China, Seen
Through Beauty
Documentary photograph by Windmemories, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.Source / rightsWikimedia Commons · explicit-license

Nanping City

East China · Fujian

Wuyi Mountains, Nine Bends of Stream

Danxia cliffs over a nine-bend stream, the birthplace of black tea and oolong

Red danxia cliffs rise straight out of a stream that bends nine times past them, rafts poled by barefoot boatmen drift the whole course in ninety minutes, and the rock above the banks grows the original tea bushes of oolong.

  • danxia cliff
  • bamboo raft
  • rock tea
Spring

Mist on the bends

Spring mist sits between the cliffs; the raft slides through layers of it bend by bend.

Open the full entryRead the travel note

021 · travel note

Wuyi Mountains, Nine Bends of Stream

City anchorNanping City

Best time
March-May for mist, September-November for tea season and clear water.
Stay
One to two days

A way throughDay one: nine-bend raft plus Sky-Roar peak. Day two: Da Hong Pao tea valley and the cliff-hanging boat coffins at Guanyin gorge.

On the wayHigh-speed rail reaches Wuyishan from Fuzhou or Shanghai; the scenic area shuttle runs from the station area.

With respectThe stream is a protected waterway: no swimming from rafts, and the tea terraces on the rocks are working farms — look, do not climb.

Jade Peak rising above the Nine-Bend Stream at Wuyi, its reflection flat in the green water.Real scene

Seasonal experience

A weekday early morning

Raft the nine bends downstream

Board the bamboo raft at the top of the stream at opening, sit back for ninety minutes while the boatman poles through all nine bends, and watch each cliff rearrange itself against the last — the climb back up Sky-Roar peak afterwards is optional and worth it.

Why now
The raft view is the canonical view: every classical painting of these cliffs was composed from exactly this water level.
Time needed
2 hours for the raft, full day with climbs
Plan before you go
Raft tickets sell out on weekends and holidays; boats run water-level dependent, and life jackets are worn throughout.
Photo: Windmemories / Wikimedia Commons
Official tourismNanping Municipal People's Government