Couple’s Trip | Wandering Jiangsu – A 3-Day, 2-Night Hidden Treasure Guide
A trip at a moment’s notice – something so many want to do but never have. Maybe because you don’t know where to go, maybe because of life’s trivialities, maybe because you’re busy making money, maybe… Ten thousand maybes can’t stop your heart from exploring, except yourself! This winter, you’ve got to go to Jiangsu~ Lizhong Water Forest Park:
Qinhu National Wetland Park
Dayang Bay Ecological Tourism Scenic Area
Nantong Forest Wildlife Park
Jiulongkou Hot Spring Resort Hotel
This is a 3-day mini vacation trip, a long-awaited spontaneous journey, a couple’s trip wandering Jiangsu with a 3-day, 2-night hidden treasure guide~ With forests, ancient towns, wetlands, a wildlife park, local cuisine, and a winter hot spring~
Documents: ID card, bank card, cash, etc.
Daily necessities: suitcase, thermos, umbrella, ladies’ skincare travel set, cosmetics, tissues, etc.
Equipment: Nikon Z6, GoPro action camera, phone, power bank, cables, etc.
Clothing: prepare a beautiful dress, beret, down jacket, sweater, winter bare-leg look tights, etc.
We once crossed mountains and seas, and also passed through seas of people. A long-awaited trip, with you…
Itinerary & Accommodation
Departure city: Yiwu
Departure date: December 9, 2021
Duration: 3 days
Cities visited: Taizhou, Yancheng, Nantong
Itinerary & Accommodation:
December 9 (Nantong)
Nantong Forest Wildlife Park (drive through and interact with animals up close)
Langshan
Stay at: Taizhou Liuyuan Atour Hotel
Food: Guyue Restaurant
December 10 (Taizhou)
Morning tea (Liufang Tea House)
Morning: Qintong Ancient Town (experience slow life among worldly烟火, see century-old camellia trees)
Afternoon: Qinhu National Wetland Park (get close to nature, take a boat through vast reed marshes)
Lizhong Water Forest Park (take a bamboo raft through the waterwarden cypress groves)
Meals: Yancheng Eight Bowls
Stay at: Yancheng Jianhu Jiulongkou Hot Spring Resort Hotel, check in and soak in hot spring
December 11 (Yancheng)
Dayang Bay Ecological Tourism Scenic Area (Tangduli special street, Dengying Pavilion)
Meals: Yancheng Eight Bowls
[PS: Travel style – green, ecological, free and leisurely]
DAY1 Nantong Forest Wildlife Park + Langshan
Missing the safari at Addo Elephant Park in South Africa, we decided to check in at Nantong Forest Wildlife Park as our first stop during the short holiday. I heard it’s a large comprehensive tourism project integrating scenic spots, circus performances, specialty dining, leisure & entertainment, and science education, with three tour modes: drive-through, walk-through, and boat-through. Totally looking forward to it!
For the drive-through area, you can either take a free animal-shaped mini train or drive your own car (you need to buy an additional ticket). The route is the same for both.
We chose the park’s mini train. There’s a boarding point with a souvenir shop nearby that sells binoculars and snacks for the drive tour. Starting from Luxiheze in the drive-through area, if you’re lucky, animals will come very close to you. Haha, we met many little foodies!
One little foodie came asking for carrots, ate a lot but still wasn’t full, chasing our sightseeing car all the way!
You can also stop at designated spots to look at the animals and interact with them up close~ Super cute alpacas!
Various adorable, mischievous ones – if there are no carrots, they act aloof~
Key spots in the drive-through area:
1. Luxiheze: the world’s second largest bird – emu, and rare Australian black swans.
2. Eurasian Forest: sika deer, argali.
3. American Jungle: llama.
4. King’s Tribe: black bear, brown bear, wolf, Northeast tiger, white tiger, etc. Watch tigers diving, brown bears catching fish, black bears climbing trees…
5. Wind & Cloud Grassland: fallow deer, greater kudu, blue wildebeest…
6. Peruvian Plateau: alpaca🦙
7. Highland Desert: Tibetan sheep, Bactrian camel.
8. African Savannah: giraffe🦒, zebra🦓, ostrich.
Black bear waving
King of the forest – tiger
By the way, zebras and ostriches might come to you and “play” on the road~
We planned to go to Langshan later, so time was a bit tight. If you have plenty of time, girls can stay a night at the zoo hotel, maybe even get close to a wandering red panda! Hahaha!
Oh, by the way, the mascot of Nantong Forest Wildlife Park is the red panda! I only managed to snap a photo of a giant panda’s butt, as if it said, “It’s too cold today, I’m going to sleep~”
And the mysterious Hundred Beasts Garden
Dreamy lights, very beautiful for photos~ All kinds of jellyfish
Langshan
Langshan Scenic Area is located in the southern suburbs of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province. It’s a famous natural scenic area.
We took a drone to appreciate Langshan National Forest Park from another angle.
Under the sun, Langshan is full of colorful hues~
Red maple leaves add a warm bright touch to the winter that arrives as promised.
Walking up the steps, every spot is a view, feeling inner peace~
Climbing Langshan, watching the great river flow east, pondering how waves wash away countless heroes; gazing at the long river and setting sun, enjoying the sight of lone ducks flying with the sunset clouds. Langshan is waiting for you in Nantong, I am waiting for you at Langshan!
DAY2 Qintong Ancient Town + Qinhu National Wetland Park + Lizhong Water Forest Park
Qintong Ancient Town is located at the intersection of Jiangyan District in Taizhou, Xinghua City, and Dongtai City. The crowd flow here is not large, so you can fully enjoy the peace and comfort.
The entire ancient town retains its historical flavor. It feels great, completely different from other Jiangnan ancient towns I’ve visited. Worth a visit, slowly savoring the unique charm of a thousand-year-old ancient town and local culture.
Qintong Ancient Town: blue bricks, black tiles, green trees making shade. At first glance, the simple and elegant horse-head stone streets with moss in the cracks bear the marks of time, as if telling you the legendary stories of this thousand-year-old ancient town.
From city to ancient town, from towering buildings to low residential houses, from bustling fashion to everyday life – there’s a sense of time travel. I like the everyday beauty of this old street. Entering Qintong Ancient Town, you’ll be attracted by its antique scenery.
Besides the scenery, food and snacks are also a major feature of Qintong Ancient Town, like baked cakes, dry shredded tofu, Qintong fish cake, fried stinky tofu, five-flavor dried tofu shreds, etc. Among them, the most famous is the Qinhu Eight Fresh Feast. The representative items of Qinhu Eight Fresh are Qinhu river crabs, shrimp balls, fish cakes, and soft-shelled turtles. Every year from early April to May, the local area holds the Qinhu Eight Fresh Food Festival, a real treat for foodies~
Taizhou is an ancient cultural city with a long history, a beautiful water city, and a small city with a slow pace. There are many scenic spots to visit in Taizhou, among which Qinhu National Wetland Park is a must-visit.
Because the natural environment around Qinhu Lake attracts countless magpies to build nests and settle here, locals also call Qinhu Lake the Magpie Lake. Now, the wetland located in Qintong Town, Taizhou City, has become the first national wetland park in China to pass the pilot acceptance. To enter the wetland park, we need to take a boat. Some old boats are still in use, and sometimes the boatman will sing a local folk song, very pleasant.
Wandering in Qinhu Wetland Park, water birds sing in the reeds, wild ducks swim beside the boats. Besides these common ones, according to the book “A Study of the Milu Habitat,” this area was also a habitat for milu (Père David’s deer), known as the “hometown of milu.” The most milu fossils have been unearthed here, the most typical in the country. Now about 50 milu still live here, and I believe their numbers will continue to increase under these unique conditions.
With “water, wetland, and ecology” as its connotation, Qinhu Lake nurtures its quiet lake waters, strange forests and animals, and rich folk customs. Qinhu Lake is calm and clear all year round, producing fish, shrimp, water chestnuts, lotus roots, watermelons, and other pollution-free green foods. The islands in the lake are scattered, with abundant reeds and cattails. By day, sails drift, at night, fishing lights twinkle – pleasant and suitable for a visit.
Beautiful fir forest, leading you into a fairy tale world~~
【Lizhong Water Forest Park】You must not miss the Emerald City Lizhong Water Forest Park!
It feels like stepping into a fairy tale!
Rows of metasequoias extend the path, drawing people into a beautiful early winter scene on the water.
In early winter, arriving at Lizhong Water Forest Park, large patches of reddish-brown fir trees come into view – one by one, clusters upon clusters.
Strolling on the fir-fruit-scented tree-lined path, sunlight lazily shines through the gaps, instantly makes you feel the beauty of the world embracing you.
DAY3 Dayang Bay Ecological Tourism + Jiulongkou Hot Spring
Main attractions of Dayang Bay Ecological Tourism Area: Cherry Blossom Garden, Dengying Pavilion, Yandu Ancient Town, Gold Nanmu Museum, Changle Water World, Tangduli Food Street, etc. Entering the Dayang Bay Ecological Tourism Scenic Area, winding red roads run through the whole area. A thousand-acre landscape river is embedded in the vast scenic area, together with flowers, trees, pavilions, towers, and ancient Hui and Jin residences, building the beauty of Dayang Bay. Walking around, the scenery is picturesque.
“Climb high and look far at Dengying Pavilion, near the river balcony at Wangjiang Tower.” The artificial waterfall group in front of the pavilion attracts countless visitors. Climbing to the top of the pavilion and looking around, you can overlook the entire Dayang Bay Scenic Area – the lake shimmering, the beauty all in sight.
But my favorite part is Yandu Ancient Town here.
Park features: Yandu Ancient Town is a culturally characteristic block that meticulously blends Hui-style architecture with the watertown atmosphere of the Republic of China era.
The whole block is simple and elegant, especially the 22 restored old houses moved from other places. Each house is a piece of history, every brick, tile, beam, and pillar displaying the most original and rustic Hui-style architectural features. Coin museums, old furniture museums, Sanxian Hall, Grand Stage, and other cultural exhibition halls are located here, along with shops for eating, staying, and playing~
Wandering through the ancient town, you feel time truly slows down. It allows you to calm your heart and start an unforgettable nostalgic journey~
In the evening, of course, we had to enjoy a good hot spring~ So we chose to stay at Jiulongkou Hot Spring Resort Hotel!
Jiulongkou Hot Spring Hotel is a high-end comprehensive resort hotel focusing on hot spring vacation, health preservation, leisure, and family trips. With its unique geographical location, abundant ecological resources, extremely high forest coverage and negative ion concentration, soaking in a beauty hot spring in a natural oxygen bar and relieving stress is the right way to vacation!
This winter, why not come for a hot spring? The water is blue and clear, facilities are advanced, and tropical plants are planted beside the hot springs – lush green, as if in a tropical rainforest.
Hot spring water is supplied 24 hours a day; you don’t even need to leave your room to enjoy the spring. Soak in the hot spring pool while watching the misty fir forest after the rain, fully enjoying the wonderful leisure vacation time.
A variety of hot springs: not only a children’s splash area, play facilities, baths suitable for elderly recuperation and beauty therapy, but also floating baths, light wave baths, and other high-tech experiences for novel sensations.
When traveling to Jiangsu, food is definitely one of everyone’s top concerns~ Let me briefly introduce my most favorite Jiangsu cuisine – Yancheng Eight Bowls: Yancheng Eight Bowls is the main course for weddings, funerals, and entertaining guests in Yancheng. For wanderers away from home, it best evokes memories from their hometown and becomes a topic at the table. Yancheng Eight Bowls differ slightly from eight bowls in other regions, containing a strong local flavor, reflecting the simple and honest quality of Yancheng people, and showcasing their sincere folk customs yearning for a better life. The normal serving order is: 1. mixed stew, 2. braised glutinous rice balls, 3. egg cake (zhang cake), 4. braised pork, 5. shredded chicken with vermicelli, 6. clams braised with dried tofu, 7. braised fish (blade fish), 8. taro and dried shrimp soup.
Liufang Tea House: On the day of Heavy Snow (solar term), having a hot morning tea is undoubtedly the choice of many Taizhou people. For Taizhou people, morning tea is not only a good meal but also a social way for family and friends to gather.
I love their crab roe buns and fish soup noodles the most. Fish soup noodles: Noodles are the “finale” of Taizhou morning tea. And fish soup noodles are a unique delicacy in Jianghuai culture!
Cai Family Beef & Mutton Soup House: The authentic Nantong taste is indeed excellent! Winter is the best time for beef and mutton. Their food is really the best I’ve ever eaten! Very authentic! Don’t judge by the small, worn-out entrance; it has a surprisingly large interior. And the key is it’s so delicious!
Encountering a city is like encountering a person – Jiangsu is such a city: love at first sight, then growing affection over time~
