14 Days in Shanwei

Settle in, then the hillside temple above the old harbour, with Ming-era origins and a 16.8-metre granite Mazu statue; the roughly 22-sq-km Pinqing Lake wraps the city's south shore. Guangzhou sits about an hour away on the line opened in September 2023.

1. shanwei fengshan mazu temple
2. shanwei pinqing lake

About 25 km east, the Zhelang Peninsula cuts the swell on one side while surf runs on the other — the bay hosted the sailing races of the 2010 Asian Games.

1. shanwei red bay

The November 1927 Hailufeng Soviet congress site, nationally protected since 1961; the county town's markets make an easy lunch stop on the 40-minute bus ride each way.

1. shanwei red palace square

The forest road climbs toward the 1,337-metre main summit, the highest in the Shanwei area; hot-spring resorts at the foot take the afternoon.

1. shanwei lianhua mountain

A 7-km run of sand about 10 km west of downtown, with a boardwalk along the dunes and sunset over the fishing boats.

1. shanwei jinding bay

Parks, tea houses and laundry — an early night before the eastern stretch begins.

1. shanwei pinqing lake

East into Lufeng, about 60 km out, the Yuanshan Temple complex at Jieshi traces its origins to the Southern Song and has been a national key cultural relics unit since 2001; the town was a Ming coastal garrison, established in 1389.

1. shanwei yuanshan temple

West of Jieshi, the sands of Jinxiang Bay carry an October 1927 episode — Zhou Enlai rested here before crossing to Hong Kong, and a marker stands by the shore. Late bus back toward Shanwei.

1. shanwei jinxiang beach

Boats leave Magong port, west of the city, for Guiling Island — a granite islet with a small temple and worn rock formations, reachable in under an hour on calm-water mornings.

1. shanwei guiling island

A labelled neighbour day — Jieyang is a separate prefecture, about two hours away by road. Its Confucian academy was founded in 1140 and the Jinxian Gate tower was raised in 1622; return by evening.

1. jieyang

A second labelled neighbour day — the coastal railway reaches Huizhou, a separate prefecture, in well under an hour for the West Lake park and old quarter, back to Shanwei by evening.

1. huizhou

A second, unhurried pass at Zhelang — morning sands, afternoon walk to the lighthouse side of the peninsula.

1. shanwei red bay

A market breakfast and a last lakeside loop; opera companies of the prefecture still stage Zhengzi opera — on the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006 — at temple festivals across the region.

1. shanwei city markets
2. shanwei pinqing lake

One more harbour walk, then the HSR from Shanwei station — Guangzhou in about an hour on the 2023 line.

1. shanwei pinqing lake