Changxing

A small lakeside town on the southwestern shore of Taihu Lake, where you can combine the Taihu Tuying Wetland, the ten-li ginkgo corridor of Badujie and the Meishan "Golden Spike" geological site; Guzhu Village's farmstays are famous across the Yangtze River Delta.

Changxing County belongs to Huzhou in Zhejiang Province and sits on the southwestern shore of Taihu Lake, bordering Yixing (Jiangsu) to the north and Guangde (Anhui) to the west, right where the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui meet. It is roughly a 2–3 hour drive from Shanghai, Hangzhou or Nanjing, and bullet trains stop at Changxing and Changxing South stations. The county seat, Zhicheng Subdistrict, lies about 10 km from the lakeshore. The land rises from east to west: the east is Taihu plain and wetland, while the west is hilly country of tea-covered slopes and bamboo forests on the outlying ridges of the Tianmu Mountains. It's worth visiting in any season: in March–April the plum blossoms are out around the Oriental Plum Garden and Baiyelong Village, and Zisun tea is picked around Shuikou and Guzhu; in summer, head to Xianshan Lake and Chengshangou to cool off in the water, with plenty of farmstays and guesthouses along Taihu Lake; from late October to mid-November, the ten-li corridor of ancient ginkgo trees at Badujie in Xiaopu Town turns golden — the busiest time of year, with frequent weekend traffic jams. Main areas: along Taihu Lake in the east is the Taihu Tuying Wetland Cultural Park; the county town has the Changxing Confucian Temple and the Palace of Emperor Wu of Chen; Meishan Town in the northwest has the Golden Spike Ancient World, home to the international stratigraphic "Golden Spike" section, and Huaikan Township has the former headquarters complex of the New Fourth Army's Jiangsu–Zhejiang Military Region; Guzhu Village in Shuikou Township to the north is a well-known farmstay village in the Yangtze River Delta, and Mount Guzhu, site of the Tang-dynasty Tribute Tea Academy, is also in this area (covered on this site under the Moganshan destination); the southwest has Xianshan Lake and the China Alligator Village. Sights are fairly spread out, so driving is recommended. Plan on 2 days, which can be combined with Huzhou city, Anji or Yixing.

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