement park from the room, but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit it. At night, a heavy rainstorm hit and a typhoon arrived.

The hotel's breakfast buffet was quite good. After eating, we drove in heavy rain to Taizhou Prefecture City Wall. It kept raining heavily, and there weren't many tourists.

We only walked about a quarter of the wall before getting tired. We checked the car's battery and found it was still sufficient. To save time, we didn't charge as planned. For lunch, we ate some local snacks at Ziyang Ancient Street near the city wall, including the popular seaweed cake.

After eating, we headed straight to Shenxianju (Immortal's Dwelling). The rain got even heavier when we arrived. Although we had prepared one umbrella per person, they were all small and lightweight sun umbrellas. Outside it was pouring, and inside the umbrellas it was drizzling. It got better only after we put on disposable raincoats. Because of the heavy rain, there were very few visitors at Shenxianju. An electronic screen showed only 35 visitors in the scenic area. The fog was so thick in the rain that everything was white, which actually made it look like a place where immortals live, but most of the scenery was invisible.

Sometimes I even had the illusion that I would step into the void around the next turn.

The famous Wishful Bridge in the clouds and mist.

We took the most time-saving route: south up and north down, using cable cars both ways. It took about two hours to finish the tour. By the time we arrived at Taizhou Atour Hotel, it was already 6 or 7 p.m. The whole family was too tired to go out for dinner, so we ordered some takeout. Luckily, the hotel offered free laundry and drying services, so all the dirty clothes from the past two days were washed and dried overnight, solving a big problem.

The next morning, we chose an "Old Taizhou Breakfast Shop" for breakfast, mainly to try various local snacks, which were similar to what we had at Ziyang Ancient Street yesterday. After eating, we headed straight to Yandang Mountain, but it was closed that day due to the typhoon, with reopening to be announced later. So we decided to visit Nanxi River, originally planned for the fourth day, first. Driving along the most beautiful road, the Yannan Highway, we reached Yantou Town in Nanxi River Scenic Area in less than an hour. We had lunch at Lishui Farmhouse next to Lishui Ancient Street, then strolled along Lishui Ancient Street. While walking, we surprisingly came across the homestay we had booked for that night. It turned out to be inside the scenic area, which was quite unexpected.

In the afternoon, we visited Furong Ancient Village, Cangpo Ancient Village, and Lion Rock. Unfortunately, due to the typhoon, all bamboo rafting activities were suspended, so we couldn't do that.

I must say, the night view of Lishui Ancient Street was beautiful.

Early the next morning, we went to Yandang Mountain again, but it was still closed. So we headed to downtown Wenzhou instead and visited the Wenzhou Museum.

After lunch at "Old Wenzhou," we checked into the Wenzhou Pullman Hotel. We noticed that our two kids were not very interested in these 4A/5A scenic spots, but they were very excited about the hotels we stayed in every day, like opening a blind box. Today, the Pullman Hotel gave us a Super Wings themed family room, which made the kids overjoyed. They were so thrilled that they wanted to take the Lodi toy with them, but the hotel wouldn't allow it, so we bought one online for them.

After a nap, we visited Jiangxin Islet next to the hotel.

Then we went to Wuma Pedestrian Street and grabbed some snacks for dinner. At 8 p.m., we took a boat ride to watch the Tanghe Night Painting show. There were live actors and sound-and-light performances on both sides of the river; it was worth seeing.

In the morning, we learned that Yandang Mountain had finally reopened. After having the hotel's buffet breakfast, we headed straight there. We had to give up our original plans for Cangnan's 168 Golden Coast and Yuliao Scenic Area. After all, Yandang Mountain is more famous, being one of the Three Mountains (along with Lushan and Huangshan) among the Five Great Mountains. We had already visited Lushan and Huangshan, so only Yandang was left. Yandang has many attractions. Due to time constraints, we only visited the three must-sees: Lingfeng Peak, Lingyan Rock, and Dalongqiu Waterfall. It's recommended to hire a guide; otherwise, you might not understand much. Because the typhoon had just passed, the water flow at Dalongqiu and Xiaolongqiu waterfalls was extremely large. Even the guide said she had never seen it like this before and took photos with us. She said most of the time the waterfall had very little water or even none, and this was the biggest she had ever seen. It was totally worth it; our three attempts to visit Yandang finally paid off!

Around 2 or 3 p.m., we had lunch at a restaurant called "A Bite of Yandang" in Yandang Town, then drove to Xiapu. We stayed at Xiying Homestay in Dongbi Village, Xiapu County. We arrived at the homestay around 7 or 8 p.m., and it was already dark. But Dongbi Village was full of various trendy homestays, each with beautiful sea-view infinity pools lit up, looking very lively.

The homestay owner said that due to the typhoon, it had been overcast for two days, so we couldn't see the sunset or sunrise. Therefore, we didn't get up early to watch the sunrise but slept in. When I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw the sea. Finally, we experienced a sea-view room where we could lie in bed and look at the ocean.

The view of the sea from the terrace was also beautiful.

We had breakfast while looking at the sea at the homestay, then took a drive along Xiapu's East Sea No.1 Scenic Sightseeing Road.

The younger one played by the sea at Gaoluo Beach for a while. Then we had lunch at "A Bite of Seafood" in Xiapu County. In the afternoon, we drove to Fuzhou, checked into Fuzhou Meiyuan International Hotel, rested for a while, and then visited Three Lanes and Seven Alleys. It was also a pedestrian street with many snacks, so we had dinner there. There was a beautiful heart-shaped tree.

Today we went to Pingtan Island. The navigation route was: Northern Ecological Corridor - Changjiang'ao Windmill Field - Beigang Village - Longfengtou Bathing Beach - Haitan Ancient City. Beigang Village was a filming location for "Where Are We Going, Dad?" Haitan Ancient City seemed not very popular.

For lunch, we ate at Putian Xinyi Xintiandi, at a restaurant called "Four Dishes · Fujian Oyster Omelet." The food was delicious. We also charged the car there. We arrived in Xiamen in the evening and stayed at the Atour Hotel on Zhongshan Road. At night, we strolled along Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street, which was very lively, and ate a bunch of snacks for dinner.

In the morning, we first visited Nanputuo Temple. Originally, we planned to visit Xiamen University, but it was too difficult to reserve. We only browsed the visitor center. Then we went to the Xiagu Pier to take a ferry to Gulangyu Island. Cars are not allowed on the island, so we parked at the pier parking lot. After arriving on Gulangyu, we checked into the booked Linghai Hotel, a century-old villa located right below Sunlight Rock, with the beach just a short walk down. The location was great. After a short rest, we visited Sunlight Rock, which offers a panoramic view of Xiamen. It was beautiful.

After Sunlight Rock, we went to the beach below the hotel to play in the sea. The kids went wild and played until dark.

At night, we strolled along Longtou Street, the most bustling area on Gulangyu, and had dinner at "Lin Sixi·Minnan Family Cuisine," recommended by the hotel. The food was delicious.

The next morning, we slept in, had breakfast at the hotel, and then visited Shuzhuang Garden and Haoyue Park near the beach.

At noon, we took the ferry back to Xiamen.

Then we drove over 100 kilometers to the Yunshuiyao Scenic Area, where we visited the Yunshuiyao Ancient Town, renamed after the movie "Yunshuiyao."

We also visited the Fujian Tulou (earthen buildings), which was the filming location for "Big Fish & Begonia."

After that, we drove back to Xiamen at night and had dinner at Jimei Shimao, at a restaurant called "Song Xiaojin·Minnan Cuisine." We also charged the car there. At night, we stayed at the Nomi Peninsula Homestay in Jimei.

Waking up, I was surprised to find that the homestay was right next to Jiageng Park. We had chosen this homestay because it had a good ranking and was close to Fantawild in Jimei, but we didn't expect it to be so near Jiageng Park. So we spent about an hour before breakfast visiting Jiageng Park, seeing the Chen Jiageng Memorial Hall and Ao Garden.

We parked the car at the public parking lot opposite Daonan Building.

Then we had breakfast at a tea restaurant called "Lan Fangli" next to the park. The food was quite good. After eating, we checked into the Xiamen Fantawild Holiday Hotel. Xiamen Fantawild is themed after Boonie Bears, which was the attraction the kids were most looking forward to. Our room included two two-day unlimited entrance tickets to both parks, which was convenient.

Unfortunately, after waiting in line to check in, the hotel's morning shuttle to the amusement park had already stopped, and we had to wait until the afternoon. So we had lunch at the hotel's Chinese restaurant, then took the hotel's afternoon shuttle to Fantawild Dream Kingdom.

It was very hot, and there weren't many visitors. We managed to play all the indoor rides in one afternoon. After dark, we went on a few outdoor rides like roller coasters.

At 9 p.m., the park put on a beautiful fireworks show. We could also see it from the hotel balcony.

Today we played at Fantawild Oriental Heritage. It was still very hot, so we could only do indoor rides. We tried a few, which felt similar to Dream Kingdom; most involved sitting in a vehicle watching 3D/4D movies. However, Oriental Heritage was themed around Chinese myths and legends.

It was too hot, so we came out at noon. We had lunch at "Tang Yan·Old Xiamen Private Home Cuisine." In the afternoon, we drove along the island ring road and checked into the Secret Realm Sea View Homestay near Zengcuoan. We booked a two-story suite.

In the evening, we enjoyed the sea view from the terrace.

At night, we went to Zengcuoan for a stroll and had snacks for dinner again.

Originally, I planned to drive the car back myself in 11 hours. In the end, I felt it was a bit tiring, so for safety, I decided to have it shipped. I quickly found a car shipping company. The shipping fee was 1,200 yuan, pickup and delivery cost 300 yuan, and additional insurance was 480 yuan, totaling 1,980 yuan. The whole family took the high-speed train (G1652 from Xiamen to Shanghai) back to Shanghai.

Overall, the 12-day road trip was not too tiring. Of course, it would have been more comfortable if we had more time or fewer scenic spots, but compared to the original plan to go to Guangzhou, we had already shortened the trip significantly. It was generally acceptable. The total cost was 34,000 yuan, about 5,600 yuan per person. Accommodation accounted for nearly half. I think trendy scenic homestays are more suitable for leisure vacations, not really for my travel style where I'm out and about during the day. The value for money was not great.

Although the typhoon left some regrets—like missing the beautiful scenery of Shenxianju, the sunrise and sunset in Xiapu—the super-large Dalongqiu Waterfall, the joyful family room, the beautiful Gulangyu Island, the Fujian sea, and the tulou from the movies created many unforgettable memories for the whole family. Of course, the local cuisine also satisfied our taste buds. I'm really looking forward to the next trip!

Travel Journal Directory: 1. Pre-trip Preparation 2. Day 1: Ningbo 3. Day 2: Taizhou 4. Day 3: Nanxi River 5. Day 4: Wenzhou 6. Day 5: Yandang Mountain 7. Day 6: Xiapu 8. Day 7: Fuzhou & Pingtan Island 9. Day 8: Xiamen & Gulangyu 10. Day 9: Xiamen, Yunshuiyao & Tulou 11. Day 10: Xiamen Fantawild Dream Kingdom & Jimei 12. Day 11: Xiamen Fantawild Oriental Heritage & Zengcuoan 13. Day 12: Back to Shanghai

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