Things to do in Shicheng

The Danxia scenery in the scenic area is very beautiful, and the root of life is very vivid. The whole tour takes 2-3 hours. There are South Gate and North Gate. Under normal circumstances, you can enter one gate and exit the other without going back. There is a scenic area shuttle bus between the two gates, but the interval is a bit long, one trip per hour, it is recommended to shorten the time appropriately.

Fewer people meant cleaner water. However, many pools were extremely hot. Ultimately, only one pool had a suitable water temperature, allowing for a longer soak. Probably because there were fewer people, the water temperature needed to be maintained until evening. Having a swimming pool is nice.

Winter is a great time to soak in hot springs. Shicheng Forest Hot Spring has good facilities, clean changing rooms, beautiful hot spring environment, and warm and attentive staff. Li Xiaoyong and an auntie will proactively pour tea, chat about hot springs, and provide change of bath towels.

It's interesting and fun. I went there last year. Traveling is sometimes just a way to release your mood, just like a fish sinking to the bottom of the water, feeling bored before the thunderstorm comes, and eager to get to the surface to take a breath. Leaving one city and rushing to another, no matter whether the city gives you a good or bad feeling, what remains unchanged is that we always have a vision and curiosity for the unknown scenery.

Gulangyu Island truly is a garden by the sea, with lush greenery and excellent air quality, well worth taking your time to explore and appreciate. Be sure to climb to the top of Sunlight Rock; from there, you can enjoy panoramic views of the entire island. Highly recommended.

Originally built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt several times during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the pagoda standing today is a reconstruction from 1989 based on manuscripts and historical documents left by Mr. Liang Sicheng. Although it is no longer the ancient pagoda from which Wang Bo once gazed into the distance, the river flows on, and the mountains remain unchanged. Climbing the pagoda is not for reminiscing about the past, but simply to share the same sky and earth with that young man from a thousand years ago amidst the rising winds and surging clouds—in that instant, you understand what it means to "fly the setting sun and the lone wild goose together, the autumn water and the vast sky are of one color." The essence lies not in the pagoda itself, but in the moment of ascending it.

Every attraction is worth visiting, with its rich cultural heritage and stunning natural scenery that leaves visitors breathless and reluctant to leave. There are some attractions I haven't visited yet; I'll come back another time.

The crowds somewhat affected the experience. The performance was extremely noisy, constantly using bass, with no soothing music. Luckily, we were far away, or our hearts would have been pounded. I recommend the café; the second-floor terrace is a great spot to watch the light show. Before going, I thought they would put thousands of lights in the sky, but that's not the case. Each person is held by a thin rope, and many lights float in the air simultaneously—it's truly breathtaking. After the evening show, if you choose to leave by electric cart, do not walk to the far right. There are barriers all the way, preventing you from merging into the waiting area. We ended up walking all the way to the parking lot, a 1.3-kilometer walk that took a considerable amount of time late at night.

This is a terrible tourist attraction. The visitor center is 6 kilometers away from the attractions, and you have to pay an extra 10 yuan per person for a shuttle bus. The visitor center service is poor, inefficient, and filled with secondhand smoke. The actual attractions are pitifully small; you can walk through them in half an hour, and it's completely not worth the price. The map is also terrible, with an incorrect scale. The signs for the attractions are incomplete.