14 Days in Zunyi

The two-storey brick-and-wood house at 96 Ziyin Road is free with ID reservation and usually closes on Mondays; the adjoining exhibition hall presents artifacts and documents. Evening loop along the Xiangjiang embankment.

1. zunyi conference site
2. zunyi xiangjiang riverfront

A full morning at Hailongtun, begun in 1257 and UNESCO-listed with the Tusi sites in 2015 — the climb passes the 36-step Flying Tiger stair cut into the cliff. Afternoon on the Fenghuang Hill plaza above the old town.

1. zunyi hailongtun fortress
2. zunyi fenghuangshan park

Half a day north on the old Sichuan-Guizhou road, about 50 km out — the pass keeps a display hall and ridge viewpoints, and the descending road runs through forest worth stopping for. Back in Zunyi for the evening.

1. zunyi loushan pass

About an hour northeast to Suiyang county. Shuanghe is a show-cave system with over 400 kilometres mapped — called the longest cave in Asia — and the walkable section threads a subterranean gorge and a fossil passage. Hot springs nearby if the legs want them.

1. zunyi shuanghe cave

Half an hour east, Xiazi town runs the country's biggest chili trading hub — drying floors, sorting halls and the Chili City complex, with fields of the crop all around. Back through the city for a bowl of Xiazi-style chili beef noodles by the river.

1. zunyi xiazi chili market
2. zunyi xiangjiang riverfront

An honest side day — the Yugui railway covers Chongqing from Zunyi in about an hour. Loop the stacked stilt-houses of Hongyadong and the Chaotianmen river confluence, eat hotpot, take the evening train back.

1. chongqing hongyadong
2. chongqing chaotianmen

About 1.5 hours east, Meitan's Yongxing tea sea rolls for roughly 10,000 mu (some 660 hectares). Climb the giant teapot tower for the view, then taste Meitan Cuiya and Zunyi Hong in a hillside teahouse. Overnight in Meitan.

1. zunyi meitan tea sea
2. zunyi first teapot park

About 3 hours west from Meitan to Renhuai. The Liquor Culture City halls, the Yangliuwan tasting lanes and the 1915 square fill the late day; the craft calendar still runs qu-making at Dragon Boat Festival and sorghum feeding at Double Ninth. Overnight riverside.

1. zunyi maotai town
2. zunyi liquor culture city

Down the Chishui River valley road — about 160 km end to end, though today only the upper half — to Tucheng in Xishui county, a salt-trade river town of flagstone streets and old wharf lanes. Overnight in Tucheng.

1. zunyi chishui valley road
2. zunyi tucheng ancient town

Follow the river down from Tucheng, stopping at the curved red cliff of Foguangyan, about 300 metres high, and the reserve protecting tree ferns — plants that have survived since the age of the dinosaurs. Reach Chishui town by evening.

1. zunyi foguangyan cliff
2. zunyi suoluo reserve

The marquee morning — the Great Waterfall, 76 metres high and 80 metres wide — paired with the neighbouring Yanzhiyan forest park and its ribbon falls. Chishui's Danxia joined UNESCO's China Danxia listing in 2010. Overnight in Chishui town.

1. zunyi chishui great waterfall
2. zunyi yanziyan park

Morning at Sidonggou's four tiered falls under fern-hung cliffs, afternoon among the moso groves of the bamboo-sea park. Two easy green days in a row before the long hauls.

1. zunyi sidonggou valley
2. zunyi chishui bamboo sea

Morning over the iron-chain bridge into Bingan's stilt-house lanes, then the stone streets of Datong near Chishui. After lunch, commit to the drive east — about 5 hours to Jiangkou county at the foot of Fanjingshan. Overnight in Jiangkou or the Dong village of Zhaisha.

1. zunyi bingan ancient town
2. zunyi datong ancient town

An honest finale over in Tongren — Fanjingshan, UNESCO-listed as a natural site in 2018. Daily real-name tickets are capped, so book well ahead; the cableway, the Mushroom Stone and the Red Cloud Golden Summit fill the day, then some 3 hours back to Zunyi by night, or continue onward from Tongren station.

1. tongren fanjingshan