5 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. Late afternoon, climb to the Fenghuang Hill plaza above the old town.

1. zunyi conference site
2. zunyi fenghuangshan park

Start early 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. About 50 km further north on the old Sichuan-Guizhou road sits the Loushan pass, with its display hall and ridge viewpoints.

1. zunyi hailongtun fortress
2. zunyi loushan pass

About 1.5 hours west in Renhuai. The Liquor Culture City halls, the Yangliuwan tasting lanes and the 1915 square by the river take a full afternoon; 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

Follow the Chishui River valley road, some 160 km end to end, into Danxia country — Chishui joined UNESCO's China Danxia listing in 2010. Afternoon at Sidonggou's four tiered falls, then the Great Waterfall itself, 76 metres high and 80 metres wide. Overnight in Chishui town.

1. zunyi chishui valley road
2. zunyi sidonggou valley
3. zunyi chishui great waterfall

Morning at Bingan, a Ming-and-Qing-era river village of stilted wooden houses reached over an iron-chain bridge. Afternoon back up the valley — about 3.5 hours to Zunyi for the onward train.

1. zunyi bingan ancient town