Nanjing 2-Day In-Depth Tour | Qingshan Fishing Village & Pearl Spring: A Landscape Pastoral Poem
Day 1: Qingshan Fishing Village - Pastoral Symphony by the Chu River
🌅 Morning: Arrival and Initial Exploration
Transportation tips: Drive to Qingshan Fishing Village in Yongning Street, Pukou District (about 1 hour from downtown). The village has ample free parking.
Village stroll: Walk through houses with white walls and dark gray tiles, then along the Chu River embankment. In spring, you can see fields of rapeseed flowers; in autumn, waves of rice paddies. Recommended photo spot: "Fishermen's Old Street" with its red lanterns and bluestone paths capturing the charm of a Jiangnan water town.
🍜 Lunch: Home-style Flavors
Recommended dishes: Crucian carp soup, garlic-flavored eel slices, and rice cooked on a wood-burning stove. Authentic local river cuisine for around 50 yuan per person (multiple farmhouse restaurants available in the village).
🌇 Afternoon: Immersive Village Experience
1. Farming and fishing fun: Participate in rice planting/fish catching activities (reservation required), and introduce children to traditional farming tools.
2. Camping fun: Set up tents on the grassland by Buddha Hand Lake, rent fishing gear by the lake, and capture the sunset over Chu River with birds flying home at dusk.
3. Intangible cultural heritage crafts: Visit bamboo weaving artisans' workshops and make your own small fish baskets or bamboo wind chimes (about 30 yuan each).
🌌 Evening: Stargazing and Bonfire
Stay at the "Ageless Legend" Zen-style guesthouse with a terrace for stargazing; or join a bonfire party at the camping area and listen to villagers tell the legend of Zhu Yuanzhang crossing the river.
Day 2: Pearl Spring - Both Tranquility and Activity in Nature
🌅 Morning: Hidden Springs and Rocks
Guest-welcoming Spring spectacle: Enter at 8:30 with the first batch of visitors. Clap your hands at the source of Pearl Spring to trigger the "Guest-welcoming Spring" to spray pearls that sparkle like diamonds in the sunlight.
Bamboo raft cruise: Rent a traditional bamboo raft (60 yuan/hour) to cross Mirror Mountain Lake Island, occasionally encountering flocks of egrets.
🚡 Noon: City View from Above
Tianli cable car: Take the mint-green cable car to the top of Miaogao Peak. The transparent cabin design creates an exciting suspended-in-air feeling. From the castle at the summit, you can see the Yangtze River stretching like a ribbon.
🦁 Afternoon: Fun and Childlike Wonder
1. Zoo: Focus on watching the beast performances at 11:00/15:00 (tigers walking on plum blossom stakes, black bears riding bicycles), and feed the free-range sika deer (carrots 5 yuan/bag).
2. Great Wall challenge: Climb the replica of the Badaling Great Wall and capture the unique view of Laoshan Mountain merging with the city skyline from the highest point "Wangjiang Tower."
🍜 Dinner: Old Pukou Flavors
Head to the area around the old Pukou Railway Station to taste beef pot stickers with duck blood vermicelli soup. The neon lights of the Republic-era style street make for especially photogenic scenes at dusk.
🏡 Accommodation Recommendations
1. Zen-style retreat: "Ageless Legend" guesthouse in Bulao Village (includes private hot spring pool), where you can listen to frogs at night and birds at dawn.
2. Family choice: Nanjing Mingfa Pearl Spring Hotel (includes scenic area tickets), a 5-minute walk to the west gate of Pearl Spring.
📸 Photography Tips
Qingshan Fishing Village: Capture the Chu River reflections in the morning mist, and silhouettes of fishermen casting nets at sunset.
Pearl Spring: Use slow shutter speed to capture rising bubbles at the Guest-welcoming Spring, and wide-angle composition of cable cars framed with the Great Wall.
💡 Pro Tips
1. Avoiding crowds:
Visit Qingshan Fishing Village on working days for a more peaceful experience; enter Pearl Spring after 13:00 to avoid student groups.
2. Hidden activities:
Bring your own Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing) for photoshoots at the bamboo raft area in Pearl Spring, where free prop umbrellas are provided; Qingshan Fishing Village offers firefly watching activities (June-August only).
3. Transportation tips:
For Pearl Spring, take Metro Line 3 to Dongda Chengxian College Station, then transfer to Bus 605 directly to the destination; on your return from Qingshan Fishing Village, you can visit Chu River Wetland Park along the way.
From the curling smoke of the fishing village to the splashing pearls of Pearl Spring, this route connects Nanjing's pastoral poetry and natural charm in two days. Recommended travel seasons are spring and autumn. Bring light equipment to capture every frame of this landscape painting!