Dr. Mark Nan Tu

Lianzhou (simplified Chinese: 连州; traditional Chinese: 連州; pinyin: Liánzhōu), is a county-level city of northern Guangdong province, China, bordering Hunan to the north. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Qingyuan (清远).

Although Lianzhou has a long history for over 4000 years, there are few historical remains except the Jingfu Mountain Daoist temple (静福山道教福地) which can be traced back to Nanbei (南北) Dynasty. The rest of the scenery sites are newly developed, such as Huangchuan Three Gorges (煌川三峡), Underground River （连州地下河）, Tanling Lake (潭岭天湖), Grand Dongshan Hot Spring (大东山温泉).

A typical weekend getaway starts from late Friday night driving to Lianzhou (连州), spend the Friday and Saturday night in Lianzhou and return to origin on Sunday afternoon.

Day 1: Underground River （连州地下河）and Three Gorges (煌川三峡)
Underground River （连州地下河）is a giant natural limestone cave with an underground river. You will follow the tour guide through the neon lighted cave on foot over 45 minutes. You will ride back in a human powered boat to the entrance. I feel it is more interesting than the caves in Yangshuo 阳朔。 150RMB, 2 hours

Huangchuan Three Gorges (煌川三峡) is on the Lian river. There are dense forest and small water falls on the cliffs along the river. 30RMB(if you also tour the Underground river at full price) or 60RMB, 1 hour boat tour.

Day 2: Tanling Lake (潭岭天湖) is a reservoir about 12 square kilometers in size. The best season to go is in the winter. The flat water surface covered by the dense frog may look like scene from a scary movie. There is hardly any thing to do there in all other seasons except for photography. Free, 1 hour.

Jingfu Mountain Daoist temple (静福山道教福地) is a small temple. The new statues of Taoist greats sit in the rebuild small temple. 22 RMB, 30 min. It is very quite and green. I wish they can offer a tea house.

Day 3: If you have one more day, on your way back to Guangzhou , Shenzhen or Hongkong, you can go to Yangshan (阳山) which offers the historical part of the old town and the Guiling (桂林) style scenery. It is much less developed than Guiling with far less travelled. You will find the scene that is all original. Nothing touristy. (Guiling in the 80s)

Transportation:
Car: Lianzhou is 230 kilometers from Guangzhou and about 3-hour drive along the National Highway 107.
Bus: Lianzhou is connected to all major cities in Guangdong, such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen or even cities in Hunan such as Changsha (长沙). However, there is no public bus to go to the major attractions listed above. Since they are 20-50 km away from the city, taxi fare can be expensive.
In other words, go there with your own car or join a tour group is better option.

Food: There are plenty of restrauants in Lianzhou which serves Guangdong style dishes. You shall try Qingyuan chichen (清远鸡) which is the most famous local dish.

This restrauant claims to be the original Qingyuan chicken (清远鸡) in Qingyuan. Not far from the national highway. For exact location, please visit my flickr picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drnantu/7975690265/in/set-72157631509780433 and see the map on the upper right corner.
I can’t tell if it is original but was tasty and clean.

Hotels:
There are a few 3 star hotels in Lianzhou (连州).
http://hotel.elong.com/business_district/Lianzhou-Qingyuan-0A202703C2027-hotels/
I stayed in 连州市花园假日酒店（清远）http://hotel.elong.com/Garden_Holiday_Hotel_Lianzhou-02027008-hotel/
which offers buffee breakfast, a large and clean room and the best view of the Lian River

A typical weekend getaway from Guangzhou to Lianzhou
1: High way toll: 400RMB
2: Gas: 800RMB
3: Two nights in the hotel: 500RMB
4: Entrance fee: 200RMB/person
5: Food: 100RMB/day/person

For more pictures:　http://www.flickr.com/photos/drnantu/sets/72157631509061743/