Ningde
Ningde (宁德) is a city, and the center of a prefecture of the same name, on the coast North of Fuzhou in Fujian province, China.
Understand
The city of Ningde is near the southern border of the prefecture. There is some spectacular scenery in Ningde prefecture, but mainly well outside of Ningde city itself.
Get in
- 1 Ningde Station (宁德站). A major station on the main fast train line from Fuzhou to Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
Other stations in Ningde prefecture that may be useful for accessing local attractions are:
- 2 Fu'an Station (福安站). May be useful for Baiyunshan.
- 3 Taimushan station (太姥山站). Near Taimushan, and
- 4 Fuding station (福鼎站). Not as close to Taimushan, but has more service.
There is also a good highway along the coast which connects Fuzhou, Ningde, Xiapu and Wenzhou, just to the north in Zhejiang province. From Wenzhou, there are good road connections all over East China.
This region has no civilian airports, though there is a large military one. There are buses direct from Ningde to Fuzhou airport and Wenzhou is nearby to the north; both have good connections all over China and a few international flights. The nearest airports with a good range of international flights are Xiamen to the south or Hangzhou and Shanghai to the north; all are easily reached via the fast trains.
Get around
See
- Huayan Temple
- 1 Xianshan Pasture (仙山牧场, xiānshānmùchǎng). Large, remote pasture area in the mountains.
- 2 Taimu Mountain (太姥山, tàimǔshān) (Catch a train to Taimushan station and change to a bus to get to the park. There are also buses from Fuding bus station - more trains stop at Fuding than Taimushan station.). 08:00-17:00. National park and part of Ningde UNESCO Global Geopark, featuring granite spires, oddly-shaped rocks balanced on each other, ancient shrines, rebuilt temples, small artificial lakes, and a network of trails winding over, under, around and through the rock. 140¥, including park shuttle bus.
- 3 Baishuiyang Scenic Area (白水洋风景区, báishuǐyáng fēngjǐngqū) (First take a bus to Pingnan, then take a local bus to Baishuiyang). 08:00~17:30. This section of Ningde UNESCO Global Geopark is in Ningde's Pingnan County (屏南县, píngnánxiàn). The main tourist attraction is 4 Baishuiyang itself, a section of riverbed around 2km long and up to 180m wide, of smooth, flat rock. A huge area uniformly flooded with shallow water, this is essentially a waterpark in summer. It also has stones and small spires of rock sticking up, some small lakes downstream, and a bridge. The second section of Baishuiyang park is 5 Yuanyangxi (鸳鸯溪, yuānyāngxī) canyon, with several kilometres of trails around cliffs and large waterfalls. This is on a separate ticket, but combined tickets are available. Aside from its rocks, Baishuiyang is a preserve for macaques, and is the winter home of thousands of mandarin ducks. 140¥ including park shuttle bus, half price in winter.
- 6 Baiyunshan (白云山), ☏ +86-593-6393876. 08:00-18:00. The third section of Ningde UNESCO Global Geopark, it features massive granite mountains, canyons, waterfalls, and spectacularly eroded gorges, and has Yi minority villages. 80¥.