Shanghai—Chizhou—Tongling—Shaoxing (Road Trip)

Day 1: We left Shanghai around 6:00 a.m. to avoid the morning rush hour and arrived at Jiuhua Tianchi in Chizhou around noon. The scenic area wasn't crowded. After entering the main gate, we came to a square. After passing through a short street connected to the square, we found the sightseeing bus stop. We opted for the sightseeing bus, which took us to a designated location in a few minutes. Not far from where we got off, there was a small waterfall by the road. A short walk up the slope brought us to a flight of steps. There was an elevator next to the steps, but we chose to walk up the dozens of steps. Perhaps due to recent heavy rain, we saw many colorful geckos. After the steps, we came to a large expanse of water—Jiuhua Tianchi. We took a ferry to a small island across the lake to watch a performance. On the way back, we walked down the mountain path instead of taking the bus. There were several scenic spots along the way, including a cave formed by stacked giant rocks, which was quite interesting. Near the entrance to the scenic area, there was a place for rafting, which we decided to try. We stayed overnight in Chizhou. After dinner, we drove to Pingtian Lake, which was not far from the hotel. Pingtian Lake is known as Anhui's own "Sky Mirror". We drove slowly along Pinghu Road in the evening, enjoying the scenery outside... Day 2: Jiuhua Mountain. Jiuhua Mountain is divided into the front mountain core scenic area, the back mountain Tiantai scenic area, and the Huatai scenic area. Jiuhua Mountain tickets are valid for two days. Because we had only planned for one day, we didn't go to the Huatai scenic area, which is mainly for viewing scenery. We first went to the core scenic area of the front mountain and visited the Meat Body Hall, Dizang Temple, etc. We took the scenic bus from Huxingshan Station to the Tiantai scenic area in the back mountain. On the way, we even saw a monkey by the roadside. We took a cable car up to the Tiantai scenic area and then continued to climb to Tiantai Temple. We took the cable car back down to the station and returned by the same route. Day 3: We first went to Penglai Fairy Cave, about a half-hour drive from Chizhou. It was cool inside the cave, but we didn't need extra clothing. The main attractions included more than 10 spots, such as the Reception Hall, the Sea Exploration Corridor, the East China Sea Dragon Palace, the Tongming Palace, the Enchanted Palace, the Jade Cicada Palace, the Milky Way Corridor, the Yaochi Pool, the South China Sea, the Chaoyin Hall, and the Farewell Hall. Like other cave scenic areas, there were staff photographers at the best viewing points. We couldn't resist taking some photos, which weren't too expensive. After leaving the cave, we took a manually controlled slide down the mountain, which was quite fun as it picked up speed. After leaving Penglai Fairy Cave, we drove to Shitai Guniujiang, mainly to see the mountains and rivers. We didn't go too deep, but we did some hiking to exercise. Not far from the entrance to the scenic area, there was a small river where many children were fishing. We stayed at the Tongling Yuanyi Boutique Hotel. The hotel room was a duplex, relatively new, and we had a good stay. Day 4: We packed up in the morning and set off for the Twelve Scenic Spots of Recalling Jiangnan. It took more than 20 minutes to get there from the hotel. We arrived around 9:00 a.m., and parking was already getting tight. We entered the scenic area and walked up the mountain along the road. There was a scenic spot every short distance along the way, where we could take photos. There were also many lanterns and light strings for decoration. Because we walked slowly, it took us more than two hours to go up and down. Perhaps due to the many artificial elements, the scenery felt average. It might look better at night when the lights are on. We had lunch at a snack street near the scenic area. We had to exchange for copper coins to buy food. Overall, there weren't many varieties of food, and the prices were a bit high. In my opinion, using copper coins was just a gimmick. There was also a real estate sales center in the snack street. It turned out that commercial housing was also being built next to the scenic area. After lunch, we drove to Liqiao Water Town. The water town featured Huizhou-style architecture. We enjoyed the "Da Tie Hua" (iron flower) performance in the evening. There were also many kinds of snacks, and we had dinner there. Day 5: We drove to East Lake in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. We hadn't been there for several years. There weren't many changes. It was still a familiar place with familiar Wupeng boats. After leaving, we headed back to Shanghai.