AA Plus Vacation organized this 16-day tour of the dual water towns of Zhouzhuang and Tongli, with visits to Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Huangshan sunrise, Wuyi Mountain, Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou, and Kunming Stone Forest via high-speed rail. With your generous support, we shared joyful and laughter-filled moments together throughout this wonderful journey.
Looking back now, the details of our journey remain vivid in my memory. The 16-day China adventure passed swiftly amidst everyone's admiration and laughter. AA Plus Vacation designed the most valuable and distinctive itinerary for you, showcasing attractions that receive the highest praise from international travelers. We are grateful for this opportunity to guide you through one of the world's four great ancient civilizations, China, whose abundant tourism resources and countless historic sites continue to attract visitors from around the globe.
We explored the magnificent Ten Great Mountains of China, visiting the "Number One Strange Mountain in the World" – Huangshan, and Wuyi Mountain with its distinctive red sandstone formations. We discovered the unique karst landscape of Huangguoshu Waterfall, recognized as the "World's Third Largest and Asia's Largest," as well as Kunming Stone Forest, hailed as the "World's Number One Wonder" and a "Natural Museum of Geological Formations." We walked through Tongli Ancient Town, known as the "Venice of the East," and Zhouzhuang, called "China's Number One Water Town," experiencing the ambiance of the Ming and Qing dynasties. We rode escalators and admired the "World's Third Largest and Asia's Largest" Huangguoshu Waterfall, walked through the "Water Curtain Cave," and traversed the steep Dayan Waterfall. We visited historic sites including Daxiong Temple, one of the Seven Medieval Wonders; Jinshan Temple, famous from the "White Snake" legend where water flooded the golden mountain; Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, where Emperor Qianlong visited multiple times; Xijiang Thousand-Family Miao Village, the world's largest Miao ethnic settlement; Qingyan Ancient Town with over 600 years of history, and countless other attractions that showcase China's profound history, legendary stories, distinctive characteristics, and rich multi-ethnic cultural heritage.
Throughout the journey, we savored 16 distinct local specialty cuisines: Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs and Wansan pig trotters, Yangzhou three-head dishes (fish head, pig head, and crab roe lion head), Huaiyang cuisine (one of China's four traditional culinary traditions), Hui cuisine (utilizing fresh local ingredients), Wuyi tea banquet (featuring Wuyi rock oolong tea), Wuyi Mountain farm-style fare and smoked goose, Guizhou sour fish soup, Miao ethnic long table feast, Miao new harvest celebration feast (pig slaughter feast), Qiankang medicinal herbal cuisine, Huangguoshu free-range chicken feast, Qian cuisine, Qingyan snacks, specialty rice congee hot pot, clay pot chicken, and crossing-the-bridge rice noodles. All these dishes were prepared using local ingredients, some incorporating Miao traditional herbal medicines, and many using ingredients sourced and raised exclusively locally, using the most traditional cooking methods and utensils. These are truly authentic local delicacies that can only be enjoyed on location, bringing waves of happiness every time we recall them.
The time spent enjoying the scenery is delightful, and the experience of savoring local cuisine is blissful. Now that the journey has concluded, we share these photographs and memories with you, hoping to preserve every precious moment of your travels.
We look forward very much to our next adventure together with you and your family and friends!