14 Days in Jingmen

The Guodian slips unearthed in 1993 — about 800 strips, some 2,300 years old, carrying the earliest manuscript Laozi — open the fortnight, then the 1754 Longquan Academy under Xiangshan hill.

1. jingmen museum
2. jingmen longquan park

A slow day at the UNESCO tomb of 2000 — 183 hectares, more than 40 years of building, the outer and inner red gates, the zigzag channel and two burial mounds on one terrace. Folk opera in Mochou Village at night.

1. jingmen xianling mausoleum
2. jingmen mochou village

2.5 kilometres of passage at Kedian, a mouth near 100 metres tall and terraced rimstone pools, with Shuimeiping's sinkhole fields at the exit — stay for lunch in the village.

1. jingmen huangxian cave

National forest park country southeast of Zhongxiang — pine ridges, streams and picnic grounds, an easy walking day between the big sights.

1. jingmen dakou forest

The 1958 dam holds a lake of roughly 100 square kilometres with more than 2 billion cubic metres of storage; island boats, water-side tea houses and sunset from the western piers.

1. jingmen zhanghe reservoir

About 100 kilometres east, the uprising of AD 17 began on Lülin Mountain — stockade gates, cliff walks and, in season, the mild rapids of Yuanyang Stream.

1. jingmen lvlin mountain

Green water and boardwalks in Meiren Valley before lunch, then the electric-lit chambers of Kongshan Cave — both within Jingshan county.

1. jingmen meiren valley
2. jingmen kongshan cave

The type site of the Qujialing culture, first excavated in the 1950s and about 5,000 years old — exhibition hall, excavation trenches and paddies in Jingmen's southeast.

1. jingmen qujialing site

South to Shayan county for the Jishan Chu tomb cluster and the old temple on the hill — quiet countryside where Chu-period burial mounds stud the ridges.

1. jingmen jishan tombs

Ming-era Yuanyou Palace near the Xianling axis, then the slender Wenfeng Pagoda above the Han river banks — a half-day of quiet monuments in Zhongxiang.

1. jingmen yuanyou palace
2. jingmen wenfeng pagoda

An honestly labelled neighbouring-city day — the dam at Sandouping runs about 2,309 metres on its axis to a 185-metre crest, finished in 2006, best read from the Tanziling terraces. Return to Jingmen at night.

1. jingmen sandouping dam

A second honest neighbour day — Jingzhou's 11-kilometre wall, six gates, the Western Han gentleman unearthed in 1975 at the museum, and old-town snacks before heading back north.

1. jingmen jingzhou wall
2. jingmen jingzhou museum

An easy closing day in the city — the wooded slope of Dongbao Hill, then the Zhupi River greenway and evening markets to round off the prefecture.

1. jingmen dongbao hill
2. jingmen zhupi river

One last morning loop through Longquan Park's springs and pavilions, pack up, and leave via Jingmen station or the newer HSR platforms toward Jingzhou.

1. jingmen longquan park