A Female Driver Self-Drives on the Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Highway, Stays Overnight at the Shanwailai Kezhan Inn – Why Doesn't She Want to Leave?

I saw someone post that there is a Sichuan-Tibet Highway in southern Anhui, mysterious and as beautiful as a fairyland. It winds through valleys, with the grandeur of famous mountains and great rivers, accompanied by green mountains and clear waters, and the elegance of Jiangnan misty rain. It sparked my desire to travel, and the result was truly a worthwhile trip. Let me first give a brief introduction: The Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Highway, also known as the "Jiangnan Sky Road, Southern Anhui 318," starts in the east at Qinglong Township in Ningguo City and ends in the west at Caicun Town in Jing County, with its mysterious scenic section totaling 120 kilometers. Along the way, it passes through the photography base of Chujiatan, the mountain-encircled and water-winding Qingfang Road, the health resort Qinglong Lake, the breathtaking beauty of Hongshan Bay, the primitive landscape of Banqiao Nature Reserve, the cloud-top "Sky Road" Taoling Highway, the Shuimo Tingxi Scenic Area, and the Moon Bay Ten-Thousand-Mu Bamboo Sea. Driving along such a scenic route will absolutely refresh and delight you! This "Sichuan-Tibet Highway" is unique, combining the beauty of Guilin's mountains and waters in Guangxi, the wonder of Yunnan's Stone Forest, and the danger of the 318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway, embodying the essence of southern Anhui's landscapes—twisting and thrilling, with distinctive scenery, rolling green mountains or bamboo seas, and occasionally vast reservoirs. It is a great place for self-driving, cycling, hiking, rafting, paragliding, and stream tracing.

The entire "Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Highway" stretches many kilometers with beautiful ecology and unique scenery. Among them, Shangban Road is the highlight section of the "Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Highway."

Here, you can fully enjoy the stunning roadside views and the excitement of winding curves, but of course, it also demands higher driving skills from drivers. Always remember to keep a safe distance and drive cautiously, because the mountain roads are really narrow!

In the Banqiao Nature Reserve, there is a lush natural sweet chestnut forest covering more than 50,000 mu (about 3,333 hectares). It is the best-preserved and most intact primary forest at the northeastern edge of the subtropical zone, with a beautiful natural environment where insects, fish, birds, and beasts gather. It is an ideal place to escape the noisy city and listen to the beauty of ecology.

Accommodation Tips Along the Way: Drive directly on the expressway to Ningguo City. As soon as you exit the expressway, you feel like you have entered a landscape painting—Ningguo's scenery is truly picturesque. There are many farmhouse stays around. But a special recommendation: the Shanwailai Kezhan Inn. It has a beautiful environment, clean and tidy rooms, and the owner and his wife are warm and hospitable. The owner's cooking is delicious, with specialty farmhouse dishes that will surely satisfy your appetite. The cured meat sausage and spring bamboo shoots are especially tasty—so good that I want to stay here forever and never leave.

Behind the inn is the Xishan Karst Cave, located north of Banqiao Village, west of the pond at the foot of the mountain, about 300 meters behind the former Banqiao Township Government in the Banqiao Basin. Outside the cave is a large pond. The cave is cool in summer and warm in winter, with excellent ecological and climatic conditions.

This cave is a sinkhole, divided into two levels. The first level has water, while the second level has stalactites, forming a maze-like cave. The main hall inside the cave can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The stalactites, stone figures, stone chairs, stone benches, and stone tables are in various postures. There are remnants of an underground river natural bridge. The cave space is large, with the highest point about 60 meters high, and the narrowest passage about 0.5 meters high. Most sections can be passed with a backpack. The cave volume is classified as a large cave in Anhui. Preliminary exploration shows the total length of the two levels is about 6,000 meters.