PreeChina · City Guide
Chuzhou
Where Ouyang Xiu wrote the most celebrated pavilion essay in Chinese literature, the forested ridges of Langya Mountain shelter ancient springs and Song Dynasty pavilions, and the Huai River plain’s cultural depth rewards the traveler who looks beyond the obvious.
At a Glance
Chuzhou Quick Facts
Why Chuzhou
Why Visit Chuzhou?
Chuzhou is one of those Chinese cities whose literary fame is vastly greater than its tourist footfall — known to every educated Chinese person through Ouyang Xiu’s “Record of the Old Drunkard’s Pavilion” (Zuiweng Ting Ji), one of the most celebrated prose works of the Song Dynasty, but visited by relatively few travelers who have not grown up learning the essay by heart. The Zuiweng Pavilion on Langya Mountain — where Ouyang Xiu served as governor from 1045 to 1048 and wrote the essay that made both the pavilion and the city immortal in Chinese literary consciousness — is the primary pilgrimage destination for Chinese readers of classical literature.
Langya Mountain itself is a pleasant forested mountain of modest height with ancient springs, clear streams, and forest trails that make it one of the most agreeable mountain parks in northern Anhui — the combination of natural beauty and literary heritage giving it a resonance that the landscape alone would not fully justify. The Langya Spring (琅琊泉) that Ouyang Xiu drank from and praised in his essay still flows; tasting the water is a small but specifically literary pleasure available only here.
Chuzhou also holds significance as the birthplace of Zhu Yuanzhang — the peasant rebel who founded the Ming Dynasty — and the city’s Ming heritage, combined with its proximity to Nanjing (the early Ming capital) and its location on the historic route between the Yangtze Delta and northern China, give it a historical dimension beyond the literary. For international travelers arriving from Nanjing or Hefei, Chuzhou makes an excellent half-day or full-day cultural excursion.
Top Attractions
Best Attractions in Chuzhou
Zuiweng Pavilion — Langya Mountain (醉翁亭·琅琊山)
The most literarily significant pavilion in Chinese history, the Zuiweng Pavilion (“Old Drunkard’s Pavilion”) was built on Langya Mountain during the Song Dynasty by the monk Zhiyian at the request of Ouyang Xiu, who served as governor of Chuzhou from 1045 and immortalized both the pavilion and the mountain in his celebrated “Record of the Old Drunkard’s Pavilion” — a prose work that has been memorized by Chinese students for a thousand years. The pavilion, rebuilt several times but always on the original site, sits within a forest of ancient trees above the Langya Spring, approached by a stone path that passes through the mountain’s most beautiful scenery. The essay’s most famous line — “The joy of the mountains and rivers is in their mountains and rivers, and yet the joy is truly in the heart” — is carved on a stone stele in the pavilion.
Langya Mountain National Scenic Area (琅琊山国家森林公园)
The forested mountain that frames the Zuiweng Pavilion is itself a national-level scenic area of genuine natural beauty — a landscape of ancient deciduous forest, clear mountain springs, rocky streams, and Buddhist temples distributed across a range of hills that reach 317 meters. The Langya Spring, which Ouyang Xiu praised in his essay and which still flows cold and clear, is the most historically loaded of the mountain’s natural features. The forest is particularly fine in spring (when wildflowers bloom along the paths) and autumn (when the deciduous canopy turns gold and amber), and the gentle terrain makes the mountain accessible to visitors of all fitness levels.
Nü Mountain Scenic Area (女山湖风景区)
Nü Mountain Lake (Nüshan Lake) in Mingguang County, eastern Chuzhou prefecture, is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Anhui Province — a shallow, reed-fringed lake of considerable ecological value that supports important waterbird populations and produces freshwater fish of excellent quality. The lake’s scenic area combines water scenery, wetland ecology, and the low hills that give the lake its name in a landscape that represents the northern Anhui plain at its most naturally beautiful. The lake is at its finest in spring (when waterfowl are nesting in the reed beds) and autumn (when the water level drops to reveal scenic mudflats and the distant hills emerge more clearly).
Fengyang — Ming Dynasty Birthplace (凤阳·明中都)
Fengyang County in central Chuzhou prefecture was the birthplace of Zhu Yuanzhang — the peasant who became the Hongwu Emperor and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368 — and the site of his ambitious but never-completed capital city, Zhongdu. The ruins of Zhongdu’s imperial palace complex, built between 1369 and 1375 before Zhu Yuanzhang abandoned the project in favor of Nanjing, preserve some of the most significant Ming imperial architecture in existence: the Zhongdu Gate towers (rebuilt) and the original stone base courses of the palace walls survive at a scale that reveals the imperial ambition behind the project. The Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Fengyang town also survive from the Ming period.
Eat Like a Local
Chuzhou Food You Should Try
Chuzhou Smelly Tofu (滁州臭豆腐)
Chuzhou’s most beloved street food and a fermented tofu tradition that predates most of China’s better-known versions: firm tofu fermented in a brine of herbs, salt, and fermented vegetable liquor until the exterior develops its characteristic pungent aroma, then deep-fried until the outside crisps while the interior remains silky and mild. Eaten with chili sauce and fresh coriander on a wooden skewer, the Chuzhou version has a slightly more complex fermentation flavor than the famous Changsha or Nanjing equivalents — a reflection of the local brine recipe that each vendor guards carefully. Found at every night market and street stall in the city from evening until late.
Nü Mountain Lake Fish (女山湖鱼)
The freshwater fish of Nü Mountain Lake — carp, silver carp, and the prized mandarin fish (guiyu) — are raised in a clean, shallow lake fed by natural springs and considered among the finest freshwater fish in northern Anhui. Braised whole in a sauce of local rice wine, soy, ginger, and Sichuan pepper, or simply steamed with scallion and sesame oil, the Nü Mountain Lake fish appears on every local restaurant table and is the most distinctively Chuzhou ingredient available. The mandarin fish (guiyu) in particular — a predatory freshwater species of exceptional flavor — is the most prestigious and most expensive fish in the local repertoire.
Chuzhou Chrysanthemum Tea (滁菊)
Chuzhou produces one of China’s four great chrysanthemum varieties — the Chu Ju (滁菊), a small white chrysanthemum with yellow center grown in the fields around Quanjiao County whose flavor profile is considered by connoisseurs to be the most delicate and most aromatic of the four great chrysanthemum types. Brewed as a tea and drunk clear, without milk or sugar, the Chu Ju produces a golden, slightly sweet, faintly floral infusion that Chinese medicine considers cooling and eye-brightening. Buying a small packet of dried Chu Ju at the Langya Mountain gift shops and brewing it at your hotel is the most distinctively Chuzhou beverage experience available.
Chuzhou Flat Rice Cake (滁州大救驾)
One of Chuzhou’s most storied local foods, the “Great Rescue” rice cake (dacuijia) takes its name from a legend that Zhu Yuanzhang — the future Ming Emperor, then still a rebel leader — was saved from starvation by a villager who fed him this glutinous rice cake during his campaigns in the Chuzhou area. The cake: glutinous rice flour mixed with osmanthus sugar, sesame, and lard, shaped into small rounds and steamed until translucent and chewy. Sweet, fragrant with osmanthus, and deeply satisfying, it is available at specialty food shops throughout the city and makes an excellent souvenir from the birthplace of the Ming Dynasty.
Immersive Experiences
Cultural Experiences in Chuzhou
Zuiweng Pavilion Literary Pilgrimage
Climb to the Zuiweng Pavilion in morning mist — the most literarily significant pavilion in Chinese history, where Ouyang Xiu wrote the essay memorized by every Chinese student for a thousand years.
Drink from Langya Spring
Taste the Langya Spring water that Ouyang Xiu praised in his 1046 essay — the same spring, the same mountain, a small literary pleasure available only at this source and nowhere else.
Zhongdu Ming Ruins Walk
Walk the abandoned imperial palace foundations at Fengyang — the grandiose capital that Zhu Yuanzhang built then abandoned, leaving behind stone base courses that reveal a Ming ambition history interrupted.
Langya Autumn Forest Walk
Walk the ancient forest trails of Langya Mountain as the deciduous canopy turns gold in October — the same paths Ouyang Xiu walked, in a forest that has provided shade for a thousand years of visitors.
Chuzhou Night Market
Walk the evening food market for smelly tofu on skewers, osmanthus rice cake, and a cup of fresh-brewed Chu Ju chrysanthemum tea — the honest street food culture of a city that has fed travelers for a thousand years.
Trip Planning
Best Time to Visit Chuzhou
| Season | Highlights | Weather |
|---|---|---|
| 🌸 Spring (Mar–May) |
Langya Mountain wildflowers and fresh green forest; Zuiweng Pavilion most atmospheric in spring mist; chrysanthemum planting season visible in the fields; Nü Mountain Lake birdlife most active; most pleasant temperatures of the year | 8–22 °C (46–72 °F). Mild and occasionally rainy. Light layers. Spring on Langya Mountain is serene and beautiful — morning mist in the forest creates the most atmospheric conditions for visiting the pavilion. |
| ☀️ Summer (Jun–Aug) |
Langya Mountain forest most lush; Nü Mountain Lake at full level; lotus season on the lake; osmanthus beginning to bud; night market culture most lively; smelly tofu best in summer heat; Fengyang ruins most accessible | 24–34 °C (75–93 °F). Hot and humid. Morning visits to Langya Mountain recommended; the forest provides shade. Afternoons better spent at air-conditioned indoor cultural sites or the lake. |
| 🍂 Autumn (Sep–Nov) |
Best overall season; Langya Mountain autumn foliage (October–November); chrysanthemum harvest season — Chu Ju at peak; Nü Mountain Lake most beautiful; Fengyang ruins most atmospheric in clear autumn light; perfect hiking temperatures | 10–24 °C (50–75 °F). Crisp and clear. The finest season for Langya Mountain and for all outdoor activities. The chrysanthemum harvest in October gives the Quanjiao fields a golden character that adds to the seasonal beauty. |
| ❄️ Winter (Dec–Feb) |
Langya Mountain quiet and occasionally snow-dusted — the forest in winter silence is beautiful; Fengyang ruins most solitary; hot Chuzhou food most warming; chrysanthemum tea season; fewest visitors of the year | 0–10 °C (32–50 °F). Cool to cold. Light to medium winter layers. Chuzhou winters are mild compared to the north — occasional light snow on Langya Mountain creates a beautiful scene without dangerous cold. |
Travel with Confidence
Why Choose PreeChina
Local Expert Guides
Our Chuzhou specialists provide Langya Mountain visits with the literary context that transforms the Zuiweng Pavilion from a pleasant building into a profound encounter with Chinese literary culture, and know the smelly tofu vendor whose recipe is genuinely old.
Flexible Itineraries
Chuzhou works perfectly as a half-day or full-day excursion from Nanjing (60 km) or Hefei (70 km), or as a stop on a broader Anhui itinerary combining Chuzhou, Huainan, and the historic cities of the Huai River valley.
24/7 English Support
From first inquiry to final farewell, our English-speaking team is always available to assist, advise, and troubleshoot — before, during, and after your Chuzhou journey.
Private Transportation
Comfortable vehicles for Nanjing or Hefei transfers to Chuzhou, and for combining Langya Mountain, the Fengyang Ming ruins (60 km east), and Nü Mountain Lake (80 km east) in a single comfortable day excursion.
Authentic Experiences
We arrange Langya Mountain literary guided walks with classical text readings, Langya Spring tastings, Zhongdu Ming ruins visits with historian commentary, chrysanthemum field visits in October, and Chuzhou night market food tours.
Plan Your Customized Trip to Chuzhou
Tell us your interests, travel dates, and preferences, and our local Chuzhou experts will design a personalized China journey — just for you.
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