14 Days in Jiujiang

Settle in the old port quarter: the 1989-rebuilt Xunyang Tower, the 1580s pagoda on the Yangtze dike, and the pavilion for Bai Juyi's 816 poem.

1. jiujiang xunyang tower
2. jiujiang suojiang tower
3. jiujiang pipa pavilion

Climb to Guling at 1,164 metres; Flower Path and the Jinxiu Valley boardwalk to Immortal Cave, then find a room in the mountain town.

1. jiujiang lushan
2. jiujiang flower path
3. jiujiang jinxiu valley

The 1903 Meilu Villa and the 1937 auditorium of the 1959 plenum, now a history museum, sketch the town's 20th century; lanes and teahouses after.

1. jiujiang meilu villa
2. jiujiang lushan conference site

Sunrise over the Poyang plain, then the ridge under Hanyang's 1,474-metre summit; end early and rest for the falls.

1. jiujiang hanpokou
2. jiujiang five old men peaks

Descend to the 155-metre three-flight falls, then the 1934 botanical garden at the foot; sleep low tonight.

1. jiujiang sandiequan waterfall
2. jiujiang lushan botanical garden

The academy of 940, rebuilt by Zhu Xi in 1179, and the single-arch bridge of 1014; continue by bus to the Lushan City area.

1. jiujiang white deer academy
2. jiujiang guanyin bridge

Cliffs and the waterfall pool of Li Bai's quatrain of about 725; an easy half-day with time for the old town of Lushan City.

1. jiujiang xiufeng

Donglin of 386 and Xilin, where Su Shi's 1084 wall poem about the mountain's faces was written; keep to visiting hours.

1. jiujiang donglin temple
2. jiujiang xilin temple

The 48-metre bronze Buddha completed in 2013, then an afternoon soak in the Xingzi hot-spring strip at the mountain's south foot.

1. jiujiang donglin great buddha

Morning bus to Hukou for Shizhong Mountain, subject of Su Shi's 1084 essay, and the mouth of China's largest freshwater lake; back to Jiujiang by dusk.

1. jiujiang shizhongshan
2. jiujiang poyang lake

Boats thread the 308-square-kilometre Zhelin reservoir and its hundreds of wooded islands; in December-February swap this for the Wucheng wetlands, where most of the world's roughly 4,000 Siberian cranes winter.

1. jiujiang lushan west sea

A neighbouring-city day by HSR: the Tengwang Pavilion, first raised in 653 and rebuilt in 1989 at 57.5 metres, plus the riverfront promenade.

1. jiujiang nanchang tengwang pavilion

HSR to the porcelain capital: the imperial-kiln museum opened in 2020 over 600-odd years of kiln ground, then the Taoxichuan brick kiln quarter at dusk.

1. jiujiang jingdezhen imperial kiln museum
2. jiujiang jingdezhen taoxichuan

A last morning by Gantang Lake at Yanshui Pavilion and the market lanes, then departure from Jiujiang Station.

1. jiujiang yanshui pavilion