7 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 and train legs to come.

1. ningde jiaocheng old town

A boat out into the bay, where rafts of the large yellow croaker, farmed here since the mid-1980s, 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

A 30-minute rail hop north 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; the tide slips about 50 minutes later each day, so work the day around the tide tables.

1. ningde xiapu tidal flats

North to the banyan groves and maple woods of Yangjia stream, then the hillside platform at Huazhu in Sansha, where the islands of Yushan line the horizon.

1. ningde yangjia stream
2. ningde huazhu viewpoint

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

The rail line back south, an unhurried last lap of the Donghu park and the old quarter, and the train or flight home from the coast.

1. ningde jiaocheng old town