3-Day Self-Drive Tour from Nanjing to Taizhou and Jingjiang
Set off from Nanjing at 8 AM — arrive at Taizhou Naval Ship Exhibition Park (129 km) around 9:30 AM, visit for 2 hours. Depart at 11:30 AM (45-minute drive) — dine at Haitangchun in Taizhou Old Street (queue up and share tables at the entrance; the squab, though small and ugly, tastes good; fish soup wontons and shencao mushroom buns are nice) — after eating, stroll around (actually, there are several restaurants along the way that also seem good, can't rule them out) — visit places like Wanghai Tower — rest a bit at Ji Hotel (Taizhou Pedestrian Street Daohe Scenic Area Branch) — after 6 PM, wander through the ancient street and Pozijie Pedestrian Street, but nearby there aren't many decent restaurants with character, so I searched online and found Huibin Restaurant, ordering three dishes: braised mixed seafood with tendons, fish fillet wontons, and pufferfish with wild rice. The braised mixed seafood with tendons was highly praised! — After dinner, walked about 1.2 km back to the hotel along the moat.
Morning jog along Daohe Ancient Street. After breakfast around 9 AM, depart — 36 km, 40 minutes to Qinhu Wetland Park (finally experienced traffic jams, crowded, but still okay; parked on the roadside; traffic police management could be improved) — original plan: 10 km, 10 minutes to Manxiangxiang Restaurant in Qintong Ancient Town for lunch and shopping, but still traffic jam — so I headed straight to Huangqiao Town, 56 km, 45 minutes away — had wontons and noodles at the most famous baked cake shop in Huangqiao Old Street, and shared a piece of baked cake; felt it's really not as good as the improved Huangqiao baked cake in Nanjing — 35 km, 40 minutes to Jingjiang Taihe Wuyue Square to check in — originally planned to dine at Laoji Shi Private Kitchen Restaurant, but went there by reputation only to find it closed — returned to the restaurant Haocao Tou downstairs of the hotel; the dining room was clean and elegant. Sat at a large desk and ordered braised tendons with mushrooms, potstickers with loofah and razor clams, and steamed perch with white bamboo shoot fish. Very delicious, highly praised!
Morning jog in Mazhou Park. After breakfast at the hotel — 9 AM, 12-minute drive to the First Sail of the Yangtze River Memorial Park and Mucheng Park for sightseeing — 11 AM: return to hotel to rest and pack — 12:30: check out. Originally planned to taste the soup dumplings at Nanzhiyuan (mainly to avoid peak hours) — arrived around 12:45 PM, but a wedding banquet was going on, and needed to get a number upon entry, but the numbers were gone, and they said they'd close at 1:30 PM. Called several other distinctive restaurants, but they also said closing at 1 PM. Oh my gosh? — Searched around for an hour, but couldn't find a decent restaurant. Spent 10 yuan on a tricycle ride, but the driver took us to a Seven Days Inn. — Hungry, hit the road — 15 minutes to Gushan Temple, settled for a Lanzhou Lamian noodles place at the foot of the hill — went up the hill for 3 minutes, nothing much. To enter the temple gate cost 10 yuan. Around 3 PM, decided to head home anyway — arrived home at 5:25 PM.
