Northern Fujian

Northern Fujian's Nanping mountain region is centered on Mount Wuyi, a dual World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, with bamboo-raft trips on Nine-Bend Stream, rock tea and Zhu Xi culture, as well as the ancient towns and tea country of Shaowu and Zhenghe.

Northern Fujian follows Fujian's dialect and cultural-geographic division and corresponds to the whole of Nanping, at the southern foot of the Wuyi Mountains. It is the source area of the Min River, and also the Northern Min dialect area and an important birthplace of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism. Key sights: Mount Wuyi is a dual World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, and the most classic experiences are bamboo-raft rafting on Nine-Bend Stream, Tianyou Peak, the Thread of Sky, and the leisurely Yan Gu Hua Xiang trail where the Da Hong Pao mother trees grow; surrounding ancient villages such as Xiamei and Wufu are closely tied to the Ten-Thousand-Mile Tea Road and the life of Zhu Xi; Heping Ancient Town in Shaowu preserves ancient city walls, old streets and Ming and Qing residences; Jian'ou is a thousand-year-old county, and Zhenghe is known for white tea and timber arch covered bridges. A classic route: two to three days exploring the Wuyi scenic area, with tea-mountain tastings and the Impression Da Hong Pao show; with more time, add the "Jian'ou – Zhenghe" tea-country and covered-bridge route, or go west to Heping Ancient Town in Shaowu for one to two days, for about four to six days across the region. Transport: Wuyishan Airport has many domestic routes, the Hefei–Fuzhou high-speed railway has stations at Wuyishan East, Jian'ou West and Nanping, with direct service from Fuzhou, Shanghai, Hefei and other places; there are sightseeing buses inside the scenic area, and Nine-Bend Stream bamboo rafts must be booked in advance. Seasonally, spring and autumn are best, and spring is also the rock tea picking and processing season; during the summer flood season rafts may stop running because of water levels, so check announcements; winter has fewer visitors and suits quiet tea tasting.

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