This Jinhua homestay is stunningly beautiful
Complete Experience at Jinhua Shanhai Yunshu
This is Jinhua’s first national Grade A homestay and one of Zhejiang Province’s first platinum-level homestays. It is located in Hengla Village, Caozhai Town, Jindong District, Jinhua City, at an altitude of 500 meters. It took three years to perfect and is embraced by mountains and flower seas. Opening the window reveals layered mountain views and a sea of clouds. It is the top luxury choice around Jinhua for escaping the city, mountain healing, and team-building vacations. Trip.com’s overall rating is 4.9, consistently ranking among the top boutique homestays in Jinhua.
Core Accommodation Experience
• Architecture and Room Types: The homestay is based on original Jiangnan residences, adhering to the concept of “beauty without design,” naturally blending into the mountains. It uses old town stone slabs, reclaimed boat wood, intangible cultural heritage wood carvings, and other vintage items. Every piece of furniture is a unique custom creation by master craftsmen found by the owner. The scent of wood blends with the mountain air, creating a full atmosphere. The homestay covers 4,900㎡ with only 14 distinct rooms to maximize privacy and comfort. Room types include mountain view king rooms, twin rooms, and family rooms. Upgraded options include the panoramic suite Lan Yue Pavilion and the duplex starry glass room suite. Phase two upgrades add private mountain view hot springs, meeting diverse needs such as couples’ getaways, family vacations, and small team-building events. The starry glass room is a popular bestseller, featuring a fully transparent roof. At night, guests can lie down and stargaze at the Milky Way. The butler thoughtfully provides telescopes and constellation charts, enhancing the romantic vibe.
• Room Amenities: All rooms are equipped to high-end hotel standards, perfectly balancing rustic mountain charm with modern luxury. Standard features include custom 3D latex mattresses, Thai latex pillows, Dyson hairdryers, smart toilets, Hansgrohe bathroom fixtures, and underfloor heating for cozy winter stays. Premium rooms add panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows facing the mountains, private terrace bathtubs, L’Occitane toiletries, complimentary minibar snacks and drinks, welcome fruit upon arrival, and warm nighttime turndown service with handmade sweet soup and handwritten weather cards, emphasizing attention to detail.
Dining Experience
The homestay’s cuisine focuses on local mountain flavors, rejecting pre-made dishes. All meals are freshly prepared daily by local aunties, balancing taste and homely warmth. Guests can enjoy a full-time culinary experience without leaving the property.
• Breakfast: Mainly Chinese set meals with daily changing dishes. Signature highlights include freshly fried handmade pancakes, freshly wrapped soup dumplings, and small wontons, widely praised by guests. These are paired with freshly squeezed five-grain juice, local pickles, native eggs, and seasonal fruits. Portions are generous, healthy, and delicious. Guests can enjoy their meal while looking out through floor-to-ceiling windows at green hills and lawns, creating an excellent dining atmosphere.
• Main Meals and Specialty Dining: Main meals feature local Jinhua farmhouse dishes, with ingredients mostly sourced from nearby farmers and the homestay’s own vegetable garden, ensuring freshness. Customized team-building meals and private family banquets can be pre-ordered. Signature dishes include local native chicken hot pot, clear water fish, fresh mountain bamboo shoots, and guests can also taste the owner’s homemade green plum wine. Guests can also book exquisite two-person afternoon tea or starry sky hot pot on the viewing platform in advance. On clear days, enjoying hot pot while feeling the mountain breeze, watching the sunset and stars, creates an exceptional ambiance.
Public Areas and Entertainment Experience
The homestay’s facilities far exceed those of ordinary mountain lodges. The public areas are designed with scenic views at every step, allowing guests to enjoy a one-stop vacation experience without leaving the property. It is truly a hidden retreat where you can “relax and play for two days.”
• Key Highlights: The infinity pool is the star attraction, embedded in a 700㎡ large lawn, facing green mountains and sea of clouds, giving the feeling of swimming in the clouds. The light and shadow at sunset between 4-5 pm are perfect for photos with a high share rate. Outdoors, there are two mountain view hot spring pools with homemade Chinese herbal bath packs. Soaking in autumn and winter while admiring the mountain scenery completely relieves travel fatigue. Indoors, the giant natural stone fireplace is a must-visit in winter. The crackling firewood and warm light create a full atmosphere, perfect for gathering, chatting, and photo ops.
• Full Public Facilities and Entertainment: The outdoor lawn can host parties, team-building, and small weddings, equipped with a canopy and barbecue area. The lawn is also home to adorable alpacas, enhancing family interaction. Indoors, there is an elegant tea room, café, professional gym, private KTV rooms, chess and card rooms, private cinema, and a free-access book bar, catering to all ages and ensuring fun even on rainy days.
• Special Experiences and Services: 24-hour one-on-one butler service is provided, from pre-arrival itinerary coordination to post-check-in requests, fulfilling almost every need. Every Saturday, there is a fixed intangible cultural heritage Wuzhou kiln pottery wheel experience class (the owner is an intangible cultural heritage inheritor). From May to June, guests can book organic tea picking in the back mountain tea garden. Customized mountain activities such as hiking guides, fruit picking, and plant specimen DIY are also available, enriching the vacation experience.
Nearby Attractions
The homestay’s location is excellent, 30 minutes from downtown Jinhua. The surrounding natural and cultural attractions are dense, making short trips highly enjoyable. Guests can either relax at the homestay or easily visit nearby sites:
1. A 100-meter walk leads to Hengla Flower Sea, where rhododendrons bloom in early April, creating a sea of crimson flowers across the hills. It is a must-visit free spring attraction, with exclusive flower sea views in autumn as well.
2. About a 10-minute drive to Jinhua Great Buddha Temple, which has a history of 1,500 years. The temple houses the iconic ancient Shakyamuni Buddha, surrounded by towering ancient trees and flying eaves with dougong brackets, full of Zen atmosphere. It is a great place for summer cooling and blessings.
3. About a 15-minute drive to the 4A-level scenic Jinlin Buddha’s Hand Cultural Park, where guests can pick Buddha’s hand fruit and do handicraft DIY, ideal for family trips.
4. About a 25-minute drive to Shuanglong Cave Scenic Area, famous for the karst cave wonders described by Ye Shengtao. Nearby are Huang Daxian Ancestral Palace, Lunu Lake, and Shuanglong Creek Canyon, offering one-stop mountain and water hiking and nature sightseeing.
5. About a 1-hour drive to Youbu Ancient Town, where guests can experience the authentic Jiangnan local life, enjoy local morning tea and specialty snacks. It is a popular ancient town destination around Jinhua.
Pros & Cons and Practical Tips
• Core Advantages: Jinhua’s top platinum-level homestay and national Grade A homestay with guaranteed quality; strong design sense blending vintage items with modern design, aesthetically pleasing; surrounded by mountains and flower seas, a natural oxygen bar with strong privacy, far from city noise; comprehensive facilities suitable for families, couples, and team-building, allowing full enjoyment without leaving the homestay; attentive service with great attention to detail, providing an excellent stay experience.
• Drawbacks: Located in the mountains with inconvenient public transportation, self-driving is recommended; some rooms near the road may have nighttime bicycle noise, guests sensitive to noise should book inner rooms in advance; mosquitoes are common in spring and summer, so bring insect repellent; rooms are tight during peak seasons and weekends, especially starry glass rooms and private hot spring rooms often fully booked in advance; breakfast is mainly Chinese style and not very diverse, with limited Western options.
• Travel Tips: Book at least 1-2 weeks in advance for weekends and holidays, and even earlier for popular rooms during peak season; prioritize self-driving, as the homestay offers free parking. It is about a 40-minute drive from Jinhua High-Speed Rail Station and about 50 minutes from Yiwu Station; mountain areas have large temperature differences between day and night, so bring an extra jacket regardless of season; add the butler’s WeChat before arrival to book dining, intangible cultural heritage experiences, hiking guides, and other services to greatly enhance the stay; exclusive scenic views are available in April (spring), June to August (summer), October to November (autumn), and December to February (winter), making it suitable for travel all year round.