If you’re looking for an active weekend getaway not far from Guangzhou, look no further than Qingyuan’s Gulong Gorge. Teenagers will love rafting on the wild waters and younger kids will enjoy the entertaining hike up to a beautiful waterfall.

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If you’re not familiar with Qingyuan, one of Guangzhou’s nearest neighbours, you should definitely give this ‘small’ (by Chinese standards) and quiet city, famous thanks to food, hiking and hot springs, a try. It takes less than an hour to drive there and only 30min by train from GZ East station! That’s way quicker than me trying to reach Panyu district from where I live:P

Some may say, there is nothing to do in Qingyuan city itself. I say, it depends on where you look and what you’re into. I actually really like smaller chinese cities, with their slow vibe, no traffic, no crowds, cheap beautiful hotels and local museums. I had written about Qingyuan in my post about Guangzhou’s neighbours, where I mentioned its nice riverside parks and a lovely, tranquil island but there’s so much more to see. Have a read, who knows, maybe one of the lesser known cities will become your new favourite place:)

Few stop in the city for longer than one or two nights though and that’s usually just to sleep there. On one hand, it is a bit of a shame as, based on my experience, even smaller cities have lots to offer but then, I can’t really blame tourist for not wanting to spend time in the city when they could be white water rafting instead! Now, I’m not an adrenaline-sports kind of person, but my husband tried this activity in Gulong Gorge and it is meant to be fantastic! If people’s crazy, excited screams are anything to go by then I believe him! Gulong gorge/Gulongxia (website in English here) has long been known as the No.1 spot in THE WORLD for the longest and highest white water rafting course but when I heard about going there, I wasn’t sure what my son, toddler at the time, and me, a non-swimmer, could do there.

Turns out, even without the wild waters, one can definitely have a good time there! Since the gorge is out in the countryside, duh, choice of hotels is limited and we didn’t want to waste time driving between our accommodation and the attraction thus avoiding the hotels in the city (as with any tourist spot, the key is to get there as early as possible!) so we chose the Gulong Hotel located at the entrance to this lovely spot.

This was the right decision because the hotel was nice, in a lovely area and within a 5min walk from the gorge’s gate. Rooms are styled like caves, quite cool. Full disclosure-right outside the hotel is a large car park and many stalls selling tat and snacks but that didn’t affect us at all and it’s nice and quiet on the sides. I would ask for a room facing the back of the hotel though if I was to stay there again, just to avoid any possible noise in the evening.

Bright and early, there we were, one of the first ones on the hiking path. Good news if you have toddlers-they’ll have no problem hiking the short trail! It was designed with kids in mind and so not only is it very easy in terms of terrain but there is also lots to see along the way!

To this day my son’s only memory of Gulong Gorge is a statue of a little angel having a wee. That and the blue cotton candy he tried there for the first time:P In his defense, he was about 3 at the time. Your kids are probably more sophisticated though and will appreciate the numerous animal-statues, fish tanks, educational information, beautiful environment and of course, the main attraction-the waterfall! To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how natural this waterfall is and there are plenty of fake flowers around but did it make it any less impressive and enjoyable? No! We loved the fact that we were able to walk behind the ‘water curtain’.

If you feel so inclined, you could carry on up to the glass bridge (longest in the world!), U-shaped skywalk, zip line and a special hand-shaped viewing platform. All looked fun but neither me nor my husband are big on heights so we stayed in the resting area and enjoyed the snacks we brought with us. If you go with teens, I imagine most would be very eager to go just there though!

I believe that since our visit, there are even more attractions up there now, most notably a Cliff Coaster, which sounds terrifying! Throughout our walk back down, we could hear the screams of those in the rafts so I have no doubt that the white water rafting must be a truly exhilarating experience. We could catch glimpses of the adventure-seekers, too, and they certainly looked like they were having the time of their lives!

I have no doubt that you will enjoy Gulong Gorge regardless of wether you choose to go drifting or not. It’s a family-friendly place, surrounded by beautiful nature, with nice countryside food around. Perhaps next time we will ‘take the plunge’ too:)

Have you tried white water rafting or other high-adrenaline sports in or around Guangzhou?

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Info:

Address: Gu long xia Scenic Area, Sankeng Beach,Qingxin district, Qingyuan

Opening times: Waterfall/glass bridge: 9am-16:00, every day. Rafting Mon-Fri (13-15), Saturday (12-17). Tickets must be issues before 1pm to be able to participate.

Getting there: Self-driving is the only option, really, and once you get closer, the drive is really nice. I imagine that if you really wanted to take public transport, it’d be a case of taking a train to Qingyuan (high speed train station is located a fair way away from the city centre), then Didi to your hotel and, unless you stay at the Gulong Hotel, then another taxi ride to the attraction. It’s hard to say how easy it’d be to get a Didi back.

Accommodation: If you wish to see more of Qingyuan, I highly recommend staying at the Sheraton Lion Lake Resort, Mayland Resort or KB Hotel. We have been in all 3 and all are great!

Parking: On site, paid.

Price: Starting at 48rmb for what I described above, with prices going up the more attractions you wish to enjoy! Note that to go drifting, kids must be at least 6 years old. Trip.com has a list of all prices but you can purchase tickets right there, at the entrance, just be prepared for queues if going on a weekend. Most go there for drifting so be aware that there might be quite a lot of people also enjoying the wild waters at the same time as you.

Food: There is a restaurant next to the hotel, where typical Chinese breakfast is served, and snack stalls outside but you’ll get much more choice of food and a nicer environment if you walk down the main road towards the local restaurants. We tried the one nearest to the hotel and the food was great. No English spoken or on the menus so make sure you have your apps ready if you don’t read Chinese.

Facilities: There are toilets along the hiking path. The path itself is not suitable for prams as it is mostly stairs.

Age: All!

Tips:

-I haven’t been there but I’m told there are three other areas great for white water rafting near Qingyuan: Huangtengxia (Huangteng Gorge), Xuanzhen Gorge and Bijiashan (Bijia Mountain), which apparently also has an awesome water park for kids! They might be a better option (less busy) than Gulong Gorge if drifting is the only thing you wish to do.