2025 May Day Tour of Southern Zhejiang and Northern Fujian

During the May Day holiday, I planned to take my baby, wife, and mother to Fujian to climb Taimu Mountain. Cangnan is a good choice—there are many train routes, and it's less than 100 kilometers from Taimu Mountain, with a seaside nearby to enjoy. I started booking tickets fifteen days in advance, and secured round-trip tickets to Cangnan. I booked the Wyndham Hotel near the Yuliao seaside scenic area in Cangnan for the first night—a bit pricey, but convenient. For the next two days, I booked the Yuhu Resort Hotel inside Taimu Mountain Scenic Area. This hotel is right next to the mountain entrance inside the scenic area, so we could have the hotel help us buy tickets in advance and register our vehicle for self-driving entry. Going up the mountain and coming down to rest was very convenient, and the price was quite reasonable. With the preparations done, I set off two days early by car to avoid the holiday traffic, and picked up my baby at Cangnan Railway Station on May Day.

Day 1: I started the self-drive trip on Day 1, before the holiday began, and the journey went smoothly all the way to Jinhua. I went to Wuyi to see Yanfu Temple, which features Yuan Dynasty wooden architecture.

In the evening, I arrived at Qingtian County in Lishui, known as the place with the best Italian pasta and pizza in China. This is a hometown of overseas Chinese, and also the home of Qingtian stone carvings. My main reason for coming here was to see the rice-fish co-culture system in Qingtian, which is one of China's first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems.

I visited the museum and Longxian Village. The fish in the rice paddies were large, and it was a very nice rural area. Longxian Village also has the first rural foreign exchange point in China, truly living up to its reputation as a hometown of overseas Chinese.

Day 2: Early in the morning, I set off for Baizhangji Waterfall in Wencheng. It's a popular scenic spot, and the waterfall is indeed beautiful. In the past, the area was remote and difficult to access, but now it's packed with tourists during holidays. I came just before the holiday rush, entering from the north gate and exiting from the south gate, walking downhill the whole way, so it wasn't tiring. In two hours I finished the tour. The waterfall was indeed impressive, and I asked a local who confirmed it's a natural waterfall.

Leaving Baizhangji, I headed to Yunzhongdaji—Shisi Temple. The mountain roads here were winding, with covered bridges and small streams around the village. The game 'Black Myth: Wukong' made this place popular, and now it's a hot spot. According to the introduction, this is a Song Dynasty wooden structure. The several Cryptomeria trees at the mountain gate are indeed tall and majestic, worth seeing.

I checked in at the ancient buildings here. Not far away, the Xuehuaji Waterfall couldn't compare to Baizhangji, but since I was passing by, I stopped for a visit.

Leaving Zhejiang, I headed straight to Fujian. First, I went to Chen Taifu Palace on the border of Ningde and Fuzhou. This belongs to Luoyuan, Fuzhou, and is a Song Dynasty wooden structure. A few years ago, experts from the Palace Museum reportedly came to restore it, and it's quite beautiful. The courtyard has wooden buildings from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, all worth seeing.

Returning to Ningde, I went to Huotong Ancient Town—Huang Ju's Hometown to check in and see the Fujian Huang Ju Irrigation Project, a World Heritage Irrigation Structure. I took a quick look to admire the wisdom of the ancients.

Day 3: Today was the first day of May Day. First, I went to Cangnan Yuliao. On the way, I visited the Nanyang 312 Pingdong Alum Mine Ruins. This is in Fanshan Town, Cangnan County—the 'World Alum Capital'. The town is famous for 650 years of alum mining and refining history, holding 60% of the world's alum reserves. There's also a food here that has been on CCTV: meat swallow (rouyan).

In the morning, I returned to Wenzhou Hesheng Wyndham Hotel, got the room early, facing the sea, very nice. At noon, I walked around the area to see the sea.

In the afternoon, I set off early to pick up my baby at Cangnan Station. It felt a bit congested on the way, and it took an extra hour, but I made it to the station smoothly and picked up my baby. On the return trip, I experienced the full force of May Day traffic. About five kilometers from the hotel, congestion started. Inside the Dingkui Mountain Tunnel, which had only two lanes, it was chaotic. It took over two hours to cover two kilometers. My wife, mother, and baby had to walk. They had dinner by the sea and walked to the hotel. By the time they arrived, my car finally reached the hotel. The total distance from the station was over forty kilometers, but the last few kilometers took three and a half hours—terrible! Later I found out that a huge bus had broken down in the middle of the main road.

Day 4: In the morning, I took my baby to Moon Bay Beach for beachcombing. It was very convenient from the hotel to the beach, and eating was easy near the beach. Scared by the traffic the day before, I didn't want to take the most congested road again. I asked locals and found an old mountain road—Longkui Line. I drove ahead to check it out. Longkui Line was indeed not congested, and it took less than 30 minutes to reach National Highway 228. With confidence, I returned to the beach and played with my baby until afternoon. The beach, rocks, and petting zoo made the baby very happy.

In the afternoon, we left the hotel, took the back mountain road, and when merging onto National Highway 228, there was still over an hour of congestion. But everything went smoothly; we got on the expressway, and in less than an hour we entered Taimu Mountain. The official visitor center of Taimu Mountain is over ten kilometers from the core scenic area, requiring a shuttle bus. Since my mother had just recovered from a leg injury and we were aiming for a relaxed hike, we had booked the Yuhu Resort Hotel inside Taimu Mountain in advance. The front desk helped register our license plate and bought tickets without the shuttle bus. We drove ourselves to the hotel. The hotel, probably once a sanatorium, was perfectly located: on one side, a five-minute walk to the Sunrise Pavilion; on the other, a ten-minute walk to Couple Peak Square, ready to climb at any time—extremely convenient.

Day 5: Today we climbed Taimu Mountain. Taimu Mountain stands on the coast of the East China Sea, facing the sea on three sides and backed by mountains on one. It's known for mountain-sea scenery, with the main peak at 917.3 meters above sea level. This is a granite mountain, part of the Ningde Global Geopark, and the birthplace of Fuding tea varieties.

During the May Day holiday, the shuttle buses at the foot of the mountain started operating at 6:30 AM. Seeing the crowds of the previous days, we entered the mountain at 7:30 AM sharp. First, we went to Hulu Cave. This place tends to get congested, but early in the morning there were few people. The cave is 1200 meters long; it's best to bring a flashlight. The route involved various climbs through stone crevices, numerous 'One-Line-Sky' passages, and piled granite, going up and down—thrilling. After finishing Hulu Cave, the baby exclaimed with joy, and my mother's leg pain was gone. Not far from the exit of Hulu Cave was the One-Line-Sky. There were too many people there, with an estimated three-hour wait. My wife and I decided to go elsewhere first and come back at 5 PM. This is the advantage of staying on the mountain.

Avoiding One-Line-Sky, we soon reached Yi Pian Wa scenic area. There were quite a few people here, mainly cultural attractions. We walked around, admired the scenery, paid respects to Taimu Niangniang, saw the golden copper hall, and the ancestor of Fuding white tea—Green Snow Bud. We also had a bowl of plain noodles. Several caves nearby were too crowded, so we didn't queue. We took the mountain escalator down, and my mother was satisfied. She planned to take the free shuttle bus from the 500 Arhat Hall back to Couple Peak Square and rest at the hotel in the afternoon. We continued on with the baby.

We enjoyed the scenery at Jiuli Lake. There was a small train to go up the mountain, but its capacity was poor—only about twenty people per trip, with a 40-minute interval. We gave up and hiked. The mountain wasn't high; in less than an hour, we successfully reached the top of Xinyue Peak, also called Fuding Peak, at 917 meters. The views were splendid, and there weren't many people along the way. Following the mountain-top trail, the scenery became even more beautiful. Wulonggang was a bit dangerous but offered unique views, and it was less noisy than Yi Pian Wa. Finally, we passed through the sky-high One-Line-Sky, which was extremely narrow. After completing the loop, we returned from Guoxing Temple to Couple Peak Square. We had circled Taimu Mountain with the baby. Seeing that it was still early, we went back to the hotel to rest for a while.

Just before 5 PM, my wife and I went into the mountain for a second time, heading directly to One-Line-Sky. This made up for the section we had skipped earlier when we went to Hulu Cave in the daytime. The scenery along the way was beautiful, with few people and lovely views. After a little over one kilometer, we reached One-Line-Sky. There was no queue at this time. The 65-meter-long passage was indeed very narrow. Although the narrowest parts were similar to Hulu Cave and the sky-high One-Line-Sky, this One-Line-Sky was consistently narrow throughout, worth the experience. Exiting One-Line-Sky, we arrived at the Sea-Viewing Boardwalk. We hadn't walked here during the day, so in the early evening with few people, we strolled, enjoyed the scenery, and took photos. It felt like the entire scenic area was ours during the golden week. Mountains on one side, sea on the other—truly a 'fairy mountain on the sea'. The scenery was beautiful and worth visiting. Exiting the boardwalk, we reached the intersection of Hulu Cave and Via Ferrata. During the day, we could hear the screams of brave climbers on the Via Ferrata from the boardwalk.

We returned to the hotel for dinner and sleep.

Day 6: The sky was clear in the morning. First, I climbed to the Sunrise Pavilion to watch the sunrise. After breakfast, we went to the nearby Taimu Niangniang Square to enjoy the scenery, concluding the Taimu Mountain trip.

The journey was smooth. In over an hour, I dropped off my baby, wife, and mother at Cangnan Station, where they took the high-speed train home.

I continued driving, passing by Fangshan in Wenling, Taizhou. I hadn't visited it on previous trips to Taizhou. It's considered a branch of Yandang Mountain. I circled it in less than two hours.

Continuing north, I arrived at Xianju. It was still early, so I went to see the ancient bayberry trees here, and Pingfengyan Wanshou Palace. The place was remote. There was a parking lot at the foot of the mountain, and about a one-kilometer trail up. The mountain path was a bit dangerous but had been renovated with railings. In 20 minutes I reached the Wanshou Palace at the top. Nearby were several thousand-year-old bayberry trees. I took a photo at the 'King of Ancient Bayberry Trees'. This is a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System—the Ancient Bayberry Group Complex Cultivation System in Xianju, Zhejiang. The mountain path ahead was said to be Cangling Ancient Trail, a 4-hour hike popular among trekking enthusiasts.

After a day of driving, I returned to Xianju to rest.

Day 7: It was said that tickets for Shenxianju during May Day were impossible to get. So I took advantage of the last day of the holiday to visit early. The road was smooth in the morning, and I parked directly at Parking Lot 3 near the entrance. I waited for the gate to open at 6 AM and entered as one of the first. I took the cable car up. The fog was quite heavy, but the scenery didn't disappoint. The Buddha Shadow photo spot had no queue. I toured the southern section and reached Ruyi Bridge.

Checked in at Shenxianju. Continuing home, I passed by Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall. This is a man-made waterfall, quite spectacular. It is said that there was indeed a waterfall here in ancient times. Based on the ancient atmosphere, they artificially created one. It's a waterfall that 'gets off work'—only when the scenic area is open does the water flow; when the gate closes, the valve shuts off and the waterfall stops. You can climb from below the waterfall to the top. Nearby is the traditional Tiantai Mountain scenic spot Qiongtai Xiangu, which is worth seeing.

There was slight congestion on the holiday expressway. When I reached Shaoxing, I took National Highway 104 to see Wang Xizhi's Tomb.

Leaving Wang Xizhi's Tomb, my next stop was the Song Liuling (Song Dynasty Imperial Tombs) along the way. This is Yucha Village, and there's a tea plantation inside.

In the evening, I crossed Hangzhou Bay and checked into a hotel in Haiyan.

Day 8: The holiday was over, the expressway was smooth, and I arrived home safely. The total May Day trip covered 2300 kilometers. I was very happy.