Three Hidden Waterfalls
三隐潭
It is an amazing natural landscape, split by three waterfalls arranged in tiers and is around a 25-minute-drive from Miaogaotai. The journey from the first waterfall to the third totals around 1,600 meters, through hundreds of stone steps. Each waterfall differs in style, some grand and some delicate.
The first waterfall, Shangyintan, is the grand one, which is 40 meters tall and its running water splashes loudly in all directions.
There is also a small temple near Shangyintan, covering 160 square meters, where there are three dragon kings (Chinese traditional gods for water and weather). People paid homage to each king for different wishes: The left king for good scores in exams, the middle for social stability and harvest and the right for good fortune.
A 20-minute walk and you arrive in Zhongyintan at the second waterfall. It features delicate scenery along with different forms of rocks and green plants. There is a pavilion near the waterfall and people can cross the pond under the waterfall by stepping through the stones.
Another walk of around 30 minutes will see you arrive in Xiayintan, for the third waterfall.
It features a misty ambience and a big stone in the pond below of about 10 square meters.
Near Xiayintan is a small railway station where people can take small trains to Qianzhangyan. The journey takes only seven minutes through a 3,118-meter-long railway.
Shanglianggang
商量岗
The last stop on the top of the mountain is Shanglianggang, a leisure resort with sports facilities for climbing, fishing, running and skiing.
It’s also a historical place with a mansion built by Chiang. It takes around 15 minutes to drive from Sanyintan to the resort.
Thanks to the excellent air on the top of the mountain, the resort is an ideal place for outdoor sports. Now is an ideal time to go and have fun skiing there. It is the only outdoor skiing place in Ningbo with artificial snow covering 16,000 square meters.
Chiang also built a mansion here for him and Soong May-ling, where they enjoyed their summer vacation. The mansion is still well preserved there.
How to get there:
Starting at the western Expressway station in Ningbo, drive on to Ningbo-Jinhua Expressway for about 30 minutes and exit at the eastern expressway station in Xikou Town. Then drive for 15 minutes along the S36 Road and then the S213 to arrive in Xuedou Mountain Scenic Area.
For tourists starting from Shanghai, driving takes a total of three and a half hours through Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge, Shenyang-Haikou Expressway and the same route as that from Ningbo’s western highway station to the mountain.
