Nan Xi River Valley Trip

4 days trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cedric.escavy/D012NanXiRiverInZhejiang?feat=directlink

DAY0: Shanghai- > Taizhou
Shanghai -> Taizhou (台州) by bus (160rmb). Departure 22:00, arrival at 4:30AM.. a bit early !.. try get a better schedule.. maybe by train? (note: there is another city called Taizhou 台州 but in JIANGSU Province.. be sure to buy a Zhejiang Taizhou ticket)

DAY1: Taizhou -> Linkeng
Then catch a Taizhou -> XianJu (仙居) bus (30rmb). Need 1h30 for the trip. Or hire a taxi (250rmb)
From XianJu, take a bus heading to Yantou (岩头) . Departure at 8:00AM and 14:00 only. (25rmb)

We got off at the crossing for Linkeng Village (林坑古村) after 1hr ride. Nice ancient village, lots of accomodations. (5mins walk from the crossing to get to the village). We camped on the rice terrace, away from the crowd and with a wonderful view of the village.

DAY2: Linkeng ->NanYaZhai (near Yantou)
From Linkeng Village, walk back to the main road and take the bus going to Yantou (25rmb) or hire a taxi if you can find one.

From Yantou you can visit the Furong ancient village (芙蓉村) which seems very pretty but very very touristy.

We preferred to head to NanYaZhai (南崖寨) set in a nice mountain environement with surrounding cliffs, cave and a temple, and not any tourist. Hire a three-wheeld moto taxi to go there from Yantou. (20rmb per taxi, 15min). You can camp there (find the flat spot near the beginning of the trail and bring food as there is nothing there), and seems to be possible to make an interesting hike to the moutain summit if you can get explanations from locals.
Keep the phone number of the taxi driver you brought you there so that he can come back the next morning to get you back to Yantou.

DAY3: NanYaZhai -> ShiWeiYan
From Yantou, we took a bus from the bus station to go to ShiWeiYan Area (石桅岩景区) (1hr ride, 30rmb).

Where you get off, you can enter the area and start a 2hrs long walking circuit, starting by a brief boat ride.
(entrance ticket : 150rmb). Beautiful place, translucid water, high cliffs, .. very pleasant. But be prepared, it’s a famous place among Chinese tourists. And swimming is forbidden there… which is a shame as the water seems to be calling you all along while walking and sweating.

When we reached the end of the circuit, there is an area with hotels and bus possibilities (and private minibuses).

We had lunch and then headed a bit further, out of the tourist area, still following the river upstream to camp in the riverbed on a stone beach (bring a mat!). You can enjoy swimming in this clear water. nobody around either there !

DAY4: ShiWeiYan -> Shanghai
The morning after we had to meet a driver at 11:00AM at the hotel parking, who took us back to QingJiang (清江), 2hr trip on a nice mountain road (150rmb for the minibus).
Arrived in QingJiang, just stand on the side of the highway heading to Taizhou and wait for a bus going there, or going to LuJiao (路桥) there you can change for another bus to Taizhou easily

Or, from QingJiang, hire another minibus who can get you straight to Taizhou in 2-3hrs (for 200rmb)

NOTE: you can also make the trip to/from Wenzhou (温州), as it takes only 2-3 hrs from Wenzhou to Yantou (岩头)