The Wuyi Mountains
The Wuyi Mountains are listed as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO. They are located between Wuyishan City in Fujian Province and Wuyishan Town in Jiangxi Province, around a 3½-hour train ride from Shanghai or Xiamen.
The Wuyi Mountains are well known for their abundance of deep canyons, dense forests, waterfalls, animals, flora, and fauna. They are an idyllic destination for any nature lover.
Wuyishan is suitable for travel all year round with a different type of beauty in each season.
What to See in the Wuyi Mountains
The tour routes in Wuyi Mountains Scenic Area can be divided into four parts: 1) Nine-Bend River and Wuyi Palace Scenic Area, 2) One-Line-Sky and Tiger Hissing Scenic Area, 3) Tianyoufeng ('Sky-Swimming Peak'), and 4) Da Hong Pao and Water Curtain Cave Area.
Whether you're interested in hiking, boating, bird watching, tea estates, waterfalls, cultural heritage sites, or simply want to explore a beautiful, pollution-free part of China, the Wuyi Mountain Range offers something for everyone.
Nine-Bend Creek
Nine-Bend Creek (九曲溪 Jiuqu Xi) is the centerpiece of Mt. Wuyi. This river is aptly named, as it abruptly changes course nine times over its 8.5 square-kilometer (3.3 square-mile) region of the park.
Two gorgeous waterfalls, known as the Green Dragon Waterfall and Phoenix Waterfall, are particularly beautiful attractions. A few caves are located directly adjacent to the waterfalls, giving visitors an unparalleled view through the cascades of water.
Nine-Bend Creek is flanked on either side by mountain peaks and stones of unusual shapes that are interwoven with various watercourses. Each bend forms a unique picturesque and poetic landscape and each landscape has its own name. There are bamboo rafts for visitors.
The final destination of the bamboo rafting river section is Wuyi Palace, which is one of the top 6 famous Taoist temples built in the Song Dynasty (between 742 and 755 AD). In Wuyi Palace, Song Street is a medieval replica street full of Song Dynasty-style buildings.
One-Line-Sky Scenic Area
The One-Line-Sky (一线天 Yixiantian) area is the southernmost area of the Wuyi Mountains. It is mainly a grand valley running from east to west.
This area is famous for its linear view of the sky from the bottom of the valley. Blue Rock and Pavilion Rock, opposite three caves, are also noted for their rugged beauty, steepness, and diverse recesses.
The red mountain peaks, clustering like a forest, the vertically steep Danxia (red sandstone) landforms, the rare back-to-back caves, and topography are nature's beauty at its best.
Tiger Hissing Scenic Area
Tiger Hissing Peak (虎啸岩 Huxiao Yan) is one of the 36 famous mountain peaks of the Wuyi Mountains. It is very steep and detached from the other peaks around it.
The mountain is in the shape of a roaring tiger. Sounds resembling tigers' hisses can be heard every time the wind sweeps through the pine forest. Legend has it that a deity rode on a tiger on the mountain.
Tours generally circle Tiger Hissing Peak, with beautiful scenes around each bend of the rocks.
Tianyou Peak
Tianyou Feng (天游峰 'Sky-Swimming Peak') is situated north of the fifth and sixth bends of the Nine-Bend River and covers an area of 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles).
With ever-changing cloud reflections in the water and the sun shining through the fog, Tianyou Peak is the number one must-see spot in the Mt. Wuyi area.
After rainfall or when dawn breaks, the ever-shrouding clouds allow only the tip of the mountain to be visible, hence its name Tianyou, which literally means 'roaming in heaven' or 'swimming in the sky'.
The vista from the top changes with the seasons: blooming flowers during spring, dense greenery during summer months, colorful fall foliage, and the beauty of the clouds in winter.
The Water Curtain Cave Area
Water Curtain Cave (水帘洞 Shuilian Dong) is the largest cavern in the Wuyi Mountains. Deep valleys form cracks among huge rocks of various shapes and sizes. Creeks and waterfalls run through the cracks. Pine trees, bamboo forests, and various flowers abound.
The spaces between the rocks and brooks are where the famous Wuyi Rock Tea trees are planted. A dense cluster of these tea trees is scattered in Nine Dragon Cave, nourished by water from the springs.
Wuyi Rock Tea is a famous Chinese tea. Some tearooms are located inside the cave.
Da Hong Pao Scenic Area
Da Hong Pao Scenic Area is in the central part of the Wuyi Mountains. In this area, you can not only see Yongle Buddhist Temple, the biggest temple in these mountains but also visit the place where the well-known Da Hong Pao tea grows.
Da Hong Pao is one of the top 10 famous teas, as well as a cultural treasure, in China, and it was a tea used as a tribute to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).
There are only a few (less than 10) original trees growing on the cliff, and they are all over 1,000 years old.