Blending Work and Travel: A 15-Day Winter Journey from Guangdong to Zhejiang across Two Provinces and Seven Cities
In November 2023, I had to go to Foshan for work. On the 7th, I flew from Xi'an to Guangzhou. Baiyun Airport has direct buses to Foshan. I stayed one night at the airport, and the next day took a bus to Xiqiao in Foshan. The bus didn't actually stop at Xiqiao Bus Station; it dropped us outside a hotel near the West Gate of Xiqiao Mountain. I called my local contact from the business trip, and they said they weren't free that morning, so I decided to climb the mountain first.
I've been to Foshan many times, but never got the chance to visit this national scenic spot and 5A-rated attraction. With the bus stopping right at the foot of the mountain, how could I miss it? I bought a discounted ticket on the platform and scanned the QR code to enter. The entrance I used leads to trails that go up past cultural and historical sites (other gates offer rides to the summit). But honestly, Xiqiao Mountain is very low compared to northern mountains—hiking up is not that difficult for regular hikers.
The scenic area boasts 72 peaks, countless water features, 232 springs, and 28 waterfalls. Among the 34 historic scenic spots, 10 are named after springs and waterfalls like "Cloud Cliff's Flying Cascade" and "Leafless Clear Spring." There are also 42 caves and numerous bizarre cliffs and rocks, such as Nine-Dragon Cave, Winter Mushroom Rock, and Swallow Rock. The most iconic sight is probably the Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) statue over the South Sea. On the morning of the 9th, I finished my work in Foshan, then took the subway to Guangzhou South Station and a high-speed train to Huizhou. I met a friend at Huiyang Station. The most famous place around Huiyang is Daya Bay, the seaside, but since it was already dark, I gave up that idea and took a taxi to the nearby "Danshui Old Street."
Danshui Old Street, Huizhou
Sharing its name with Taipei's well-known night market, this street today offers only faint glimpses of its former glory. Danshui in Huizhou has a long history. As early as the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it had grown into a sizable market town, named "Danshui Market," with an official office and a salt commissioner. The market was located in the Shangxiahuai area (around today's Danshui Qiaotou Market). In the early Xianfeng period, specialized trading streets emerged: Pig Trading Street, Big Fish Street, Rice Street, Lantern Street, and so on. A city wall, about 3,150 meters long, encircled the town, with gates such as the East Gate, Shao Paotai Gate, Pig Trading Gate, Heba Xiamen, and Mulianqiao Gate. During the Daoguang and Xianfeng reigns, cultural and educational development took off, and Danshui Market gradually assumed administrative, commercial, defensive, and educational functions, establishing the historic district's overall layout. The old streets were once among the most prosperous commercial hubs in the Dongjiang River basin. The names of Pig Trading Street, Big Fish Street, Rice Street, and Lantern Street reflect their historical roles. Today, within the district, there are 96 lanes over 50 meters long, 10 cultural relic protection units, and 104 historic buildings including temples, residences, ancestral halls, guild halls, academies, and teahouses. The scale is grand and the layout intact. The overall streetscape is well preserved, with the northwest area around Qiaotou Market showcasing traditional commercial architecture, the east featuring Hakka residential styles, and the south emphasizing academy-style buildings.
Leaving Huiyang, I took another high-speed train to Shenzhen. On the subway, I saw a girl who looked a lot like my ex-girlfriend.
Gankeng Ancient Town, Shenzhen
Originally the Gankeng Hakka Town, this cultural tourism scenic area dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It brings together Hakka dwellings, folk customs, architecture, folk art, traditional food, and pastoral scenery across an 18-hectare site. Gankeng is an old Hakka village with a rich history, listed as one of "Shenzhen's Ten Great Hakka Ancient Villages." In the local Hakka dialect, "keng" means a small stream or ditch—the town is dotted with springs, and the stream water is sweet, hence the name Gankeng (Sweet Gully). Once a Hakka settlement, Gankeng Ancient Town is full of old buildings, connected by lanes and alleyways. You'll find Nanxiang Tower, weathered by over 120 years; the Zhuangyuan Mansion built during the Yongzheng reign; the Huizhou-style Phoenix Valley; plus watchtowers, blockhouses, and stilted buildings set amid hills and waters, together with century-old Hakka row houses, forming a unique cultural landscape. Gankeng is a great window into Shenzhen's indigenous culture and has become a popular Instagram-worthy spot in recent years.
Shenzhen Bay Park is a park where you can see the sea as soon as you exit the subway station, and it's also very close to Window of the World.
Nantou Ancient City, Shenzhen
Nantou Ancient City, also known as "Xin'an Ancient City," lies on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary, north of Nantou Flyover in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, covering about 385,000 square meters with a building area of roughly 517,000 square meters. It includes over a dozen historical and cultural attractions: an archway, the south city gate, the Xin'an county yamen, Xin'an prison, coastal defense office, Dongguan Guild Hall, Guandi Temple, Wen Tianxiang Shrine, an opium den, reception hall, Juxiu Tower, Yili pawnshop, and Taomi Gong money house. Since the establishment of Dongguan Prefecture in the 6th year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it boasts nearly 1,700 years of history. It served as the seat of Bao'an County before the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was founded, and is hailed as "the root of Shenzhen and Hong Kong history and culture," "the first capital in eastern Guangdong and the source of Hong Kong and Macau." It is the origin point of Shenzhen, witnessing the city's centre "moving away and coming back." It functioned as the administrative centre, coastal defence stronghold, and hub for maritime trade and foreign commerce in the Lingnan coastal region. The main street of Nantou Ancient City features the Lingnan Cantonese architectural style.
After enjoying the ancient city's night views, I took the subway to Bao'an Airport and caught a flight to the next stop: Hangzhou, to settle accounts for a project I worked on last year.
The plan was to sign the documents in Zhejiang and fly back to Xi'an, but things didn't go smoothly. I ended up cancelling my Hangzhou-Xi'an flight. On the 11th, I flew from Guangzhou to Hangzhou, then took a taxi to Tongxiang to get a supplementary acceptance form signed by the property management. First, they wanted items that were over half a year out of warranty (including some with man-made damage) repaired and refurbished. After that was done, they said they'd found another chair, so I had to ride another dozen kilometres to get it welded (the taxi fares alone cost more than fixing two chairs). They even had me clean everything. This dragged on for four days. Then they said the signatory was in Jiaxing and asked me to go there. Once in Jiaxing, they wanted to recheck numbers and told me to go back to Tongxiang. Back in Tongxiang, the property management had lost a few chairs after using them for a year and a half, and now demanded that I go to the developer's office to find the original documents proving the initial transfer quantity. Hell, the supplementary form was necessary precisely because those original documents were impossible to get. I was trapped in a damn chicken-and-egg debate [facepalm]. Because I had to be in Hangzhou the next day, I only decided in the afternoon to visit the still-under-construction Puyuan Ancient Town...
Puyuan Ancient Town, Tongxiang
Since Puyuan is still under construction and only about two-thirds is open, admission was half price at 60 yuan, with an additional 60 yuan for a boat ride. Puyuan Fashionable Ancient Town is the first ancient town along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal after it leaves downtown Jiaxing. The core scenic area covers 1,287 mu, bordered by Changshui in the south and the canal in the north, preserving the classic Jiangnan architectural layout. It positions itself as a "Chinese fashion ancient town," blending the Jiangnan water town setting, local history and culture, and the sweater-town industry. With a history of nearly a thousand years, the town was founded in the Southern Song Dynasty, took shape when the Pu family settled here in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and expanded in the Ming and Qing. It is a quintessential Jiangnan water town. Historically, its economy prospered as the hometown of "the finest silk under heaven." In ancient times, Puyuan, part of the Jiahe region known for distinct seasons and abundant waterways, was called "You Lake" and "Meijing," and ranked among the five great Jiangnan towns in the Ming and Qing. In the Wanli era of the Ming, it was praised as "a giant town of Jiahe," famed for "producing ten thousand bolts of silk a day." In 2023, Puyuan in Tongxiang, Jiaxing, was recognized as a provincial 5A-grade scenic town by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
Nanhu Lake, Zicheng, and Yuehe Historic Street, Jiaxing
Jiaxing's Nanhu Lake, formerly called Luwei Pond, and also known as Machang Lake or Biao Lake, is in Nanhu District, southeast of downtown Jiaxing, coordinates 120°76′E, 30°76′N. The scenic area covers about 5.86 square kilometres, with a core area of 2.76 square kilometres. The Jiaxing section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal splits at Beili Bridge and Chengbei Bridge: one branch flows east into Southwest Lake, the other continues westward as the canal. Xiushui water skirts the city, passes through the Hao River, and enters Nanhu. Nanhu is fed by various canal channels, receiving from Changshuitang and Haiyantang, and draining into Pinghutang and Changxiantang. The surrounding terrain is low and flat, criss-crossed by waterways. The lake is long north-south and narrow east-west, with a water area of about 624 mu and depths of 2–4 metres. On 6 September 2011, Nanhu was approved as a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction. Jiaxing Zicheng is the city's earliest city wall. Inside the wall, county, prefectural, military, circuit, and prefectural government offices once stood. During the Yuan Dynasty, a tower named "Li Qiao" was built on the main gate. The watchtower was rebuilt twice in the Ming. The existing gate tower and the east and west sections of the city wall were renovated in the 34th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing (1908). It is the only ancient city tower still standing in Zhejiang Province. Yuehe Historic District is one of the most intact, largest, and most representative areas showcasing the residential and cultural character of a Jiangnan water-town city in downtown Jiaxing. It sits in the central business district bounded by Huating Street and Jiahe Beijing Road, enclosed by Huancheng North Road, Jianguo North Road, Hexing South Road, and Tongle Road. The three waterways—the Grand Canal, Outer Yuehe, and Inner Yuehe—run almost parallel and converge near Beili Bridge, creating a unique spatial layout. Zhongji Road, Tanlong Lane, and Xiushuidou Street, all adjacent to the canal and the prefectural city, became bustling commercial areas. In the past, Zhongji Road was lined with shops and merchants, a hive of activity. Narrow lanes twist and turn, alleys intertwine, while small canals, lanes, and old houses recreate the ambience of an ancient water town. Within the district, you'll find six major venues: Jiangxi Guild Hall, Jinyu Courtyard, Dachang Pawnshop, Jiahe Water Post, Gaogongsheng Sauce Garden, and the God of Wealth Hall. Yuehe is a perfect place to stroll through the old-time Jiangnan prefectural city while sampling the delights of venerable century-old shops.
Xincheng Ancient Town, Jiaxing
A visit to this offbeat ancient town happened by chance. A friend on WeChat saw I was in Jiaxing and invited me to tour their factory, followed by a lunch of the local specialty mutton noodles. I realized the parking spot was right at Xincheng Ancient Town. Bordered by Wuzhen in Tongxiang to the west and Wujiang in Suzhou to the north, a stream called Xinxi flows east-west through the town. This thousand-year-old town flourished thanks to its waterways. In times past, its prime location and transport links gave it influence far and wide, but now it has been left behind in the age of expressways, sinking silently into the vast river of history without a ripple. A thousand-year-old Buddhist temple from the Liang Dynasty, riverside traditional homes, and a 1,500-year-old ginkgo tree… worn by time, they bear witness to the region's changes while doggedly guarding the soul of the Jiangnan water town, the murmuring stream reflecting its faded splendour.
Xitang Ancient Town, Jiaxing
This whole signing fiasco ended up being a runaround orchestrated by a "descendant of Pan Jinlian" — going from Hangzhou to Tongxiang, to Jiaxing, back to Tongxiang, back to Hangzhou, then Jiaxing again. When I was in Tongxiang, I'd specifically asked if the signatory would be a local so I wouldn't have to go to Jiaxing and then be told to return. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. So I impulsively decided to rest up in Xitang Ancient Town for a couple of days to shake off the negative energy. The over 2,000-metre-long Misty Rain Corridor is Xitang's most distinctive architectural feature. Xitang has been placed on China's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage, is one of China's first historic and cultural towns, a national AAAAA-level attraction, and has won an Outstanding Achievement Award for World Heritage protection. With a long history, it's one of the cradles of ancient Wu-Yue culture. On 25 February 2017, it was newly elevated to a national 5A scenic spot and ranked among the Four Great Water Towns. I've been to Wuzhen and Zhouzhuang, but Xitang has a bit more everyday life and vitality. You can feel the thousand-year legacy of Wu-Yue even more. At night, the noisy, lively bar street presents another side of the water town—some jokingly call it the "romance water town."
Maybe I've visited too many water towns. I wrote poems for Wuzhen and Zhouzhuang, but for two days now I’ve felt nothing.
Misty Rain in Xitang
Zhang Haiyun sits alone in the misty rain corridor, waiting for early winter's evening in the water town. White walls, grey tiles, shadows dappled by moonlight. Stone bridges and wooden galleries, a hazy ink-wash painting. A lady in a blue dress, holding an oil-paper umbrella, slowly walks into Shipi Lane. A sculled boat hung with a red lantern glides silently under Huanxiu Bridge. Listening to distant folk songs, lit by ten thousand lamps of the water town, under a crescent moon on Laifeng Bridge, I wrote a line for you… Why did the poem speak of a lady in blue when the woman I saw was in white? Because Lady White already has Xu Xian, of course!
Dabing's Little House, Xitang Branch
Studio of Vincent Fang, Jay Chou's Go-To Lyricist
While other scenic spots ban graffiti, Xitang has its own designated graffiti wall.
Xitang Snacks
In Xitang, many shops selling Lu's Wontons and Granny Guan's Stinky Tofu claim to be the authentic ones. The most legit Lu's Wontons is near the bridge on Liren Street. As for Granny Guan, a lot of vendors probably get their tofu from her, so many call themselves Granny Guan. The stall run by the woman with two little pigtails is one of the older ones—two elderly ladies take turns selling. One of them, quite advanced in years, still wears two pigtails and rides a pink bicycle, forever young at heart. The pure-pork small wontons are 10 yuan, wild-vegetable big wontons 15 yuan, and a steamer of 8 buns 15 yuan. Prices are higher than outside but the taste is decent—the small wontons are good, the wild-vegetable big wontons have skin that's too thick, the xiaolongbao are okay, and the scallion-oil pan-fried buns have a slightly raw oil flavour. Granny Guan's own chain sells stinky tofu at 15 yuan for 7 small pieces (big portion 20 yuan). Other Granny Guan stalls, like the pigtailed lady's, charge 12 yuan for 6 pieces. The taste is actually similar to Sanyuan Stinky Tofu in Jiaxing, but much pricier. There are also shops like the Number One Noodle, Little Fatty, and Yulouchun. Outside the scenic area, you'll find Weirong Snacks and Life on a Skewer.
Hongyuan Garden, Xixi Wetland, Hangzhou
Hongyuan Garden is part of Phase Three of Xixi Wetland. Phases One and Three are in different districts, and their tickets used to not be interchangeable; Phase Two is a free zone. Last spring I made a special trip to Phase One to take a boat ride; this time I focused on Phase Three's Hongyuan Garden.
Qinghefang Street, Hangzhou
Qinghefang has been a bustling part of Hangzhou since ancient times. East of Xingong Bridge on Hefang Street lies the site of the De Shou Palace, the sleeping quarters of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song. The residence of Zhang Jun, who was given the title of Prince of Qinghe, was located on what was then called imperial Taiping Lane, so this area was named Qinghefang. In the Southern Song, it was packed with shops, restaurants, and teahouses, serving as the political and cultural centre of Hangzhou and a gathering place for merchants. Through the Yuan, Ming, Qing, and Republic of China periods up until early liberation, it remained a thriving commercial district. Hangzhou's time-honoured brands such as Wangxingji, Zhang Xiaoquan, Wanlong Ham Shop, Hu Qing Yu Tang, Fang Huichun Tang, Ye Zhongde Tang, Baohe Tang, Zhuangyuan Guan, Wang Runxing, Yiyuan Gold Shop, Jingyangguan, and Yangtang Fanzhuang are all clustered here. The Zhu Bingren Bronze Sculpture Art Museum is an important cultural and artistic highlight of Qinghefang Street.
Overlooking West Lake Nightscape from Wushan Hill
Compared to West Lake, Wushan Hill feels rather forlorn. It is the tail end of West Lake's southern hills jutting into urban Hangzhou. In the Spring and Autumn Period, this formed the southern boundary of the Wu Kingdom. Over a dozen hills—Ziyang, Yunju, Jindi, Qingping, Baolian, Qibao, Shifo, Baoyue, Luotuo, E'mei etc.—create a southwest-to-northeast arc known collectively as Wushan. It's not high, but because it inserts itself into the city, its east, north, and northwest slopes overlook streets and alleys, while to the south it gazes out at the Qiantang River and the plains on both banks. Climbing Wushan still gives a sense of hovering over the city, and you can take in a panorama of Hangzhou's river, hills, lake, and urban areas. This is why "Wushan Heavenly Wind" was named one of the New Ten Scenes of West Lake. Because I was visiting after work, the museum and City God Pavilion were already closed; they're worth visiting in the daytime.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal stretches about 1,800 kilometres, meandering through Hangzhou's urban area past landmarks like Gongchen Bridge, Xiangji Temple, Wulinmen, Gaotang, and Qianjiang New Town, linking the city's past and future. In preparation for the Asian Games and improvements to the Grand Canal greenway, Hangzhou launched a project to upgrade the waterfront and lighting in the old town section. The lighting design continues a concept of "ink-wash painting" enhanced with LED energy-saving technology, recreating an ink-wash scroll and depicting a poetic Jiangnan of white walls, dark tiles, little bridges, and flowing streams along the canal. After over half a year of meticulous work, it is now fully completed.
City Balcony Light Show
The City Balcony is in the core area of Qianjiang New Town, consisting of one main and two secondary balconies. Each is an open, vibrant modern city park combining leisure, tide-watching, relaxation, and mood-lifting in one. The main balcony lies on the central axis, using the Qiantang River embankment as its baseline and extending dozens of metres out over the river. It's about 322 metres long, mostly suspended above the water, jutting as far as 80 metres beyond the embankment. The two-level balcony has a ground-floor building area of 24,000 square metres alone. In winter, performances are at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m.
West Lake Scenic Area: Manjuelong – Nine Creeks Hike
Get off at Siyanjing and walk down to Lower Manjuelong.
Manjuelong Village is in the West Lake scenic area of Hangzhou, southwest of West Lake, squeezed between South Peak and Baihe Peak. One of the New Ten Scenes, "Sweet Osmanthus Rain at Manlong," is in this area. Manjuelong, also called Manjialong, is a valley on the south side of South Peak. During the Wuyue period, there were many small Buddhist temples here, including a "Yuanxing Temple" later renamed "Manjue Temple"—the area got its name from the temple.
The Instagram-famous "Spirited Away Bathhouse"
Yangmeiling (home of Shifeng Longjing tea)
Nine Creeks Misty Trees is another New Ten Scene, commonly called "Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies." It lies in the valley of Jiguanlong in the hills west of West Lake, connecting Longjing to the north and the Qiantang River to the south. Originating below Yangmeiling in Wengjia Mountain, it flows through Qingwan, Hongfa, Tangjia, Xiaokang, Foshi, Baizhang, Yunqi, Qingtou, and Fangjia—the Nine Creeks—winding unpredictably into the Qiantang. The "Eighteen Gullies" refer to the many small streams, gurgling as they go. The Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies converge near Xizhongxi Restaurant at the foot of Bajue Mountain. The whole route is framed by layer upon layer of hills, scattered tea gardens, winding paths, crystalline streams, and chirping birds. A feast for the eyes on sunny days, drifting mist and clouds when it's overcast.
Due to time constraints, I skipped Qingshan Lake. I descended, scanned a shared bike, rode to the subway station, and caught my flight back to Xi'an.
