Duyun

The tea capital of Duyun Maojian, with the Qin-Han Film and TV City and Wenfeng Pagoda along the Jianjiang River, the virgin forest of Mount Doupeng, and Bouyei and Miao villages all around.

Duyun is the capital of the Qiannan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in south-central Guizhou. Ringed by mountains with the Jianjiang River running through it, the city is famous for Duyun Maojian tea and is nicknamed the "City of Bridges." It has a humid subtropical monsoon climate with no scorching summers or bitter winters: Mar–May is tea-picking season, summer is the time to escape the heat on Mount Doupeng, and autumn has the most settled weather. The city centre follows the Jianjiang, with Baizi Bridge, Wenfeng Pagoda, Shiban Street and Dongshan Park all easy to explore on foot, plus evening strolls along the river. In the economic development zone to the northeast are the Qin-Han Film and TV City, the Tea Expo Park and Maojian Tea Town, and Shanmu Lake; south of the city, Qingyun Lake and the Green Expo Park form a large landscaped park. Outside the city, the virgin forest of Mount Doupeng lies to the northwest and the Luosike tea hills to the west, and nearby you can also visit Jinhai Snow Mountain in Guiding (in bloom in March), the old town of Fuquan and the Shenhe Bridge in Dushan. High-speed trains on the Guiyang–Guangzhou and Shanghai–Kunming lines stop at Duyun East, about 40 minutes from Guiyang and 4 hours from Guangzhou. Taxis in the city are cheap, but you'll need to drive or hire a car for sights outside town. Allow 2–3 days, and consider continuing south to Libo, the FAST radio telescope in Pingtang, or Sandu, home of the Shui people. Local food to try includes sour soup fish, braised chicken, tofu-pudding noodles and Maojian tea.

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