湟川三峡 Huángchuān sān xiá is the stretch of the 连江 Lián jiāng that runs through the hills of 连州市 Liánzhōu shì, in the far north of 清远市 Qīngyuǎn shì, and it is the river scenery of the county. The 湟川 is the old name for this reach of the water, and the 三峡, the three gorges, are the sections where the river narrows and cuts between cliffs of green rock, with the hills rising on both sides and old stone villages and terraces standing above the bank. It is a landscape of water and cliff, seen from a boat, and it has been the county’s most painted view for centuries.
The gorges are short and close, the way river gorges are, and the pleasure is in the alternation of cliff and open water. The boat runs upstream from near 连州 town, and the banks close in and open out again as the hills allow, with the rock sheer and dark and hung with vegetation, and the water green and deep below. The cliffs carry inscriptions and small shrines cut into the stone, and the hills above the river have the terraces and the old villages of the county. It is a quiet, green, enclosed landscape rather than a dramatic one, and it is best seen slowly, from the deck of a boat.
The river has been a road for as long as the county has existed, and the gorges were the difficult passage on the route north, which is why the banks carry the marks they do. The 湟川 was a working waterway with boats hauling goods up and down it, and the villages above the bank lived off the traffic as much as the land. Today the boats are mostly for visitors, but the shape of the place is unchanged: a narrow river in a green country, with the hills coming down to the water and the terraces climbing away above.
What makes the 湟川三峡 worth the trip is the combination of the water and the country around it. The 连州地下河 is a short drive away, so the two can be done in a day – the cave in the morning and the river in the afternoon, or the other way round – and the terraces and villages above the bank are worth a stop. The county is high and green, and the river is at its best in the wet season, when the water is full and the cliffs are dark against the sky. It is not a hard day out; it is a slow one on the water, and that is the point.
Practicalities
Tickets. The gorge boat charges a fare, in the region of ¥60 to ¥120 for the round trip, depending on the length of the run and the season. The boat leaves from a quay near 连州 town, and there may be a small charge for the viewpoints above the bank.
Opening hours. The boats run roughly 08:30 to 17:00, with the last departure in the mid-afternoon and the service reduced in the wet season when the water is high. It is quietest in the morning.
Getting there. The 湟川三峡 is on the 连江 at 连州市, reached by road from the town centre in a few minutes and from 清远市 in about two hours. 连州站 Liánzhōu zhàn is the nearest station, from which you take a taxi to the boat quay.
Closing day. The boats run every day of the year with no weekly closing day, though the service is suspended when the river is in flood after heavy rain and on days when the water is too low for the passenger boats.
flowcloud would say that a river which has carried the trade of a county for a thousand years, and still runs green and quiet between its cliffs, is the oldest road anyone ever built in this country, and that the best way to see it is the way it was always seen, slowly and from a boat.
Getting there: 连州 town is the base, a few minutes by road to the boat quay, and 连州站 Liánzhōu zhàn is the rail gateway; from there a taxi to the 连江 riverfront is the way in.