Wuyuan

Wuyuan is situated on the north-eastern region of the Jiangxi Province. Towards its east lies the historical city of Ouzhou, and towards its left is Jingdezhen, the capital of porcelain. Mount Huang and Mount Sanqing are on its north and south respectively. The Wuyuan County is spread over a total area of about 2947.51 square meters and has a population of more than 341,000 people.

This place is also known as the ‘green pearl’, which shares its boundaries with Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces. Besides being a cultural and ecological hub, Wuyuan has also been popular as “the Hometown of Books” and “the Hometown of Tea” since the ancient times. Many travellers also call it the “the most picturesque village of China”. This place has three separate tour routes to the east, west and north.

Wuyuan was under the governance of Anhui during the ancient times. About 500 years down the line, traders in large numbers from this place spread all across China, building trade relations with merchants from Qingdao to Qinghai. In some places, they were present in such large numbers and had so much prominence that they were practically in control of the local economy.

According to some historical records, four of the eight barons that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty received during a visit to southern China, were from Anhui. The traders in Anhui dominated trade in the country, in terms of capital and trade outlets, for about 400 years.

To share their success with their forefathers and families, these rich merchants constructed big homes and ancestral temples in their hometowns. Many of these constructions still stand strong in Wuyuan.

Wuyuan escaped the devastation at the time of the war, because of its geographical location with mountains surrounding it, and is in its original form even today. The ancient buildings present in this place today represent the Hui-style architecture and have pink walls and black tiles, although the colours are rarely visible.

Spring is the best time to visit Wuyuan, because during this time the fields become vibrant with the sea of cole flowers.