5 Days in Chizhou

The rail link opened in April 2024 stops at Jiuhuashan station under half an hour from the city; around 99 registered temples climb the slopes, the old Huacheng court anchors the main street, and a funicular lifts visitors to hillside Baisheng Palace.

1. chizhou jiuhua mountain
2. chizhou huacheng temple
3. chizhou baisheng palace

Steps up the Tiantai ridge to its 1,306-metre summit below the 1,342-metre Shiwang crest, then the cableway across to Huatai's granite cliffs and stitched boardwalks; sleep on the mountain or in Qingyang town.

1. chizhou tiantai peak
2. chizhou huatai

At the mountain's northern gate, the 99-metre bronze Ksitigarbha stands on a hill of its own — finished in the 2010s, its height echoing the traditional count of the mountain's 99 peaks; the reservoir-and-falls park of Jiuhua Tianchi cools the afternoon.

1. chizhou dizang statue
2. chizhou jiuhua tianchi

A 1.5-hour drive south into Shitai County, the Guniujiang national reserve (protected since 1988) keeps forested valleys below its 1,727-metre main peak; boardwalk trails and a slow afternoon, with a night in Shitai town.

1. chizhou guniujiang

Li Bai wrote his seventeen Qiupu songs along this river in the 750s; drift a section by raft, then walk about 3 km of chambers in the Penglai cave before the drive back to Chizhou for the evening train.

1. chizhou qiupu river
2. chizhou penglai cave