14 Days in Ningde

An arrival day in the prefecture seat — the lakeside park of Donghu, the old quarter's lanes and a first table of coastal dishes before the boat, rail and mountain legs to come.

1. ningde jiaocheng old town

A boat out into the bay, where rafts of the large yellow croaker — the Guanjingyang spawn ground lies here — stand in village-sized rows, with island temples and a seafood lunch afloat.

1. ningde sandu ao

Up the Huotong river valley to a thousand-year market town — the thread-lion puppetry of Huotong entered the first national heritage register in 2006 — then the monastery of Zhiti, founded in 971, in the forested hill above.

1. ningde huotong ancient town
2. ningde zhiti mountain

An hour west into Fu'an, where the granite potholes of the Nine-Dragon gorge belong to the same UNESCO geopark listed in 2010 alongside Taimu and Baishuiyang; a cooling day of gorge walks and stream pools.

1. ningde baiyun mountain

Up to Zhouning, a county seat at about 880 m, where the carp of Liyu stream have been protected in the village of Puyuan for some 800 years, and the nine tiers of Jiulongji drop some 300 m in all.

1. ningde liyu stream
2. ningde jiulongji falls

Into Pingnan County for the flat bedrock riverbed of Baishuiyang — ankle-deep water over stone, its widest reach 182 m across — rated a 5A scenic area in 2011 together with the Yuanyang stream.

1. ningde baishuiyang

A morning in the reserve where mandarin ducks winter by the hundreds from October onward, then the long ride east to the coast for the night in Jiaocheng.

1. ningde yuanyang stream

Half an hour north by rail to Xiapu County, one of the country's most-photographed tidal coasts — morning light at Beiqi, afternoon on the flats of Xiaohao and sunset over the oyster racks at Dongbi; work the day around the tide tables.

1. ningde xiapu tidal flats

The banyan groves of Yangjia stream in the morning, the horizon of the Yushan islands from Huazhu at midday and, in kelp season, the S-shaped channels of Shajiang toward evening.

1. ningde yangjia stream
2. ningde huazhu viewpoint
3. ningde shajiang s bend

A short ferry from Fuding's coast to Yushan, listed among the country's most beautiful islands in a 2005 national survey — upland lakes and wide meadows above the sea, with fishing coves below; overnight on the island or back by last boat.

1. ningde yushan island

The rail stop at Taimushan puts the granite domes — main peak Fuding at 917.3 m, part of the UNESCO geopark listed in 2010 — within a short ride; a pot of Fuding white tea waits at the bottom.

1. ningde taimu mountain

An honestly labelled cross-province day — the coastal rail line, open since 2009, puts Wenzhou under an hour north, for the twin-pagoda islet of Jiangxinyu in the river and the old commercial street of Wuma; back to Fuding for the night.

1. ningde wenzhou day

The rail ride south with an easy afternoon — the Donghu park, a last pass through the old quarter's shops and a slow seafood dinner as the trip winds down.

1. ningde jiaocheng old town

A market breakfast, a final walk along the water and the train or flight home from the coast.

1. ningde jiaocheng old town