Jianglang Mountain and Nianbadu Tourist Area is located in Jiangshan City, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and is a national 5A-level tourist attraction. The tourist area consists of three core areas: Jianglang Mountain, Nianbadu Ancient Town, and Qingyang Village, with a total planned area of approximately 67.06 square kilometers, of which the core scenic area is 17.98 square kilometers. Jianglang Mountain is mainly characterized by Danxia landform, with majestic and peculiar mountains, and its landscapes such as Sanpan Stone are renowned at home and abroad; Nianbadu Ancient Town is a well-preserved ancient town from the Ming and Qing dynasties, integrating architectural styles from Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian (northern Hakka style), and even Western styles. There are about 36 ancient buildings of various types remaining, with a total construction area of over 14,000 square meters; as the birthplace of the Mao clan in the Jiangnan region, Qingyang Village retains a large number of ancient dwellings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The scenic area features "spectacular mountains, ancient towns, and folk treasures", integrating natural wonders, historical towns, and folk culture, and is a highly representative tourist destination on the border of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi.
Historical Culture
Jianglang Mountain has a long history, formerly known as Yulang Mountain and Jinchun Mountain, and was recorded as early as in the "Book of the Later Han". Scholars and poets of past dynasties, such as Bai Juyi, Xin Qiji, and Xu Xiake, have climbed the mountain to write poems, leaving many timeless works. In August 2010, as an important part of "China Danxia", Jianglang Mountain was inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List, becoming one of China's eighth World Natural Heritage sites. The uniqueness and integrity of its Danxia landform have important scientific research value worldwide.
The history of Nianbadu Ancient Town is closely related to the Xianxia Ancient Road. After the Huang Chao Uprising Army opened up the Xianxia Ancient Road at the end of the Tang Dynasty, this place became a military fortress and an important commercial and travel town. In the fourth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1071), Jiangshan set up forty-four "du" (administrative units), and since this town ranked twenty-eighth, it was named "Nianbadu". Although the ancient town has only about 10,000 people, there are 142 surnames and 13 dialects. This phenomenon of "a hundred surnames and a hundred languages" is rare in China, and it is known as the "Natural Folk Custom Museum". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the ancient town was prosperous in commerce and trade, forming a architectural complex integrating multiple regional styles. The existing buildings such as the Wenchang Palace, Shuixing Temple, and ancient dwellings all witnessed its glorious history as the "Key to Zhejiang and Fujian".
Qingyang Village is the birthplace of the Mao clan in the Jiangnan region. Since the ancestors of the Mao clan settled here during the Northern Song Dynasty, it has a history of more than 1,500 years. The preserved buildings in the village, such as the Mao Clan Ancestral Hall, Qingyang Ancestral Residence, and the "Genealogy of the Mao Clan in Qingyang", provide important physical materials for the study of Chinese surname culture and family history. In 2006, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
Main Attractions
Sanpan Stone
Sanpan Stone is the iconic landscape of Jianglang Mountain, consisting of three giant Danxia stone peaks: Langfeng, Yafeng, and Lingfeng, arranged in a "chuan" (river) shape, like three brothers standing side by side. Among them, Langfeng has a relative height of 319 meters, Yafeng 271 meters, and Lingfeng 268 meters, ranking first in height among the tower peaks of Danxia landform in China. The three peaks are connected at the bottom and independent at the top. The peaks are steep, with vertical rock walls, and the minimum slope reaches 88 degrees, making climbing difficult. The vegetation coverage rate on the surface of the peaks is about 65%, mainly drought-tolerant plants such as pine and cypress. Every spring, wildflowers blooming in the crevices of the rock walls add a different kind of vitality to it.
Yixiantian (One-Line Sky)
Yixiantian is a natural stone crevice between Yafeng and Lingfeng, about 100 meters long, with the narrowest part only 3.5 meters, the widest part about 5 meters, and a height of about 298 meters. When tourists pass through it, they need to walk sideways. Looking up, they can see only a line of sky remaining. The folds and textures on the stone walls are clearly visible, and the sunlight shines through the crevice, creating unpredictable light and shadow, which is extremely visually shocking. There are inscriptions by scholars of past dynasties on the rock walls on both sides of Yixiantian, among which the three characters "Yixiantian" were written by a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, with strong and vigorous brushwork.
Weirenfeng (Great Man Peak)
Weirenfeng is a natural pictographic landscape of Jianglang Mountain. Looking at Langfeng from a specific angle at the entrance of the scenic area, its outline resembles the profile of a great man, with clear lines of eyebrows, eyes, nose bridge, and jaw, and a solemn expression, hence the name. The landscape is about 200 meters high and 80 meters wide. Due to its unique perspective, it is best viewed at the viewing platform at an altitude of about 300 meters, and it is a popular spot for tourists to take photos.
Nianbadu Ancient Town
Nianbadu Ancient Town covers an area of about 1.4 square kilometers. The existing ancient street from the Ming and Qing dynasties is about 1 kilometer long, running through the whole town from north to south, with 36 well-preserved ancient dwellings and 11 public buildings on both sides. The architectural style of the ancient town is unique, including the white walls and black tiles of the Zhejiang style, the horse-head walls and brick carvings of the Huizhou style, the stilted buildings of northern Fujian, and Western-style flower windows, so it is called the "Museum of Dialect Area Architecture" by architects. The Wenchang Palace is the core building of the ancient town, built during the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of about 800 square meters. The wood carvings and stone carvings in the palace are exquisite, especially those with themes such as "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and "Kuixing Pointing the Dipper". In addition, the Folk Custom Museum in the ancient town displays local folk items such as wedding customs and festivals, allowing tourists to intuitively feel the cultural diversity of "a hundred surnames and a hundred languages".
Qingyang Village
Qingyang Village covers an area of about 0.5 square kilometers. The ancient building complex in the village is centered on the Mao Clan Ancestral Hall and distributed radially, with 28 ancient dwellings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a total construction area of about 5,000 square meters. The Mao Clan Ancestral Hall was first built in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the existing building was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of 1,200 square meters. It consists of the entrance hall, main hall, and back hall. The wood carvings on the beams, such as "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" and "Squirrels Stealing Grapes", are vivid. The Qingyang Pagoda in the east of the village was built in the Ming Dynasty, about 28 meters high, with six corners and seven floors, and is the landmark building of the village. The "Qingyang Ancestral Residence" at the entrance of the village is a traditional Jiangnan quadrangle, covering an area of about 300 square meters. The house displays historical materials and daily necessities of the Mao clan.
Cuisine
Nianbadu Fengluzi Tofu
Nianbadu Fengluzi Tofu is a local traditional famous dish, named after being stewed in a special clay "fengluzi" (small stove). It uses tender tofu made from local high-mountain soybeans, cut into 4 cm cubes, with ingredients such as streaky pork, shiitake mushrooms, and dried bamboo shoots, and simmered over charcoal fire on the fenglu for 1.5 hours. The tofu absorbs the umami of meat and spices, with a soft and tender texture that doesn't break, thick soup, and a faint charcoal fragrance. This dish is the first of the "Eight Great Bowls" of Nianbadu, and can be tasted in the time-honored restaurants in the ancient town, with a price of about 38 yuan per serving.
Nianbadu Tongluo Cake
Tongluo Cake is a traditional festival pastry in Nianbadu, named after its shape like a gong, with a history of a thousand years. It is made of glutinous rice flour and early rice flour, added with wormwood juice, osmanthus, walnut kernels, sesame, etc., manually kneaded into a round cake with a diameter of about 20 cm and a thickness of about 3 cm, steamed and then cooled. It can be fried or steamed when eaten. The finished product is dark green on the outside, layered on the inside, with a soft, glutinous and chewy texture, and a sweet and fragrant taste. The pastry shops in the ancient town make and sell it on the spot, with a single price of 5 yuan, and a vacuum-packed gift box (6 pieces) priced at 35 yuan, which is a favorite souvenir of tourists.
Yanpi Wonton
Yanpi Wonton originated in northern Fujian and was introduced to Nianbadu along with merchants and travelers, becoming a local specialty snack. Its "yanpi" (swallow skin) is made from pork hind leg meat, which is manually beaten for 2 hours until it becomes minced meat, then added with sweet potato starch and rolled into thin wrappers like cicada wings, each about 8 cm square and weighing only 3 grams. The filling is made of pork, chopped green onions, and shiitake mushrooms, wrapped in yanpi and boiled, then eaten with bone soup. It has a smooth and tender texture and delicious soup, with 10 wontons per bowl, priced at 15 yuan, and can be tasted in the wonton shops on the main street of the ancient town.
Fengxi Fish
Fengxi Fish uses wild stone bass (about 10-15 cm in length) from Fengxi in Nianbadu. After being cleaned, it is marinated with salt and cooking wine for 10 minutes, coated with thin starch, fried in local rapeseed oil until golden, then simmered with perilla leaves, ginger, and chili for 5 minutes. The finished dish is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with few bones and fresh meat, and a fragrance of perilla. It is one of the "Eight Great Bowls" of Nianbadu, using about 500 grams of fresh fish per serving, priced at 58 yuan. Due to the freshness of the ingredients, the supply is limited daily.
Tickets
Combined ticket: 199 yuan per person (including Jianglang Mountain, Nianbadu Ancient Town, and Qingyang Village).
Jianglang Mountain ticket: 105 yuan (including sightseeing bus), Nianbadu Ancient Town: 80 yuan per person, Qingyang Village ticket: 50 yuan per person.
You can search for the official WeChat public account "江山多娇旅游" to get the latest news or buy tickets online.
Opening Hours
Jianglang Mountain Scenic Area opening hours: April 1 - October 31: 7:30 - 17:30 (admission stops at 16:30); November 1 - March 31 of the next year: 8:00 - 17:00 (admission stops at 16:00).
Nianbadu Ancient Town opening hours: April 1 - October 31: 8:00 - 17:30 (admission stops at 17:00); November 1 - March 31 of the next year: 8:30 - 17:00 (admission stops at 16:30).
Qingyang Village Scenic Area opening hours: daily 8:30 - 17:00 (admission stops at 16:30), open all year round (normal opening on legal holidays).
Tour Routes
One-day tour route: Arrive at Jianglang Mountain Scenic Area at 8:00 a.m., take the scenic area shuttle bus to the mountain entrance (about 10 minutes), hike to visit Yixiantian and Weirenfeng (about 2 hours), then challenge Langfeng (about 3 hours round trip), have lunch at the farm restaurant in the scenic area (about 50 yuan per person) at noon; go to Nianbadu Ancient Town at 14:30 p.m. (about 30 minutes by car), visit Wenchang Palace, ancient dwellings, and Folk Custom Museum (about 2 hours), taste specialty foods such as Tongluo Cake and Fengluzi Tofu, and end the trip at 17:30. The total walking distance is about 8 kilometers, and the transportation time is about 40 minutes.
Two-day tour route: Arrive at Nianbadu Ancient Town at 9:00 a.m. on the first day, check in at the ancient town homestay, visit the core area of the ancient town, and experience making Tongluo Cake by hand (about 3 hours). In the afternoon, go to Qingyang Village (about 20 minutes by car), visit Mao Clan Ancestral Hall and Qingyang Ancestral Residence (about 1.5 hours), return to the ancient town to enjoy the night view; go to Jianglang Mountain at 7:30 a.m. on the second day to watch the sunrise (need to check the sunrise time in advance), visit all scenic spots of Jianglang Mountain in depth throughout the day, and return at 15:00 p.m. This route allows you to fully experience the integration of natural landscapes and human history, with a moderate pace.
Transportation
- High-speed rail: Take the high-speed rail to Jiangshan Station, then transfer to the scenic area direct bus (Jianglang Mountain line) after exiting the station. It runs once an hour from 8:00 to 16:00 daily, with a journey of about 40 minutes and a fare of 15 yuan; you can take the same line of direct bus from Jianglang Mountain to Nianbadu Ancient Town, with a journey of about 30 minutes and a fare of 10 yuan.
- Bus: Take bus No. 202 in Jiangshan City to Jianglang Mountain Tourist Center Station, with a journey of about 1 hour and a fare of 6 yuan; take bus No. 201 to Nianbadu Ancient Town Station, with a journey of about 1.5 hours and a fare of 8 yuan, and the interval between buses is about 1 hour.
- Self-driving: Starting from Hangzhou, take Hangchang Expressway and Jingtai Expressway to Jiangshan Exit, drive about 25 kilometers southeast along Provincial Highway 46 to Jianglang Mountain Scenic Area, then drive about 40 kilometers along National Highway 205 to Nianbadu Ancient Town, with a total journey of about 3 hours. The scenic area parking lot charges 5 yuan per hour (Jianglang Mountain parking lot can hold 500 vehicles, Nianbadu parking lot can hold 300 vehicles).
Must-visit Attractions
- Sanpan Stone: The core landscape of Jianglang Mountain, with three stone peaks each with a relative height of over 250 meters, being the highest waterfall in China's Danxia landform. Climbing to the top, you can overlook the scenery at the border of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi, representing natural and geological wonders.
- Nianbadu Ancient Town: A "ancient town of a hundred surnames" with 142 surnames and 13 dialects, 36 ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties integrating multiple regional styles. The wood carving craftsmanship of Wenchang Palace is exquisite, making it a must-visit place to experience folk culture.
- Yixiantian: A natural stone crevice 100 meters long and 298 meters high, with the narrowest part only 3.5 meters. Walking through it, you can feel the magnificence and steepness of the Danxia landform, and it is one of the iconic wonders of Jianglang Mountain.
- Qingyang Village: The birthplace of the Mao clan in the Jiangnan region, preserving ancestral halls and ancestral residences with a history of 1,500 years. The "Genealogy of the Mao Clan in Qingyang" is a national-level cultural relic, suitable for history and culture enthusiasts to visit.
Tour Suggestions
- Climbing Jianglang Mountain is relatively challenging. It is recommended to wear non-slip sports shoes and carry trekking poles (available for rent in the scenic area at 10 yuan per pole). Sufficient physical strength should be reserved for reaching the top of Langfeng. Elderly people and those with physical weaknesses can choose to return after visiting Yixiantian (One-Line Sky) and Weirenfeng (Great Man Peak).
- The price of homestays in Nianbadu Ancient Town is moderate (average around 200 yuan per night), and they allow you to experience local life. It is recommended to stay for at least one night to enjoy the atmosphere of the ancient town in the early morning and evening.
- April-May and September-October are the best tourist seasons each year, with pleasant temperatures (15-25°C) and less precipitation, which are suitable for outdoor activities. In summer, sun protection measures should be taken, such as bringing a sun hat and sunscreen. There may be short showers in the mountainous area in the afternoon, so it is advisable to prepare rain gear.
- Purchasing a combined ticket is more cost-effective and can be used over two days. It is recommended to plan the ticket purchase method in advance according to the itinerary. Buying tickets online can reduce the queuing time on site.
Matters Needing Attention
- Some sections of the Langfeng climbing trail in Jianglang Mountain are suspended plank roads, which are only for single-person passage. Running and playing are prohibited, and those with acrophobia should enter with caution. On rainy days, the plank roads are slippery, so please hold the handrails firmly and walk slowly.
- Most of the ancient buildings in Nianbadu Ancient Town are wooden structures. Smoking and using open flames are strictly prohibited. Fire-fighting equipment is available in the scenic area, and tourists must abide by fire safety regulations.
- The "Genealogy of the Mao Clan in Qingyang" in Qingyang Village Scenic Area is a precious cultural relic. Taking photos and touching it are prohibited. During the visit, please follow the guide's instructions.
- Wild plants and animals in the scenic area are protected by law. Picking and capturing them are strictly prohibited, and violators will be fined (500-2000 yuan).
- There are many tourists during the peak season (April-October). It is recommended to book accommodation and tickets 1-2 days in advance. When climbing Jianglang Mountain, avoid the peak hours of 10:00-12:00 and travel at off-peak times.