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December 24, 2014

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Jiande boasts history and scenery galore

By Wu Huixin | December 24, 2014, Wednesday | Print Edition

THE authorities in Jiande County have designed a sightseeing route that includes the area’s history and scenery to match the Hangzhou government’s promotion of the leisure and health industries.

The route includes an ancient village, a hot spring and two plantations. Shanghai Daily takes the trip and offers some recommendations when exploring Jiande.

Xinye Village
新叶村

This village shot to fame overnight when the popular reality show “Dad, Where Are We Going?” filmed one episode in Xinye.

Unlike other Hangzhou villages that feature modern buildings and residences, Xinye still boasts vintage Chinese structures erected long ago. Its remarkably well preserved antiquated black-and-white buildings that are synonymous with the Yangtze River Delta region have attracted numerous artists and endless streams of photography enthusiasts.

More than 230 white-washed southern China-style buildings including residences, pagodas, temples and ancestral halls remain. The seven-story Tuanyun Pagoda is Xinye’s landmark building. It was constructed in 1567 using feng shui principles.

With so many old buildings, the village has been dubbed an “open-air museum” of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Dating back 800 years, ancestors of the Ye family moved from Henan Province and settled in this valley. Today, the majority of people in the village still carry the Ye surname and have a strong sense of clan. They worship their ancestors in the ancestral hall in which old ink-wash paintings of their forefathers hang from the beams.

Though this tranquil countryside nook rose to fame overnight and has been featured in numerous travel and photography magazines due to the architecture, it has not been carved out as a sightseeing spot yet.

When strolling along slab stone roads, it’s basically only locals. Poor infrastructure in the past restricted Xinye’s contact with the outside world. This in turn helped the villagers retain their ways.

Xin’anjiang Jade Hot Spring
新安江玉温泉

This hot spring was built two years ago. It is the only natural hot sulphur spring in Zhejiang Province that contains 3.07 milligrams of hydrogen sulfide per kilogram of water, more than double the national standard of sulphur content in curative mineral water.

A good long soak can rejuvenate the mind and strengthen the body since sulphur helps protect against toxins in the environment.

The sulphur spring was discovered in 1987 when a geological team was looking for petroleum.

The hot spring has two pools that accommodate more than 100 people, six smaller pools big enough for a dozen people, as well as three separate rooms that feature one small pool. Some of the small pools contain Chinese herbs, rice wine or coffee, which have therapeutic effects.

The hot spring does not offer accommodation, but there are many hotels in neighboring Shouchang Town, a 15-minute drive away.

Jiangnan Chuntang Dendrobe Planting Base
江南春堂石斛种植基地

Jiangnan Chuntang Dendrobe Planting Base grows more than 13.3 hectares of drendrobe.

It’s known as one of nine top “fairy herbs” in Taoism and is prized by Chinese traditional medicine practitioners, not for the flowers but for the stems. It is inconspicuous, dried and twisted like a small ball of straw, but good for the digestive system and commonly used in soups and teas.

Among the various varieties the one with dark stems is known as tiepi shihu, or iron-skin orchid, due to the rust-colored stains on fresh stems. These are considered more potent and are more expensive.

The plantation sells dendrobe and teaches visitors about its importance in TCM.

Strawberry picking
摘草莓

The favorable climate means strawberries grown in Jiande are usually sweeter and more succulent.

Late winter and early spring are the prime seasons to pick strawberries. Visitors can pick their own strawberries when in season with prices ranging from 20 yuan (US$3.20) to 30 yuan per 500 grams.

There are numerous strawberry patches to choose from.

 

How to get to Jiande: Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou Expressway, Changchun-Shenzhen Expressway, Hangzhou-Xin’anjiang-Jingdezheng Expressway-G330 Expressway

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