Wuyuan Villages 婺源Wùyuán

Why go to Wuyuan Villages

Wuyuan County is scattered with Huizhou-style villages of white walls and dark tiles, tucked among terraced fields, tea hills and old stone bridges. In March the valleys turn yellow with rapeseed flowers; in late autumn villagers set out chillies, corn and squash on bamboo trays, painting the rooftops red and orange.

The story

Wuyuan was long part of Huizhou, the merchant heartland that also includes Hongcun, and many villages still have ancestral halls paid for by traders who made money far from home. The Song-dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi, whose ideas shaped Chinese thought for centuries, traced his family roots here.

What to see at Wuyuan Villages

• Likeng 李坑: A village of narrow lanes beside canals and creeks, with old stone bridges, ancestral halls and teahouses; one of the most visited villages in the county.
• Jiangwan 江湾: A village in the east of the county, part of the Jiangwan 5A scenic area, with old Huizhou-style houses and ancestral halls.
• Huangling 篁岭: A hilltop village of houses perched on the slope, reached by cable car or a walk up the hill, known for its drying-rack terraces of crops in autumn and rapeseed in spring; it is run as a separate commercial scenic area.
• Xiaoqi 晓起: Two villages, lower and upper, surrounded by rice paddies and trees; the upper village is the quieter.
• Sixi Yancun 思溪延村: A pair of old villages with grey walls, narrow lanes and an old bridge, with a quieter feel at the end of the day.

How to visit Wuyuan Villages

Wuyuan is a scatter of villages, so decide on a cluster. The eastern ones, Likeng, Wangkou, Jiangwan and Xiaoqi, are linked by local buses, or you can hire a driver for the day; Huangling lies farther east. Most villages charge admission or are part of ticketed areas; visit on a weekday and early or late, when the tour groups have gone. A day gives two or three villages, two days give the western ones as well.

How to get to Wuyuan Villages

Wuyuan has a high-speed rail station about half an hour from Huangshan North. The villages are spread out, so hire a driver or use local buses between them.

Where to stay

Stay in one of the villages, such as Likeng or Xiaoqi, in a simple guesthouse, to see it in the quiet hours after the tour groups leave. Wuyuan county town is functional rather than charming and is useful mainly for the train station.

What to eat

• Hebao red carp 荷包红鲤鱼: A local red carp, one of the county's signature dishes, steamed or braised, sometimes stuffed with sticky rice, egg and meat.
• Wuyuan green tea 婺源绿茶: A green tea from the surrounding hills, a protected local product and drunk in village teahouses.
• Xiaoqi imperial chrysanthemum 晓起皇菊: A large dried chrysanthemum grown at Xiaoqi and brewed whole as a tea.

Tips for visiting Wuyuan Villages

• Rapeseed season brings big weekend crowds; go on weekdays if you can.
• Huangling is the famous sun-drying village, with a cable car up; Jiangling and Likeng are good alternatives.
• A local driver for a day saves a lot of time, as buses between villages are slow.

Nearby

• Mount Sanqing 三清山 40 km
  Granite pillars in cloud and pine, and cliffside plank walks to a Taoist palace
• Jingdezhen, Porcelain Capital 景德镇 60 km
  The city that fired porcelain for China's emperors, and still has clay on its hands
• Xidi 西递村 70 km
  A quieter UNESCO twin of Hongcun: flagstone lanes, merchant houses and a Ming archway
• Hongcun Village 宏村 80 km
  A merchant village planned in the shape of an ox, mirrored in its own pond
• Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) 黄山 100 km
  Granite spires, wind-bent pines and a sea of clouds straight out of an ink painting
• Qiandao Lake 千岛湖 120 km
  A drowned mountain valley of 1,078 forested islands, an hour by train from Hangzhou

Also within 30 km: Xi Garden, Wuyuan 熹园 (under 10 km), Yitian Cultural Tourism City, Wuyuan 翼天文化旅游城 (under 10 km), Shuimo Shanghe, Wuyuan 水墨上河 (under 10 km), Likeng Village 李坑 (10 km), Sixi and Yancun Villages, Wuyuan 思溪延村 (10 km), Wengong Mountain, Wuyuan 文公山 (10 km).

On the map

Open Wuyuan Villages on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it, what else is close, and to add it to a trip and plan the days.

Learn more

• Wikipedia: Wuyuan County, Jiangxi