Northern, Central, and Southern Jiangsu (Part 6) (Strolling through Xinghua's Lizhong Water Forest Park)

D5 (September 10, Tuesday): Xinghua → Lizhong Water Forest Park → Dazong Lake Scenic Area → Overnight in Yancheng

This morning, we visited the Lizhong Water Forest Park in Xinghua City, Taizhou; at noon, we toured Dazong Lake; and stayed overnight in Yancheng.

Lizhong Water Forest Park is located northwest of Xinghua City.

At 8:30 AM, we left Xinghua and drove to the parking lot of Lizhong Water Forest Park.

Address: No. 1 Shunchuan Road, Qianruo Town, Xinghua City, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province

Opening hours: 08:00-17:00 (last entry at 16:30)

From Xinghua City via Shazhao Line to [Lizhong Water Forest Parking Lot]: 22 km, 13 traffic lights, 45 minutes drive.

[Lizhong Water Forest Parking Lot]: Reference price: ¥10/time; Address: South Gate of Lizhong Water Forest Scenic Area, East End of Shunchuan Road, Lizhong Town, Xinghua City; Capacity: 200

Arrived at the parking lot at 9:20 AM.

Try to park as far north as possible near the visitor center to minimize walking.

Remember to pick up a park map at the visitor center.

The Water Forest is currently the largest artificial wetland forest ecological reserve in the Lixia River region.

The main waterway of the forest park runs north-south.

Lizhong Water Forest Park generally offers a combination of two activities:

Enter the scenic area, walk about 20 minutes to the bamboo raft pier, then take a wooden raft (20-minute ride). The raft slowly drifts along the waterways, flanked by large stretches of lush pond cypresses and metasequoias rooted in the water, standing tall and reaching for the sky.

The wooden boardwalk to the bamboo raft pier is built among the metasequoia forest.

On a boat by the river, cormorants wait to catch fish.

The Lizhong Forest Park is incredibly scenic.

The bamboo raft first travels along the main waterway.

Then turns into the water alleys among the forest.

The disembarkation pier for the bamboo raft is on the west bank.

"Forest with water, water with fish, and forest with birds" is the park's characteristic.

After disembarking from the bamboo raft, you enter a forest water alley landscape, often called the "Jiuzhaigou of Central Jiangsu"; it is surrounded by water, with rows of pond cypresses growing in the water, creating a very tranquil atmosphere. Wooden boardwalks are built over the water, and there are small wooden stakes in the forest for walking. As you walk, a carp might suddenly leap out of the water; sunlight filters through the leaves in thin strands, and a gentle breeze blows through the trees. If you have enough time, you can pause here and soak it all in.

Follow the signs inside the park to continue walking along Banqiao Boardwalk, the Nande Hutu Forest, and Buyun Bridge.

After passing a lotus pond, we stopped.

Blooming lotus flowers and green lotus seedpods...

From the visitor center, walk along the park's waterway in a roughly inverted triangle route and return to the visitor center, a distance of about 2.5 km.

Dense metasequoias + emerald green waterways + crisp birdsong... Lizhong Water Forest Park is a scenic area worth savoring slowly.

We spent two and a half hours touring the Water Forest Park.