7 Days in Zhuzhou

Zhuzhou sits at the Xiangjiang's elbow, a quarter of an hour south of Changsha by HSR. Walk the Shennong City park's column plaza and statue, then the riverside walkway; the city museum's bronzes fill a spare hour.

1. zhuzhou shennong city park
2. zhuzhou xiangjiang riverfront

The Fantawild park opened in 2011 in the Yunlong district and fills a day of rides and shows. Go on a weekday to shorten queues, and rest up for the southern leg.

1. zhuzhou fantawild

About 200 km south in Yanling County (renamed from Lingxian in 1994), the tomb-temple complex of Yandi stands at Luyuanbei by the Mishui river. Rebuilt in the late 1980s and rated 5A in 2020, it holds the memorial ceremony listed in China's first national intangible-heritage batch in 2006; the county also holds Hunan's highest summit, Lingfeng at 2,115.2 m. Overnight in Yanling's county town.

1. zhuzhou yandi mausoleum

About 45 km east of the county town, the national forest park chains waterfalls — Pearl-Curtain Falls among them — through old-growth valley air, with wooden walkways keeping the walking easy. Overnight near the valley gate or back in town.

1. zhuzhou shennonggu forest park

On the road back north, Chaling's Song-era wall was begun in 1231 and still rings the old county town along the Mishui; Yunyang Mountain's stone paths and cliff pavilions rise just south of the center.

1. zhuzhou chaling city wall
2. zhuzhou yunyang mountain

Jiuxian Lake fills a late-1950s reservoir arm inside the Jiubujiang national geopark — boat crossings between forested headlands and tofu-country lunches ashore. The drive back toward Zhuzhou takes about two hours.

1. zhuzhou jiuxian lake

About 40 km east of the city, Liling fires the underglaze five-color porcelain that won gold at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition; the Ceramic Valley's vase-shaped halls and the hillside Lujiang Academy, where Zuo Zongtang once taught, close the loop. Evening HSR from Zhuzhou West.

1. zhuzhou cigu ceramic valley
2. zhuzhou lujiang academy