春湾 Chūnwān is a small town in the hills of 阳春市 Yángchūn shì, the northern county of 阳江 Yángjiāng, and it is set among some of the strangest country in the province: a plain of orchards and rice fields out of which rise sheer limestone peaks and pillars, the 春湾石林 Chūnwān shí lín, the stone forest. A forest lodge here is a hillside house a little outside the town, with the karst peaks across the valley and the cool air of the 阳春 hills coming down the slope at night. It is a stay for people who want the country rather than the coast.
The lodges around 春湾 are small and quiet, and they are built for looking out. A typical one is a low house or a scatter of cottages on a wooded slope, with a terrace or a broad balcony facing the peaks, a dining room that cooks the county’s food, and rooms that are simple, clean and warm. The land around it is orchard and woodland, and the walk from the door takes you into groves and along field paths, with the rock towers standing over the plain the whole way. In the evening the birds are loud, the air cools, and the peaks go blue and then black against the sky.
The reason to stay up here rather than in the town is the access it gives to the countryside. 春湾 is the base for the stone forest and for the caves and the 龙宫岩 Lónggōng yán, the Dragon Palace rock, that lie among the same hills, and a lodge on the slope puts you at the edge of all of it before the day-trippers arrive. The town itself is small and has a market and a few eating houses, and 阳春 is the county of 春砂仁 chūn shā rén, the fragrant amomum, so the farmhouse kitchens here will cook the local amomum chicken. This is country for walking, eating and sleeping well.
A stay here is best measured in slow days. In the morning the mist sits below the peaks and the valley is quiet; through the day you walk the field paths or drive the few minutes to the stone forest and the caves; in the late afternoon you climb a little for the view back over the plain; and in the evening you eat what the county grows, in a dining room with the windows open. It is the opposite of a resort: no pool, no programme, nothing arranged, and the whole appeal is the landscape, the air and the food. Come for two nights in autumn, when the light is clear and the harvest is in.
What the Rooms Are Like
Expect a simple, clean room of fifteen to twenty-five square metres, a firm bed, air conditioning or a good heater depending on the season, and a small en-suite bathroom with a shower. The finish is homely rather than stylish, and the value is in the view and the quiet. Rooms with a balcony facing the peaks are the ones to ask for, and the mountain air is cool at night even in summer, so bring a layer. Wi-Fi can be weak, which is part of the point; there is usually a dining room serving the county’s cooking.
Practicalities
Price. A double at a 春湾 hillside lodge runs ¥180 to ¥400 a night in the shoulder season, and more over the October week and Chinese New Year. Rooms with the peak view cost a little more, and meals are often charged separately at a reasonable rate.
Address. The lodges are on the slopes around 春湾镇 Chūnwān zhèn in 阳春市, in the hills of the county north of 阳江 city, reached by road from the town in a few minutes. 阳春市 is on the rail line at 阳春站 Yángchūn zhàn.
Rooms. Ask for a room or a cottage with a balcony facing the karst peaks, and confirm whether the bathroom is private and whether there is heating for the cooler months. Check whether dinner is served at the lodge, because the town’s options are few and it is a drive; and ask the owner which paths and which of the caves are worth the day.
Getting there. From 阳春站 Yángchūn zhàn, a taxi to 春湾 takes about forty minutes; from 阳江 city the drive is about an hour and a half through the hills. A car is useful here, because the stone forest, the caves and the field paths are spread out around the town, and the lodges have parking.
Where to stay: the hillside lodges around 春湾镇 in 阳春市, reached by road from the town and by taxi from 阳春站. Book a room facing the peaks, arrange dinner at the lodge, and come in autumn for the clear light and the county’s amomum cooking.
flowcloud would say that a lodge on a quiet slope, with a plain of fields below and towers of limestone standing over it, asks nothing of a guest but to sit still and look, and that a place which makes looking out the whole of the entertainment has understood something the busy resorts have forgotten.