14 Days in Heyuan

The reservoir behind the dam begun in 1958 spreads over about 370 sq km with 360-plus green islands; a half-day boat loop leaves time for the evening riverside.

1. heyuan wanlv lake

The museum's egg fossils passed 10,000 and set a Guinness record in 2004; the seven-story pagoda nearby dates to 1132, then walk the confluence where the Xinfeng meets the Dongjiang.

1. heyuan dinosaur museum
2. heyuan guifeng pagoda
3. heyuan xinfengjiang riverside

Beside the lake, Guishan's secondary forest and Yequgou's stream trails run several degrees cooler than downtown; pack a layer even in summer.

1. heyuan guishan
2. heyuan yequgou

About 26 km east, the Su-family village lines the Dongjiang with 18 Ming-Qing houses — arrive by the riverside road, eat a village lunch, and let the afternoon stretch.

1. heyuan sujiawei village

A slow day — riverside loops, a tea-street afternoon and an early night before the run of longer days.

1. heyuan xinfengjiang riverside

An hour's drive north to Zhangxi She Ethnic Township — a lit karst cavern on several levels, with She-village kitchens and terraced fields around the entrance.

1. heyuan huanglongyan

Roughly 80 km north in Heping County, Linzhai keeps 24 Qing-to-Republican siqiaolou courtyard stronghouses — one of the densest such clusters in Hakka country.

1. heyuan linzhai village

Stay over in Heping county town — the Relong springs feed riverside pools, a soak day placed deliberately between the Linzhai leg and Longchuan.

1. heyuan relong hot spring

On from Heping into Longchuan county — the Qin administrator Zhao Tuo, later king of Nanyue, held office at Tuocheng after 214 BC; the Yue King well and Confucian school still stand.

1. heyuan tuocheng old town

A second, gentler lake day — the shoreline walks and a quiet cove instead of the full boat loop.

1. heyuan wanlv lake

An honest neighbor day, 20-odd minutes south by HSR — West Lake's causeways first, then Luofu Mountain, where the 4th-century alchemist Ge Hong kept his workshop.

1. huizhou west lake
2. huizhou luofu mountain

Under two hours north on the same HSR line — the surviving Song brick wall runs about 3.6 km, the Jianchunmen pontoon bridge has floated since the Song, and Yugu Terrace looks over the river confluence.

1. ganzhou song city wall
2. ganzhou jianchunmen pontoon bridge
3. ganzhou yugu terrace

A last easy loop of the river walls and a market stock-up for the train.

1. heyuan xinfengjiang riverside
2. heyuan city markets

A market breakfast, then the train from Heyuan East — about an hour to Shenzhen on the HSR line opened in 2021.

1. heyuan city markets