Ningde
City is an ecological tourist area. Owing to its special geological
structure plus action from external force, many peculiar natural mountain
and sea wonders are created. Among them are two state-level scenic spots,
including the Taiwan Mountains in Fuding City and the Mandarin Duck River
Valley in Pingnan County, as well as three provincial-level scenic spots,
including the Zhiti Mountains in Jiaocheng District, the Jiulongji
Waterfall group and the Carp Stream in Zhouning and the Dongshi Mountains
in Zherong. Standing erect by the East Sea, the Taimu Mountains boasts
peculiar stones, all kinds of caves, perilous peaks and misty fog and
mists and enjoys a reputation as being the "Fairyland on the
Sea". The Mandarin Duck River Valley is deep and intensively covered
with forests, peculiar stones and clear water. As the only nature reserve
for mandarin ducks and macaques in China, the river valley also enjoys a
reputation as "Holy Land for Lovers". Other scenic spots are
Chi'an Beach0 in Xiapu County where Kukai, a famous monk from Japan landed
because of storms when he came to China to learn Buddhism during the Tang
Dynasty; the Linshui Temple in the Gutian County, where protective Goddess
Chen Jinggu is worshiped；the Huotong River Valley in Jiaocheng, Ningde
and the coastal scenes round Santu Bay; Yangjiaxi River in Xiapu and the
Cuiping Lake in Gutian, which are so attractive to the tourists for their
unique cultural and natural wonders that they can hardly tear themselves
away.
The Taimu Mountains
The Taimu Mountains, also described "Fairyland on the Sea", is
located within the boundaries between Zhejiang Province and Qingyu Town of
Fuding City of Fujian Province, 45 kilometers away from City Center. As a
state-level scenic spot, it has roughly 100 square kilometers' area for
sightseeing, while the protected area is 200 square kilometers. The Taimu
Mountains is a beautiful mountain resort with the characteristics of
granite peaks and caves, which is famous for its natural wonders such as
perilous peaks, misty fogs, peculiar stones and ancient temples, stone
carves. It is divided into five tourist areas, namely the Taimu Mountain
Ranges, the Nine-carp River and Falls, Qinchuan Seashore, the Fuyao islets
and Sanyuan Lake, and two scenic spots, namely the Unfrequented City and
the Ancient Castle, the Ruiyun Temple.
Because of the granite changes, it has all
kinds of rock scenes, which reach 360 spots. Among them, some are like
human shapes such as " Husband and Wife Peak", "the Peak
Like Two Monks Talking About Buddhism", "the peak like two monks
playing chess", "A Rock like Mile Buddha with bare belly",
" A Rock like Sami Buddha bowing down to the moon", "Luohan
Buddha Rock", "Bajie Buddha Rock"; Some are like animals
such as "Nine-Carp Peak", " Tortoise Climbing Up the
Walls" etc.; Others are mysterious like "Flying Rock".
"Watching the Immortals On the Bridge", "the rock along
which the Taimu Goddess rose to the heaven, etc. There is a saying by
predecessors: "There are no ordinary rocks in the Taimu Mountains.
Each one is natural and unique. Different people have different
understanding of it, especially the Peak of Nine Carps, and the Peak like
Two Monks Talking about Buddhism are magnificent and grand.
The Taimu Mountains has over 100 caves with different shapes. It will take
28 days to visit all caves. Some caves will need one day to go in and out.
These caves have their own characteristics, especially "the Cave of a
Gleam of Sky ", "Seven-star Cave", " the Eighteenth
Cave of the General".
The Yangjiaxi River The Yangjiaxi River scenic spot is situated in the
southeast part of Yachen town in Xiapu County. According to legends, some
eminent generals of the Yang family in Song dynasty, named Yang
Zhongbao,Yang Wenguang ,and Yang Jinghua disarmed some southern outlaws.
So the river got its name. The Yangjiaxi River scenic spot is one of the
five scenes of the Taimu Mountains scenic area. It starts from the
Longting Waterfalls to Dutou Village, with a whole distance of 11.5 km. It
is always described " Peach Garden on the Waters".
Longting Waterfalls is made up of Wen Waterfalls and Wu Waterfalls. The
drop of Wen Waterfalls is 136 meters, which is the highest in Fujian
Province; Wu waterfalls' drop is 135 meters. There are more than 10 scenic
spots around the waterfalls. Their names are given according to their
shapes such as "the General's Seal", "the Brush Pens'
Stand", "the Rock Peak and the Gold Lion guarding the
entrance", "the Jumping Rabbit", " the General bowing
down to the Seal", "the Immortals Sitting on the peak",
"the Elephant Peak", "the Cave of Monkeys", "the
Dragon Cave". In addition, walking down the stream, passing "the
Ten Twists and the Twelve Beaches" will take 2 hours before reaching
Dutou Village. All the way people can see 36 beautiful stone scenes such
as "Tangseng Buddha bowing down to the West", "Damo Buddha
Facing the Wall", "Turtles playing", "General Wenguang
Breaking a Boat", "the General's Cap", "Three Levels'
Rock". Away from the lower part of Dutou Village, there is a 250-mu
maple area, which has more than 1100 maple trees. In the early of winter,
the leaves of the maple trees turn red. Between the maple trees, there are
17 ancient small-fruited fig trees. The oldest one is more than 800 years
old. Among them, there is a "King of Fig Tree" which has a
12.6-meter trunk and is 30 meters high with a covering circle of 51
meters. The trunk is empty inside and has 7 caves, which can hold several
persons. It is said that fig trees are growing in the farthest northern
aptitude. When the peach trees are in blossom, the scene is lovelier.
The Mandarin Duck River The Mandarin Duck River is situated in the
northeastern part of Pingnan County about 30km, away from the county
center. It covers an area of 78.8 sq kms. The River runs 18 km long. It's
the home of mandarin ducks and monkeys. You may enjoy the photographic
scenes with creeks, waterfalls, peak, caves, ponds, trees and so on. Every
autumn (early October) to next spring (early April), thousands of
beautiful mandarin ducks spend their winter here. During this season, at
dawn, many ducks play by pair in the ponds; at noon, they will rest with a
manner of mouth-in-mouth or sleep with their necks around necks. They keep
an eye open at rest so that in case of emergency such as being attacked by
enemy they will jump into the water to avoid being attacked. At dusk, they
will fly to the fields and forests to look for food. At night, they sleep
in the forest. By the River, there live 300 rhesus monkeys. In 1984,the
area was turned into "Pingnan Yiyang National Reserve of mandarin
ducks and rhesus monkeys" by Fujian People's Government, the only one
of this kinds in the country.
Mandarin Duck River is famous for its mandarin ducks, rhesus monkeys and
the rare plantations. It was described as "Lover's holy place",
"the home of mandarin ducks" "the Paradise of rhesus
monkeys", "Paradise on the earth". The whole resort area
looks like a crescent moon and is divided into 5 resort areas, namely,
Baishuiyang, Yiyang, Taibao Building, Liugong Rock, Mandarin Duck Lake.
Especially the most famous are "the thousands-of-square meters of
Baishuiyang water square on a flat rock", " Baizan Waterfall
Cave (over 333 meters high)" "the Immortals' Banquet
Table".
The upper reaches of the River are called Baishuiyang Resort area, which
is bedded by one huge flat rock. The largest square is about 4000 square
meters with its widest place around 150 meters. It's fantastic to walk on
the rock with inch-deep water and to enjoy the flashing waves in the sun.
It's described as "Only View in the World".
Yiyang scenic area is located in the middle of the stream. The area is
tree-covered, where the rate of forest coverage reaches 60%. So it becomes
the hometown of mandarin duck and monkeys and is honored as a
"Natural Zoo". Its main scenes include "the Baizan
waterfall Cave", "the Valley of the Immortals' Banquette",
"Rulai Buhhda riding on fog", "the Range of lovers"
and other precious plants such as four-season azalea, China firs, Beiyan
peonies and so on.
Jiulongji Waterfall Groups
As a provincial-level scenic spot, Jiulongji Waterfall Groups is located
in the valley of lower reaches of Qibu River in Zhouning County, 14km away
from county center. It covers 9.5 Square km, among which the protected
central area is 4 km and called the Longxi River (Dragon River).
The Longxi River's 300-metre drop in the less than 3-kilometer course
leads to the formation of 9-stage marvelous deep ponds. The nine-stage
waterfalls connect one by one, each having their own characteristics. Some
have wonderful scenes; others are not peaceful but very striking. The
scene is regarded as "No.1 in Fujian", "Only in East of
China."
The first stage of Jiulongji Waterfall is the most wonderful. The
waterfall is 46.7 meters high with 75 meters wide. When water is plenty,
it can reach 83 meters wide, which is 40 meters wider than Huangguoshu
Waterfall in Guizhou Province. When it falls, it is like a dragon playing
in the water. At the end of the nine-stage falls there is a quiet pond
that is over 100 meters long. The two sides of the valley are reflected in
the ponds, which form the beautiful green scenes. The Longxi hydropower
station is at the end of the long pond. Rowing boats in the ponds and
enjoying the scenes can make you feel the wild and natural taste of the
villages.
Sandu Bay
Sandu
Bay is situated in the southeastern part of Jiao Cheng District about 30
kms away from the city center. It is regarded as "the door and the
key exit of 5 counties" of Mingdong. It covers 714 square kilometers,
of which 430 square km are in use. Sandu Bay is made up of 5 islands and 1
peninsula, namely, Sandu, Qinshan, Doumao, Baipao, Jigong Mountain and
Chenao. What's more, there are 14 islands, 17 reefs scattering over the
area. In addition, there are 5 beaches and two extensive water surfaces,
i.e. Guangjingyang and Fudingyang.
Sandu Bay has been developed since Tang dynasty. It formally became an
import and export commercial port in 1897. On May 8th of the same year,
Fuhai Customs was set up. Subsequently, 20 companies from 13 countries
including USA, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Holland, Sweden, Spain,
Portugal etc. set up companies and banks in Sandu. Even today the Sandu
Island still keeps the buildings of Spanish Church, British Cloister,
German firms.
Sandu Bay is not only a special port, but also a scenic spot called
"Sky Lake on Sea" and a production base. It covers hundreds of
square meters and has different kinds of exotic peaks and rocks, which
make the place a tourist area. Among them, "Snail Rock "
"The Pictures of Immortals" are very famous. "Snail
Rock" is like a snail, which is 7-metre high. Its outside is round
and smooth. Inside there is a cave, which can hold five or six persons. In
the rock there is a hole facing the sea through which you can Jingyang
waters.
Sandu Bay is the largest cultivation base of yellow croakers. Raising
fishes in sea farming cages is carried out in the area, where the cages
reach more than 80000. The cages join together and form a village on sea,
which is a magnificent scene. In the daytime, looking at the fishing
boats, you can see a busy scene; in the evening, everywhere it is bright
with lights from the houses on the cages. People call the scene
"plantation on sea".