7 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, 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.

1. chizhou tiantai peak
2. chizhou huatai

The 99-metre bronze Ksitigarbha stands finished in the 2010s at the mountain's northern gate, its height echoing the traditional count of 99 peaks; the reservoir-and-falls park of Jiuhua Tianchi fills the afternoon.

1. chizhou dizang statue
2. chizhou jiuhua tianchi

A 1.5-hour drive south into Shitai County, the national reserve protected since 1988 keeps forested valleys below its 1,727-metre main peak; boardwalk trails and 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, and take the evening road back toward the city.

1. chizhou qiupu river
2. chizhou penglai cave

West of the city, the Dawang cave opens through karst halls with a boat section; Qi Hill south of downtown carries old cliff inscriptions and a slow view over the Yangtze plain.

1. chizhou dawang cave
2. chizhou qi mountain

The national reserve east of town is a wintering ground where tens of thousands of waterbirds gather from November, hooded cranes among them; in other seasons the lakeside dykes still make an easy morning, and the evening train closes the week.

1. chizhou shengjin lake