7 Days in Yingtan

The bamboo raft slides past Danxia cliffs (UNESCO-listed with the mountain in 2010) where Guyue burials were hoisted some 2,600 years ago; the "mosquito-free" Xu village waits at the bend.

1. yingtan xianshuiyan cliffs
2. yingtan wuwen village

The Tianshi Mansion has housed 63 generations of Zhang masters across nearly 1,900 years of Zhengyi Daoism; the old town's lanes and the Zhengyi temple fill the afternoon.

1. yingtan shangqing ancient town
2. yingtan tianshi mansion
3. yingtan zhengyi temple

A second Longhu pass on foot — the high plank road loops the elephant-trunk pillar and looks down on the river bend the rafts traced yesterday.

1. yingtan xiangbi hill

Zou Taofen (1895-1944), the trailblazing editor with family roots in Yujiang district; the restored home and the city museum take an unhurried morning.

1. yingtan taofen former residence
2. yingtan museum

An honest cross-city day — twenty minutes by rail into Shangrao's Yiyang county, where camel-humped Danxia blocks share the same 2010 UNESCO listing as Longhu.

1. guifeng

East to Guixi for the academy rebuilt in honour of the 12th-century philosopher Lu Jiuyuan, with old-town teahouses around.

1. yingtan xiangshan academy

A final slow walk along the Xinjiang river, one last museum sweep, then the HSR from Yingtan North.

1. yingtan xinjiang riverside
2. yingtan museum