I the end of April I went on a trip from Hangzhou to Taizhou with my foreign friends. First things first, it was amazing! Almost four days of gaining unforgettable experience in seeing marvelous places and meeting interesting people. The views, the people, the food, it was worth going there for either of these.
Emotion-wise, the tour felt like climbing a ladder, always up. Every next day I thought: “Yesterday was so great, can hardly believe can be ay getter today” But it was, every time. Always surprised, and never disappointed, that’s what I can say about the trip in general.
Now let’s get down to the details. On the first day, the whole met early in the morning by a stadium to have a 3-hour trip to the outskirts of Taizhou. The group itself consisted of several Chinese ladies, international students from, as I recall it, about fifteen different countries, a photographer, mister Wang, and of course our tour guide, Jason, one of the most easy-going and caring people I’ve met.
We were all asked to introduce ourselves briefly, so we found out some outstanding characters among us. Some even not without a talent, which is why there always was somebody singing, dancing, or using some other ways to entertain ourselves during long trips. Of course, no one forgot about stopping by for a meal, which was not only delicious, but also enough for everybody not to feel hungry till dinner.
So let’s get to the main course, sightseeing. The first place we visited was a small river at Xianju county, where we went rafting on authentic Chinese bamboo boats. It was my first time on a boat like this. The water was everywhere around, feet got soaking wet and it was raining. But the view of the mounts covered with thick fog, a chance to take some unique pictures and the feeling of extreme and magical serenity made this totally worth it.
Next thing we visited was a Peony garden. A huge territory with flowers of any size and colour. The only thing left for you is to admire the beauty of these stunning plants, try to choose those you like the most, and take as many pictures of yourself and your friends as you possibly can. Just because such a sight it not something you can appreciate every day. And this is definitely one of the places you’re going to want to remember.
The first day was complete, the delicious dinner consumed, and we went to check in to a luxurious hotel which has and is everything you need after a tiresome day on your feet.
On the second day we had to wake up really early to have a trip to Shenxianju Mountains. I never thought climbing can be so attractive. They were green, foggy mounts, making impression of you getting into a scene from a Wuxia movie. It was unbelievable, the dense fog was soaring very quickly, moving up, making it look like smoke from a fire. All in all this gave mi a thought that if dragons were real, then this must be the place where they are born.
Our next destination was an old village, some were people still live and have a lifestyle similar to something they had over fifty years ago. This authenticity was very educational. People were selling their hand-made wooden toys, souvenirs, sweets they make themselves and fruits and food they grow on their farms. This was also the day I tried loquat and many other things for the first time in my life. And even more, experienced what it means for a woman to work in Chinese brother. P.S. Beautiful lanterns are everywhere.
This day and the following one we stayed at Wenquan five star hotel, that has actual hot springs on its territory. Not only that, but everything about this place seemed just perfect. Including the swimming pool (which we never got a chance to test) and special rooms for playing Ping-Pong, pool and mahjong.
On the third day we went to visit a Buddhist monastery and Qiongtai mountains. The monastery carries within some rich and unique religious Chinese culture, I found answers to many questions I’ve had about Buddhist traditions and customs. We also got too see a two thousand year-old tree, which felt like looking at the essence of history itself. We also had our lunch there, in contained absolutely no meet, but It’s amazing how they make the food look so identical to beef, shrimps, chicken etc. When we just arrived at Qiongtai, the weather was so good, at first I even thought why didn’t we go to Shenxanju again so that we could make better pictures this time as we couldn’t yesterday because of the foggy weather. But the first couple of minutes there made me realize that this was the right place tome right now. The view was just overwhelmingly beautiful. The combination of those mountains and a waterfall simply makes you feel like you are in the place second only to heaven.

On the last day of the trip we went to an opening ceremony of azalea festival of Tiantai county. Me and my new foreign friends took part in it as honored guests and even got a chance to say our own cues which made me feel as a part of a greater whole. After, we also got to see a little performance dedicated to tea ceremony and culture . I even got interviewed in the process.

It was an unforgettable trip. Thank you so much to everyone who put their effort into it！

Date of experience:

Trip type:

June 2019