On the Riverside – Dagangtou, China

Standing in the bus station in Huangshan waiting to board the bus we were approached by a young man asking to see our tickets. He kindly tried to explain in limited English that the tickets we bought to Lishui, China were going to a different station than expected. We weren’t exactly sure where we were going to end up but we got on the bus anyway. Six hours later the bus driver dropped us off on the exit ramp to the toll road in the middle of nowhere. We up and down the street in trying to locate a taxi. With a comedy of events and some google translate, we found a bus that would take us the 4.7 miles to the town of Dagangtou. A half mile walk to the water would lead us to our guest house above a local shop. We were happy to have finally arrived after our 9 hour journey.

Dagangtou is a small town located on the Ouijang River. Historically it was an important place because of the large-scale hydraulic irrigation dating back over 1,500 years. Now it is a haven for painters. There are studios and shops displaying paintings all over the town. The buildings and walls are also painted.

There is a small wharf that offers a short boat ride to the other side of the river. A “scenic route” has been constructed along the opposite side of the river for people to enjoy. It is much like a Chinese garden. Although the day was quite foggy were able to capture some photos of the beautiful scenery (and some of us too!).

It was very peaceful along the river walking the scenic route. The weather is a bit warmer but it is still low season and there are very few tourists. We took our time and enjoyed being off the beaten track.

 

In order to get back to the boat dock, we took a different route through the very small village. People often stop to stare at us as we are the only “westerners” we have seen for days. Everyone is very nice to us but we are definitely the outsiders. We use smiles and gestures to interact with the locals. They are very nice at allowing us to take pictures of their daily life.

One last gem of this small little area is Jiangbin Ancient Street. This water front street was built in the early 1900s at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It has so much character with small shops and restaurants.

After several days in Dagangtou we had to move on. A 1.5 hour public bus ride, two train rides and a taxi brought us to the city of Fuzhou. Tomorrow we fly to Beijing to take part in all of the Chinese New Year Festivities.