Driving into a Splendid Season: An Off-Road Hot Spring Journey Through Conghua's Deep Mountain Wilderness

BEGINNING Driving into a Splendid Season

April is the most beautiful month on earth. Staying home would be a waste of this glorious spring. After being cooped up for too long, I longed for nature’s brilliant sunshine, to escape the city and breathe fresh air. With international and out-of-province travel off the table, heading to a sparsely populated but scenic countryside is the best way to let the kids run free. This weekend, I took my son out to the outskirts for some wild fun.

Conghua, a northern suburb of Guangzhou, is the backyard garden for Guangzhou residents. A self-driving trip is the best way to explore Conghua. From the city center, it’s just a 1.5-hour drive. Here, natural forest oxygen bars let us briefly take off our masks and freely breathe the negative ions in the air. There are pure, natural ingredients for delicious country cuisine that delights the taste buds. Winding mountain roads lead to crystal-clear streams.

For this trip, we drove a 2020 imported Mitsubishi Pajero. An off-road vehicle is highly adaptable and handles various road conditions with ease. In remote places, roads are rarely flat, but the Pajero can take me wherever I want to go, maintaining absolute comfort even on mountain roads. They say owning a 'Mountain Cat' Pajero is a man's dream? Well, as a woman, I don’t quite get that. But after riding in it, I indeed felt very safe. It has a rugged, masculine exterior yet a soft interior—I like that.

The Pajero isn't just for extreme off-roading; its interior is also considerate, perfect for a family or a group of friends on a road trip. The ever-reliable, sturdy Mountain Cat Pajero lifts nature's mist, plunging into deep mountains and wild forests, chasing bamboo seas and clear brooks.

People always anticipate the beauty of the destination, sometimes forgetting the beauty along the way. On this trip, I had been looking forward to the splendor of Conghua’s flower sea, but almost overlooked the scenery en route. In the end, we changed our route, turning the midway point into the destination, as the bamboo forest’s grandeur was no less stunning than any flower sea.

DAY 1: Enjoying Parent-Child Wilderness Fun

We set off early for Conghua, but I didn’t see the expected flower sea. Stopping for lunch at Sanli Ju Farmhouse on the way to Xitou Village, a local told us: by mid-April, all the flowers were gone. Yet, it seemed like everything happens for a reason. The warm and friendly farmhouse owner invited us to her private orchard and vegetable patch to pick fruits and greens, and even led us up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots! Wow, so exciting—my son jumped for joy. I’d never dug bamboo shoots before either. I couldn’t wait!

To avoid crowds and skip the tourist hotspots, we explored an off-the-beaten-path bamboo forest hidden from most visitors. The owner brought a hoe and led us up the hill. My kid was too short and the hoe too long to use properly, so we ended up digging with our bare hands...

The bamboo forest was full of treasures. Tender bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork belly is a perfect match. Fresh bamboo roots stir-fried with chicken giblets are crisp and refreshing. Cut the bamboo shoots into sections to use as simple containers for making bamboo-tube chicken and bamboo-tube rice with cured meat—the bamboo fragrance takes the chicken flavor to a whole new level! I’d come back every week just to eat a few bites of this.

▲ Grilled bamboo-tube rice with cured meat

▲ Stir-fried fresh bamboo shoots with pork belly

▲ Chicken giblets with fresh bamboo roots

April is mulberry harvest season. Red, deep red, and purple mulberries hung full on the branches, glistening like crystal-clear rubies under the sun.

Green plums were also in abundance. We helped pick them. Don’t eat green plums raw—they’re so sour they’ll make you cry! You can brew them into plum wine, pickle them into preserves, or make into sour plum sauce—then they’re delicious.

Back in the vegetable garden, the owner showed us various seasonal vegetables. Eat what’s in season: spring is the time for chives. We picked some for a dish of chives stir-fried with river shrimp later.

Shiso leaves—my mouth waters just seeing them. Shiso with mountain stream snails, shiso-braised duck, shiso with pig intestines... There are so many dishes you can make with shiso, whose unique aroma makes everything taste incredible!

The free-range chickens and ducks raised for enough days are completely different from what we buy at the market. You’ll know once you taste them! You can catch them yourself or ask the owner for help. These birds run around the hills all day and are used to exercise, so catching one takes immense effort. Try the five-finger peach root chicken soup, bamboo-tube steamed chicken, and tangerine peel braised duck—highly recommended!

▲ Five-finger peach root free-range chicken soup

▲ Steamed mountain spring grass carp with ginger and scallion

▲ Stir-fried mountain stream snails with shiso

Spring can also be a season of abundant harvests. Look at our haul: a dozen bamboo shoots, vegetables, fruit, plus two free-range chickens, on top of the luggage we already had. With so much stuff to load, the Pajero’s spacious cargo capacity proved to be especially important.

After a joyful day of farm life, we checked into a hot spring hotel in the evening.

DAY 2: A Thai-style Private Hot Spring Resort Experience

Conghua’s hot springs are hailed as the 'No.1 Spring of Lingnan,' rich in the world-renowned rare sodium bicarbonate—radon element. Its rarity (one of only two such places in the world) makes it precious. Like Swiss hot springs, Conghua’s springs hold a high international reputation and are considered an excellent destination for skin therapy.

A trip is incomplete without a good hotel; even the fairest scenery would be wasted. Every enjoyable journey requires a comfortable and satisfying place to stay. Conghua has many hot spring resorts, from luxury to popular choices. For this trip, we chose the Dusit Thani Conghua Hot Spring Resort.

I absolutely love this five-star hotel brand from Thailand—understated, unspoiled, comfortable, everything just right. From the moment we arrived last night, the strong Thai ambiance made me feel like I was on holiday in Thailand. A familiar 'Sawasdee ka'... The hotel’s pandemic prevention measures were thorough: every guest had to scan a QR code, fill out a form, and have their temperature checked. In these extraordinary times, the slightly cumbersome procedures are understandable and actually make one feel more at ease.

I highly recommend staying in Dusit Thani's Grand Hillside Villa, perfect for a family of three or a couple. These hillside villas are nestled on lush mid-mountain slopes or hidden within Southeast Asian-style gardens. Each villa has an elegant small courtyard and a private, secluded hot spring pool. Soaking in the hot spring and sipping tea melts away all travel fatigue. The second day of our Conghua trip was rainy. Even with a heavy downpour outside, we read books and enjoyed tea inside our room, feeling perfectly content.

The villa’s courtyard features an independent hot spring pool, so you can soak whenever you like, rain or shine. The hotel is built against the mountain, and a phone call instantly summons an electric cart to take you anywhere within the resort, allowing us to savor a luxurious hot spring holiday amid lake and mountain scenery.

DAY 3: Off-Road Speed and Thrills

It was a brilliantly sunny day. After breakfast at the hotel, we drove into the deep mountain wilderness. Our destination was the direction of Yaolaoshe and Apo Liu Village, where vast bamboo forests and winding dirt roads awaited. With many narrow mountain paths and sharp turns, the Mitsubishi Pajero’s off-road capabilities became especially crucial.

Apo Liu Village sits at 730 meters above sea level, making it the highest mountain village in Guangzhou. It’s ideal for astrophotography and stargazing, with a pure atmosphere, simple folk customs, and beautiful surroundings—a perfect spot for night sky observations and photography. However, the village only has very basic accommodations, or you can camp overnight. Since we had the child with us, we skipped that. We came during the day to search for mountain stream snails in the creeks and breathe the freshest air—a simple pleasure. Besides the gorgeous starry nights, Apo Liu Village boasts expansive bamboo groves and plum forests, with stunning daytime scenery—a charming village not to be missed.

AT THE END: Ride Impressions

Indulging in nature, savoring a pleasant life. On this three-day, two-night Conghua trip, I rode in the classic Mountain Cat Pajero for the first time. Initially, I thought an off-road vehicle would be less comfortable than a car and was resistant, expecting discomfort. But throughout the entire journey, on bumpy mountain roads or smooth highways, I felt no discomfort whatsoever.

The Mitsubishi Pajero always gives a tough impression, yet the ride is soft and comfortable, with every corner negotiated smoothly. It’s not like a sharp blade in the wind, but more like a sturdy carrying pole—hardworking, enduring, low-key, and restrained.

The seats in an SUV are elevated, offering a wider field of view. Once I got used to this commanding vantage point, I completely forgot it was an off-roader, only aware that I was sitting in a robust modern fortress, able to nap soundly during the trip. On the way back, we cruised smoothly and comfortably toward the bustling city.

With fleeting scenery passing by and eyelids growing heavy, wrapped in a sense of security, I peacefully drifted off to sleep...

Friendly reminder: We only took off our masks to take these beautiful photos~ Remember to wear your mask when you’re out and about!