14 Days in Lianyungang

Settle by the harbour quarter begun in 1933, where the 1935 railway met the sea; stone lanes and the first seafood dinner set the coast mood.

1. lianyungang lianyun old street

Toward Yufeng at 624.4 metres, Jiangsu's highest, the water-curtain cave of the 16th-century novel and the nine-storey pagoda of Haiqing temple, standing since 1023.

1. lianyungang huaguoshan

First beach day across the 6.7-kilometre causeway to Jiangsu's largest island, on the wide Dashawan with its snack rows.

1. lianyungang lian island

The quieter cove of Sumawan, cliff paths between the two beaches, and an evening cycle back along the causeway as the port lights come on.

1. lianyungang lian island

Ridge paths over Haishang Yuntai above the container berths, then the port museums and stone lanes; land-bridge containers have rolled west since 1992.

1. lianyungang haishang yuntai
2. lianyungang lianyun old street

A slow day in the old city — drum tower, old wells and lane markets — with the fish-soup bowls the quarter is known for.

1. lianyungang haizhou ancient city

Eastern Han Buddhist rock images on Kongwang Hill — among the earliest in China — and the Neolithic carvings of Jiangjunya on the same hillside, several thousand years old.

1. lianyungang kongwang hill

The Longtan brook steps down in cascades south of the Yuntai range, an easy valley walk with pavilions; the evening belongs to the seaside rows at Xugou.

1. lianyungang yuwan valley

The town where Li Ruzhen, the 19th-century author of Flowers in the Mirror, lived, with a Qing-era vinegar house still trading and cold liangfen noodles for lunch.

1. lianyungang banpu ancient town

South to Guanyun county for the granite slopes of Dayi Mountain and its Neolithic stone-coffin burials, a protected site, before a county-town dinner.

1. lianyungang dayi mountain

North to Ganyu, venerated as the home village of the Qin-era envoy Xu Fu, then a boat to Qinshan Island with its roughly 2.6-kilometre gravel spit — sailing depends on tide and wind.

1. lianyungang xufu village
2. lianyungang qinshan island

Honestly labelled neighbouring-province day — about 1.5 hours north into Shandong for Wanpingkou beach park and the waterfront lanes of Dongyi town; return by evening or sleep north.

1. lianyungang rizhao wanpingkou

Honestly labelled neighbouring-city day — about an hour by HSR west to Xuzhou for the Western Han Chu-king mausoleum, its terracotta guards unearthed in 1984, and a lap of Yunlong Lake.

1. xuzhou han culture scenic area
2. xuzhou yunlong lake

A market breakfast in the old quarter, a last seawall walk, then the HSR from Lianyungang station or the airport run for the flight out.

1. lianyungang lianyun old street