5 Days in Lu'an

The Wanxi martyrs cemetery and its Dabie-mountain history hall — Jinzhai county alone sent 59 founding generals — then a pot of Guapian, the single-leaf famous tea.

1. liuan wanxi martyrs cemetery
2. liuan wanxi museum

West of town — a 1.5-km limestone gorge with single-body squeezes, Dushan's buildings tied to the November 1929 first shot of the Liuhuo uprising, and the Hengpaitou headworks where the Pishihang irrigation scheme, started in 1958, draws from the Pi river.

1. liuan wanxi rift valley
2. liuan dushan revolution sites
3. liuan hengpaitou

About 160 km and 2.5 hours to the Jinzhai side — the 1,729-m second peak of the Dabie range and valley after valley of falls; sleep at the mountain gate to beat the morning queues.

1. liuan tiantangzhai

The terraced memorial square and county museum record the revolutionary years, and the Meishan dam across the Shi river, finished in the mid-1950s, still sets the reservoir's blue frame; return toward Lu'an in the late afternoon.

1. liuan jinzhai red army square
2. liuan meishan reservoir

An hour east into Shucheng County, the Longhekou reservoir built at the turn of the 1960s spread about 50 sq km of drowned-green islands; a boat loop plus lakeside lunch, then the train home from Lu'an.

1. liuan wanfo lake