4-Day Self-Driving Itinerary from Shanghai to Jinzhai

Drive from Shanghai to Jinzhai County Seat (600 kilometers, around 7 hours). Check into the hotel after group assembly.

After breakfast, visit Jinzhai County Revolutionary Museum and Red Army Square, one of China’s Top Ten Patriotic Education Bases. Then tour the Meishan Reservoir Dam, the second major dam built after the founding of New China and the world’s tallest dam constructed in the 1950s. Meishan Reservoir is a key water conservancy project independently designed and built by China during the First Five-Year Plan.

After lunch, head for Tiantangzhai National Forest Park (120 kilometers, about 2.5 hours’ drive). Tiantangzhai preserves the last virgin forest in East China, reputed as a land of azaleas, a home to giant salamanders, a kingdom of plants and a paradise for wild animals. Towering cloud-shrouded mountains stretch across vast forests with a humid climate dotted with countless springs. The air humidity reaches 80.7%. The scenic area boasts 108 waterfalls of varying sizes, among which 18 boast a drop of over 50 meters. It is a cool summer resort and a national demonstration site for eco-tourism.

Experience Tianshuijian Drifting, hailed as the No.1 drifting route in the Dabie Mountains (around 1.5 hours).

After breakfast, tour the Waterfall Group Scenic Area (3.5 hours). Following lunch, visit White Horse Grand Canyon (1.5 hours). Nestled at the foot of 1,600-meter-high White Horse Peak, the canyon stretches roughly 6 kilometers, integrating grace, seclusion, grandeur and peril, with springs, waterfalls, streams and pools winding through the valley. The open outer zone gives way to secluded inner reaches hiding marvelous natural scenery, flanked by steep cliffs carved by nature’s master hand.

After the sightseeing, drive back to Jinzhai County.

After breakfast, travel to West Jiuhua Mountain, a national AAAA-level tourist attraction in Henan Province (about 50 minutes’ drive). The entire scenic area features ten-thousand-mu tea plantations, bamboo seas, forests, lakes and clusters of canyon waterfalls as its core landscapes, enriched by Buddhist culture and southern Henan folk customs. It presents an integrated landscape of tea, bamboo and Zen, embodying the harmonious unity of mountains, waters and humanity.

After lunch, drive back to Shanghai, marking the perfect end to this pleasant trip