Most Beautiful Wan Yao Leisure Tourism Area

Most Beautiful Wan Yao Leisure Tourism Area

The Most Beautiful Wan Yao Leisure Tourism Area is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

The Most Beautiful Wan Yao Leisure Tourism Area covers Wan Yao Village, Hongshi Bridge Village, and Dahe Village, spanning an administrative area of 46.5 square kilometers. The region boasts abundant leisure tourism resources, including the national large (Class II) reservoir — Wan Yao Reservoir — and the provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit: the Dahe Ancient Kiln Site Cluster.

Wan Yao is named after the hundred ancient kilns of the Song Dynasty, famed for its Eighteen-Li Moon Lake, and even more celebrated for its multi-element eco-agritainment. It is truly a leisure paradise where you can dine in the mountains, cruise on the water, pick fruits in the orchards, stay in the woods, and revel in nature.

Starting from downtown Jiangshan City, drive across the Rainbow Bridge, pass over Jiangqu Road, and head upstream along the Xu River to reach the Dahe River. Along the 8-kilometer-long Jiangwan Tree-lined Avenue, rows of poplars stand tall, blocking out the sky, creating a tunnel-like forest experience whether you’re driving through or strolling leisurely. Passing by Tiger Shape Mountain, you’ll arrive at the 2,000-meter-long Dahe Green Corridor. Here, weeping willows droop low, apricot blossoms smile gently, and ornamental plants such as camellia, podocarpus, and photinia are arranged in artful layers. The multi-tiered artificial beauty, the fragrant winding paths, often make anglers linger and travelers forget to leave. "Rippling waves reflect the moon, lotus leaves stretch green over the water" — this poetic line captures the essence of the 80-acre lotus pond area along the Dahe section. Every fragrant May, when lotus leaves hold dewdrops and blossoms compete to bloom, the Dahe Stream becomes a world of lotus dancers treading lightly on water, a sea of unstained blossoms — a transcendent elegance that attracts calligraphy, painting, and photography enthusiasts from nearby and faraway provinces. It's also a favorite spot for couples about to wed, who come here to capture the most beautiful moments of their lives.

Located in Wan Yao Village, She Shan Forest Park is a standalone small hill covering an area of 16 mu. Surrounded by roads on three sides and facing a river to the west, it resembles a tortoise emerging from water. Nearly 50 years of natural evolution and enclosed conservation have left She Shan lush and deep green. The mountain is densely wooded with a mix of coniferous and broadleaf trees, and the forest floor is nearly free of weeds. With moderate human intervention, antique pavilions appear and disappear among the greenery, while pebble paths wind through serene groves, making it a perfect natural and timeless leisure oxygen bar.

Walking along the dam of Wan Yao Reservoir toward Linghou, the Peach Offering Pavilion will tell you a touching story of love for the people; the exhibition hall will recount the past and present of Wan Yao. And when you stand before the ancient Song Dynasty kiln site, letting your thoughts travel through time, you simply cannot help but marvel at — and be awestruck by — the porcelain-making artistry of ancestors, whose blue-and-white ceramics were “as thin as paper, as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, and as resonant as a chime.” Their unparalleled wisdom, miraculous craftsmanship, and the rich culture nurtured here command deep respect.

In mid-spring, strolling along the winding mountain road, you’ll see verdant mountains on both sides, peaks overlapping in layers, breezes rising, and clouds steaming. In the distance, the mature leaves of tall and short coniferous and broadleaf trees are deep emerald, while the newly sprouted buds are light green. The tender shoots and buds are a faint yellow. The interplay of dark green, light green, and pale yellow creates a splendid spring scene. The most spectacular sight is the golden pinecones covering the endless pines on the mountains — up close, they look like exquisitely stacked miniature pagodas; from afar, they resemble orioles dancing on branches to herald spring. Amid the green depths, colorful flowers bloom in competition: pure white raspberry blossoms, pinkish-yellow mountain spice flowers, and purple-white wisteria. But the most famous are the azaleas, with their purple, white, yellow, and red varieties shining together. That uncontainable vibrancy amidst the green trees, that dazzling glow clinging to cliffs and rocks, shows you what a truly colorful world and an ocean of fallen petals really looks like.

“Bamboo shoots just sprout like yellow calf horns, fern sprouts rise like children’s fists.” The rhythm of spring also awakens the winter-dormant bamboo shoots. They push upward from the deep earth, using their tender yellow split leaves to force their way through the bamboo leaf-covered, mossy hard soil, breaking through to emerge like playful little bamboo babies. Among the slender, swaying mother bamboo groves, they stretch in the wind, whispering their spring dialogues.

Wan Yao not only has picturesque green mountains but also beautiful waters like a song. Thanks to the mild climate, abundant rainfall, and being surrounded by mountains with crisscrossing valleys, the area features an 18-li primary catchment depth and a dense, well-developed water system. At the sheer cliffs, green moss thrives and droplets glisten. Halfway up the mountain, mountain springs cascade down, their foamy waves white as silk ribbons, hanging like curtains. When hitting the rocks, the splashes sound like pearls dropping onto a jade plate, releasing bursts of misty vapor that bring a cool sensation. In the mountain streams, where pebbles of all sizes are scattered and peach blossoms and willows provide dappled shade, the stream flows — sometimes meandering softly like silk, sometimes smooth as a mirror or satin, and other times surging like mist and fog. At the source of the second reservoir of Golden Dragon Reservoir, the water is emerald green — it’s no exaggeration to say it’s the “Little Jiuzhaigou of Wan Yao.”