Ganzhou Travel Guide | From Confucius Temple to Jiangnan Song City, a City Walk in Ganzhou

My first trip after the Spring Festival was not far away. I took a 2-hour high-speed train from Guangzhou to Ganzhou West, a small city with a rich cultural heritage. It is the best-preserved Northern Song city in China today, with many relics from the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, and is known as the "Song City Museum." The old city of Ganzhou has many historical sites that are close together, making it ideal for a city walk. All the attractions are free, so kudos to Ganzhou for its cultural tourism. · [Recommended Route] Ganzhou Confucius Temple → Fushou Canal Museum → Wei Family Courtyard (Gannan Hakka Culture Museum) → Haihui Temple → Standard Clock → Zao'er Lane → Jianchun Gate → Donghe Floating Bridge → Yongjin Gate → Bajing Terrace → Former Residence of Chiang Ching-kuo → Yugu Terrace → Junmen Tower/Sixian Archway → Song Dynasty Nightless City Note: ① Ganzhou Confucius Temple was closed for maintenance last September and only reopened after the Lantern Festival this year. I was lucky to come at the right time, but the nearby Ciyun Pagoda is still under maintenance. ② The Fushou Canal Museum is a 2-minute walk from the Confucius Temple. It introduces the secret of Ganzhou's thousand-year flood-free history. The Wei Family Courtyard (Gannan Hakka Culture Museum) is next to the Fushou Canal Museum. ③ The Wei Family Courtyard is a 2-minute walk from Haihui Temple. Continue walking along Heping Road to the archway of Zao'er Lane. Continue walking for 1 minute to the Standard Clock. You can check in at the Standard Clock and then walk back to Zao'er Lane. ④ Walk through Zao'er Lane for 1 minute to reach Jianchun Gate. Walk through Jianchun Gate to see Donghe Floating Bridge. The bridge is full of life, especially with all kinds of salted fish hanging on the moored boats, which are very appetizing. ⑤ After visiting the ancient floating bridge, return to Jianchun Gate and climb the ancient city wall, where you can overlook the scenery on both sides of the Gong River. Walk along the city wall for 5 minutes to reach Yongjin Gate, and continue walking for 5 minutes to reach Bajing Terrace. ⑥ The city wall section from Yongjin Gate to Bajing Terrace is open from 9 am to 6 pm. From Bajing Terrace, you can see the confluence of the Zhang and Gong Rivers into the Gan River. ⑦ After visiting Bajing Terrace, continue walking along the city wall for 2 minutes to see the sign for the Former Residence of Chiang Ching-kuo, and go down the city wall to visit. After the visit, walk towards Song Dynasty Nightless City, cross the main street of Nightless City, and the right-hand side is the direction to Yugu Terrace. ⑧ If you don't want to see the night view, you can first visit Song Dynasty Nightless City, check in at Junmen Tower, Sixian Archway, and Yugu Terrace Cultural Block, and then go to Yugu Terrace. ⑨ Yugu Terrace is the highest point in Ganzhou City, where you can overlook the whole city. Many literati have inscribed poems here, including Zhao Bian, Su Shi, Xin Qiji, and Wen Tianxiang. Xin Qiji's "Bodhisattva Man: Written on the Wall of Jiangxi Zaokou" is famous at home and abroad. The whole poem is: "Under Yugu Terrace, the clear river flows, how many tears of travelers in between. Looking northwest to Chang'an, countless mountains are pitiful. The green hills cannot be covered, after all, they flow eastward. The river is late and worries me, deep in the mountains, I hear the cuckoo." ⑩ Recommended food in Ganzhou: Gannan stir-fried fish, Ningdu three-cup chicken, Ganzhou mixed noodles, Ganzhou fish cakes, Ningdu meatballs, Shicheng taro dumplings, etc. · Only after visiting Ganzhou did I realize that among the five ancient city walls in China, only the ancient city wall of Ganzhou is from the Song Dynasty, while the others are from the Ming Dynasty. Jiangnan Song City is in Ganzhou, not Hangzhou.