(Photo credit: VCG)

Located in the beautiful Dashu Town, Qiandao Lake Grand Canyon is 40 kilometers away from Qiandaohu Town. It's adjacent to Chunyang Road (the most beautiful Greenway in Qiandao Lake) and Xiajiang Village (the typical example of Chinese characteristic village). The canyon is 35 kilometers in length and runs from southeast to northwest. It is composed of two canyons, Shangfang Canyon and Dongxi Canyon. With a shape resembling the English letter "n", the canyon connects with Chunyang Road to form a loop. At present, it is the largest canyon in Qiandao Lake.

Natural oxygen bar for escaping from summer 

Qiandao Lake Grand Canyon has a rich variety of water systems. There are two main rivers and four tributaries, which originate from the Qianligang Mountain Range, merge into Fenglin Port and eventually empty into Qiandao Lake. With clear, cool and refreshing water, the canyon provides a good place to stay cool in summer.

Vegetation is abundant in the canyon. According to incomplete statistics, the canyon is home to more than 4300 kinds of trees. Among them, moso bamboos cover the largest area, 40,000 mu (1 mu is equal to 666 sqare meters) and they are mainly concentrated in the depth of the canyon. Chinese yew and metasequoia are the two most precious tree species inside the canyon. They are class II protected tree species in China and are over 800 years old. Rich vegetation and fresh air create a natural oxygen bar for relaxation and health maintenance. 

A leisure resort to experience folk customs

The canyon features rich cultural landscape with eleven villages of profound history scattered around the area. Among them, the one-thousand-year-old ancient village, Ruhong Village (儒洪村), inherits the over-600-year-old traditional folk custom of "celebrating Lantern Festival on the 18th day instead of the 15th day of the first lunar month". There are also ancient mountain villas located over 500 meters above sea level, each with its own characteristics: the bamboo art of Gaozhuang Villa (高庄), the seclusion of the Sizhuang Villa (寺庄), the terraces of Pengjia Villa (彭家庄), the nine-pot delicacies of Zhongzhuang Villa (中庄), and the paper-making history of Guanzhuang Villa (贯庄). There lies Aotou Village (岙头村), which has more than 40 red adobe houses of strong local flavor. It's the cultural landscape unique to Qiandao Lake Grand Canyon that makes the canyon stand out. It is not only a place to appreciate mountains and rivers, but also a place to experience folk customs and traditions.

Experience the thrilling primitive taste

The canyon is more than 500 meters above sea level and features flat mountaintops and rich vegetation on mountainsides and mountaintop, including pine, moso bamboo, holly and other shrubs. There are many steep cliffs inside the valley, which are densely covered with gravels and with streams flowing through, forms many rapids and falls. Walking along the stream, you will see murmuring water disappearing and reappearing. There are a lot of　wormwood growing at the bottom of the valley, full of primitive taste. What Qiandao Lake Grand Canyon can offer is not only the chance to view steep cliffs, mountain creeks, waterfalls, streams, river rapids, karst caves but also a challenging hiking and exploration experience. The ever-changing scenery, mountains and water along the way, and the wonderful primitive artistic conception lead many travelers to linger on and forget to return.

Traffic guideline:

From Hangzhou, you can drive towards Qiandao Lake along Hangxinjing Expressway. After about two hours, you will reach the Qiandao Lake and another 40 minutes along Chunyang Road towards Dashu Town, you will get to the destination.

(Executive Editor: Yijun Chen)