3-Day 2-Night Travel Guide from Xiamen to Yongtai: Stunning Mountains and Waters Hidden Around Fuzhou
🏮3-Day 2-Night Guide from Xiamen to Yongtai|Soak in Hot Springs + Explore a Thousand-Year-Old Ancient Town + Hike Under Lush Shade to See Waterfalls! A Hidden Gem Near Fuzhou
📍Day 1
🚗 Morning: Drive 2.5 hours from Xiamen directly to Daxi Village to check into the hotel
A secret ancient village hidden at the foot of Donghu Jianshan!
🌆 Afternoon: Songkou Ancient Town (about 20 minutes by car)
Time seems to slow down here, and a stroll by the creek is incredibly pleasant~
👉Tip: Hexiong Road + Gongxiao Xinshe Coffee House, the coffee house is especially photogenic📷! Zheng Ji’s egg swallow soup is full of flavor, and the fried nine-layer cake tastes better than elsewhere, highly recommended!
🏡 Accommodation: Licheng Courtyard, a bit pricey but with great conditions and complete facilities, featuring all kinds of solid wood decoration and furniture, the air is filled with the fresh scent of wood! The view outside the window is a stunning reservoir! Located in an original ecological small village, clean and quiet, occasionally wild monkeys from the mountain 🐒 come to the hotel looking for food (we were lucky to see them this time)!
👉Tip: Daxi Village is deep in the mountains, you need to drive 5 kilometers on winding mountain roads after turning off the main road. Also, dining options are limited; Licheng Courtyard only offers breakfast, and there are only two farmhouse restaurants nearby!
📍Day 2
🌊 Morning: Baijigou Scenic Area (about 30 minutes by car from both Daxi Village and Songkou Ancient Town)
The largest waterfall group in East China by drop height! It looks better with more water (unfortunately, the water volume was low these days😭).
👉Tip: The stairs are steep and the climb is high, not very friendly for elderly or children!
🍵 Afternoon: Chunguang Village (about 30 minutes by car from Baijigou)
Ancient banyan tree group + fish scale dam, sitting on the pebble beach enjoying local dried plums is super chill
👉Tip: The fish scale dam looks great with a large water volume, but it looks very different when the water is low (you can tell by comparing my photos😭); June to August is jasmine flower season, said to be much more beautiful, other times the scenery is average.
♨️ Overnight: Wutong Yuehua Hot Spring Hotel, comfortable conditions, beautiful environment, attentive service, with 18 hot spring pools. Soaking in the hot springs relieves travel fatigue, highly recommended! Next to the hot spring hotel, “Shanwai Renjia” serves delicious fried creek fish and lychee pork!
📍Day 3
🏔 Morning: Qinglong Waterfall Scenic Area (about 35 minutes from the hot spring hotel)
The highlight of Qingyun Mountain! The waterfall is more beautiful than Baijigou, and the path is easier (stairs are not steep with less climbing), with good vegetation cover along the way, so it’s not sunny in summer! It’s a bit like Qingcheng Mountain, with clear creek water and fresh air—I love it!
👉Tips:
1. The scenic area is nearly 3 kilometers one way, first climb about 1 kilometer of stairs (beautiful scenery), then walk about 500 meters on flat ground (bikes can be rented), then climb 1.3 kilometers of stairs to Qinglong Waterfall, requiring some stamina, but elderly and children can also get there slowly;
2. You can take a bamboo raft across the pool under Qinglong Waterfall. The raft operator is very nice and will help take photos. The round trip costs 8 yuan per person, which is worth it. After crossing, you can climb a short flight of stairs and pass through a water curtain cave behind the waterfall (stairs are slippery and you might get slightly wet).
[Victory] Afternoon: Return trip to Xiamen. Next time, explore Jiutian Waterfall and Yunding Scenic Area!~
🚗 Transportation Tips:
• Self-driving is recommended, as villages and scenic spots are several kilometers apart, and it’s hard to get a taxi in the mountains;
• Yongtai High-Speed Rail Station has direct shuttle buses to scenic spots (but the frequency is low and destinations are limited).