Things to do in Ganzhou
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ganzhou
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best window, mild 18 to 28C, lower humidity, gold terraces and from November the navel oranges.
Good walking weather and green terraces, with spring rain as the price.
Worst for rain in June and heat from July, with heavy monthly rainfall and closed mountain paths possible.
Hot and humid, highs to 34 to 35C, workable only with dawn starts and cave and museum middays.
Quiet, cheap and damp cold at 5 to 15C, fine for the old city and Ruijin, poor for terraces and views.
What's on
- Gannan Navel Orange Season and Expo picking from around 1 November, expo late November
Origin protected oranges at source in Anyuan and across Ganzhou, the defining food season.
- Hakka New Year Festival Lunar New Year period, January or February
Hakka food and heritage displays gathered at the Hakka Cultural City in Ganzhou.
- Shangbao Terrace Planting Season May
Mirror water planting season in the Chongyi terraces.
- Shangbao Terrace Gold Harvest September to October
Gold harvest weeks in the FAO listed Hakka terraces.
- Dragon Boat Festival and Longnan Lotus May or June, lunar
Lotus viewing around Longnan walled villages and Zhenggui Village.
- Long March Anniversary Programming at Ruijin October
Ruijin sites at their most programmed, around the Long March anniversary.
Best things to do in Ganzhou
Jiangnan Songcheng Historical and Cultural Tourism Area
The restored Song dynasty old city quarter holding the wall, Yugutai, Bajingtai and Zao'er Lane in one walkable area.
Ganzhou Ancient City Wall
About 3.6 km of Song dynasty brick wall along the rivers, with dated brick inscriptions back to 1069.
Bajingtai
The terrace on the wall where the Zhang and Gong rivers meet, named for the classic Eight Views of Ganzhou.
Yugutai
A modest terrace above the old city where Xin Qiji wrote his famous lines about the river below.
Ancient Floating Bridge
A pontoon bridge of over 100 wooden boats crossing the Gong River, in daily use for over 800 years.
Tongtianyan Grottoes
Danxia grottoes with 359 Tang and Song statues and 128 cliff inscriptions, the largest grotto temple in Jiangnan.
Ganzhou Museum
The orientation museum whose Hakka hall explains the three migrations that made Gannan a Hakka heartland.
Fushougou Museum
The museum of the still working Song dynasty drainage system shaped like the characters for fortune and longevity.
Where to stay in Ganzhou
Old City / Jiangnan Songcheng
first trips, walkers, history trips
Walk to the wall, Yugutai, Zao'er Lane and the floating bridge, and eat where locals eat.
Zhangjiang New District / The MixC
comfort, food, couples, longer stays
The city's best modern hotels, malls and restaurants, a short cheap taxi ride from the old city.
Station / Wanda side
early trains, transit, value
Newest towers and the big Jinjiang flagship near Wanda Plaza, easiest for early departures.
Think twice about
- Ganzhou West high-speed station forecourt strip
A transit zone of new towers and empty evening streets. Fine for one night before a dawn train, dead as a holiday base.
- Nankang District furniture-industrial zone
Hotels there serve the furniture trade 25 plus km west. Basing there adds an hour of commuting to every sight.
- County towns sold as Ganzhou
Longnan, Anyuan and Ruijin are good overnights for their own excursions, not Ganzhou bases. Do not accept a 100 km daily commute.
Best restaurants in Ganzhou
Jinjiang International Hotel Ganzhou, Chinese restaurant
The formal banquet tier in Ganzhou, a private room and the canonical Gannan Hakka dishes from a big hotel kitchen.
Hakka Courtyard
The city's flagship Hakka table by Yugutai, serving Ningdu Three Cup Chicken and the full southern Gan canon.
TaiZi Lou
A central old city Chinese restaurant on Zhongshan Road, a practical sit down dinner after a wall walk.
Zhouji
The Ganzhou breakfast in Zao'er Lane, banfen rice noodles and hand pounded meatball soup for about 7 CNY.
Miaodongjia
The local pick for vinegar fruit stir fried pork intestines, a sour spicy Gannan dish found almost nowhere else.
Nanshi Street
The Songcheng snack street for aimi guo glutinous rice cakes with chive filling at about 3 CNY each.
Riverside fish stalls by the Ancient Floating Bridge
Working fishing family stalls by the floating bridge frying fresh fish cakes at dusk on the river bank.
Jiang NanHui
A central Chinese restaurant serving Ganzhou speciality food, a named alternative when other old city rooms fill.
Best coffee in Ganzhou
FengYa LaoShu Coffee
The old city's best documented coffee stop, a proper espresso break inside a Song city walking day.
Outdoor things to do in Ganzhou
Sanbaishan Mountain Scenic Area
A 5A forest of waterfalls and clear streams at the source of the Dongjiang River in Anyuan.
Sanbaishan Hot Spring
A selenium rich forest hot spring rated among the best in the prefecture, paired with the Sanbaishan mountain day.
South Wudang Mountain
Ninety nine sheer Danxia peaks threaded with walkways and viewpoints on the Jiangxi Guangdong border in Longnan.
Guanxi Xinwei Scenic Area
The flagship Hakka walled village in Longnan, an 8000 square metre fortified clan house you walk inside and up through.
Ruijin Republic Cradle Scenic Area
The Red capital sites at Yeping and the Red Well in Ruijin, starting point of the Long March in 1934.
Shangbao Terraces
Over 50000 acres of Hakka rice terraces in Chongyi, an FAO listed agricultural heritage landscape.
Yangming Lake Scenic Area
A gentle forested reservoir lake for boat rides and lakeside walks, the easy outdoors day west of the city.
Yashan Scenic Area
A Dayu resort of more than twenty waterfalls, a 13 km forest plank road and forest hot springs.
Best hotels in Ganzhou
Ganzhou Kangbono Seven Star Hotel
The old city splurge stay beside Jiangnan Songcheng, walkable to Yugutai with night views over the lit ancient city.
GanZhouXiangjiangwan International Hotel
A wall side four star at the South Gate of the ancient city wall, the mid range old city default.
Crowne Plaza Ganzhou by IHG
The city's best reviewed full service hotel, with pool and executive lounge and predictable international operation.
Wellton Royal Garden Hotel
A large well reviewed hotel in the MixC district, on the new city's best shopping and dining at mid upper prices.
Grand Skylight International Hotel Ganzhou
A reliable long running international style tower in the MixC district, a safe central mid range choice.
Jinjiang International Hotel Ganzhou
A huge proven domestic flagship near Wanda Plaza with a high rated breakfast and deep group handling experience.
Urba Hotel Ganzhou Nanmenkou
A budget chain room at the old city's south gate, walkable to dinner and the wall for very little money.
Is Ganzhou expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥450 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥900 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ganzhou Fantawild Oriental Dawn: a few days ahead
- Sanbaishan Mountain Scenic Area: a few days ahead
- South Wudang Mountain: a few days ahead
- Guanxi Xinwei Scenic Area: a few days ahead
- Ruijin Republic Cradle Scenic Area: a few days ahead
- Fengshan Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Ganzhou Kangbono Seven Star Hotel: a few days ahead
- GanZhouXiangjiangwan International Hotel: a few days ahead
- Book hotels, trains and Fantawild ahead for Golden Week, Spring Festival, May Day and summer school holidays.
- Buy Tongtianyan, Sanbaishan, South Wudang, Guanxi and Ruijin tickets on Trip.com outside peak weeks for same or next day.
- Bring your passport for museums, which may need real name reservation, and ask your hotel to help the night before.
- Reserve Hakka Courtyard and hotel banquet rooms a day ahead for a group dinner, with dishes agreed in advance.
Is Ganzhou safe?
- Traffic and e bikes are the main risk, so look both ways with real attention in the old city and on mountain roads.
- Stay on the floating bridge deck, do not climb rails for photos, and treat informal swimming spots as locals only.
- Carry water on wall and mountain walks in summer, and follow closure notices for paths and rafting in rainy season.
- Emergency numbers are 110 for police, 120 for ambulance and 119 for fire.
Ganzhou travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Agree the full price before any Songcheng hanfu photo shoot, since drone and album upsells are where the money goes.
- Oranges sold as Gannan fruit before the official picking date around 1 November are likely fakes by the association's own warnings.
- Scenic area jade, tea and silver shops on organised tours run a commission model, so compare in the city first.
- Any one day tour combining the old city, Longnan and Sanbaishan is built of highways and cannot work.
Getting around Ganzhou: public transport and more
- Taxis start at about 6 CNY and most in city rides are about 10 CNY, and Didi is the practical default.
- Ganzhou West is the high speed station and Ganzhou Station is the older central station, so check which your train uses.
- Hire a car and driver through your hotel for Longnan, Anyuan, Chongyi and Dayu days, and take the train for Ruijin.
- Walk the old city, where the wall, terraces, lane, museum and floating bridge form one walkable web.
Who Ganzhou suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Ganzhou your trip
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