The underrated province of Jiāngxī (江西) offers a bucolic entrée into semirural Chinese life. It's a succulent, green place, connected by waterways of natural and human design, rice paddies teeming with bird life and fields draped in wildflowers. Tea seemingly grows out of every patch of land until dramatic mountain ranges, swirling with mist, rise up at its edges.
Jiāngxī has joined the high-speed rail circuit and now local travelers come here for the story-book villages around Wùyuán, the remote mountain parks of great spiritual significance and matching hiking trails in the northeast, and the pleasant provincial capital, Nánchāng.
The altogether slower pace of life is the real highlight of a visit to this charming pocket of southeast China.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Jiangxi.
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This tree-lined street, and the pathways that branch off it, form a kind of porcelain-production arts district, which is a centre for contemporary ceramics in China. Some of the world's leading porcelain artists work and teach here and visitors can wander freely around the kilns, workshops and small factories as the latest masterpieces are being sculpted. Along with Ceramics Art Avenue, this is also the most pleasant place in town to shop for ceramics, including tea sets.
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The jewel in the crown of Jiangxi's wéi lóng wū, this fascinating, 350-year-old, four-storey structure is the tallest of a number of crumbling old fortified residences in the vicinity of the village of Yancun. Mercifully, it has yet to be targeted by the local tourism industry, and is still lived in by villagers. You can wander around freely (be respectful of the residents, of course), and you can even climb all four storeys. The ¥10 entrance fee is rarely enforced.
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This large, modern ceramics hub opened in 2016 with the aim of regenerating the city. Built on the site of an old 1950s ceramics factory it features multiple renovated red-brick industrial buildings, the largest of which houses a museum (¥20, 9am to 9pm) containing original stone-firing kilns. The smaller surrounding buildings accommodate galleries and shops that display the beautiful ceramic creations of local and international students and artists. A good sprinkling of restaurants and cafes, and a craft-beer bar, fill the rest of the space.
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About 2km or 3km south of the Sculpture Factory and Ceramics Art Avenue is a third ceramic arts district, known simply as San Bao (三宝), which is strung out for a couple of kilometres along a forested valley. Here you'll find pottery workshops, galleries and cafes all along Sanbao Lu, a road that follows the valley to Sanbao Village.
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This nine-storey pagoda, now part of landscaped riverside grounds, is the city’s drawcard monument. It was first erected during Tang times, but destroyed and rebuilt no fewer than 29 times, most recently in 1989. Each floor (including two basement floors) contains museum exhibitions of varying interest, and some of the floors have viewing balconies overlooking the river.
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Venturing in any direction from the town of Lushan will take you into the wilds of one of the most ethereal environments in this province. The 300-sq-km Lushan National Park is best known for its strange rock formations that seem almost perennially covered in cloud. Loads of hiking trails are clearly marked and often paved. You pay to enter upon arrival at the foot of the mountain; all accommodation, restaurants and hiking trails are at the top.
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A bit like a living museum, this large, nicely landscaped site, known simply as Gǔ Yáo (古窑, Ancient Kiln), contains traditional porcelain-making equipment, including revived ancient kilns, and has teams of staff demonstrating how they were once used. Some of the buildings here date from Qing and Ming times, although have been largely rebuilt. Bus 1 runs here; get off at Fēng Shù Shān (枫树山) stop and walk back 20m.
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Not to be confused with Hubei province's more famous and much larger Wudang Shan, and also known as Xiǎo Wǔdāng (小武当, Little Wudang), this group of spectacular, weathered sandstone peaks rewards an easy one-hour climb with stunning views of the surrounding subtropical forest. The bus to Yangcun village from Longnan's small bus station at 99 Longding Dadao stops here en route (¥10, 50 minutes, frequent).
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Billed as a natural Taoist wonderland, this beautiful national park is packed with family-centred entertainment – gentle raft rides, climbing shows, miniature train, 3D cinema – but the real draw is its location by a winding river, where clusters of red sandstone peaks overlook grazing water buffalo and solitary herons.