This newly opened homestay in Shangyou, Ganzhou, is amazing!

The homestay is called Shell Lakeside Retreat and it's located next to the Yangming Lake Scenic Area in Shangyou, just a few minutes' drive from the visitor center. There are several other homestays nearby, but this one was the most affordable, exceeding my expectations and offering a pleasant surprise. I booked it on Trip.com for CNY 300, which was slightly cheaper than other platforms. I chose the "Hidden Lake" room type, which, as the name suggests, meant no lake view...? It faced the back of the mountain, where the scenery wasn't as good as the front, so I think adding CNY 50 for a better location would be worthwhile. I woke up around 6 a.m. and saw a mist-like cloud floating over the lake and mountains. The air was fresh and cool. I took a short walk and then went back to my room to sleep some more. Breakfast was served from 8-10 a.m. There weren't many options, but the stuffed rice noodle rolls (with cabbage) were quite delicious. I saw the pool at night, but I'm not sure about the water quality. Even if I had gone during the day, I probably wouldn't have gone swimming, but it's a nice spot for taking photos. If you walk about 100 meters to the left of the homestay's entrance, you'll find a restaurant called Ai Hu Farmhouse Restaurant. The food there is delicious! The silverfish and egg drop soup was very flavorful, and the Huangyatou casserole was made with large fish, but the meat was tender, and the skin was springy. Even the simple scrambled eggs with bitter melon was fragrant. However, the portions were really, really large, so don't order too much and risk wasting food.