It's said: daylight is the hyperactivity of corporeal body,

Whereas nighttime belongs to the serenity of soul.

When heaven lowers its curtain,

Submerging all its mysteries into swamp of stars.

Only summertime radiates,

With the colors from a Monet painting

On the blanketing azure clouds

By the setting golden orbit.

Only summertime grants the courtesy of a pacific clear starry night

Concealing earthly pleasures under its dark cloak,

Yet revealing glittering constellations from beyond.

From hilltops, on the sea, in islands …

Why not follow me

On the trip towards its utmost beauty!

Yongjia∙Nanxi River

Live in a picturesque scenery

Soothing water, whimsical rocks, dotting waterfalls, ancient villages and hospitable forests, the Nanxi River flows through and rolls them up into a outstretching scroll of 3-dimensional fresco, where the spectrum of cultures — one devoted to mother Nature, one from the historic villages, one stands for the traditional ideal of Chinese intellectuals and one runs deep into the concept of genealogy — all intermingle into a strata of harmony and diversity.

When darkness unfolds, an egret glides under rays of moonlight seeping through clouds and prints its image on the crystal-clear water surface of Nanxi River, undisturbed by the quiet wind. Pick an inn suiting your taste and immerse yourself in this infinite sanctuary, watching the fumes from villages afar, listening to the humming cicadas around you, enjoy this intoxicating solitude with the company of your loved one, by a moon river. What a enviable romance!

Drive route: Wenzhou downtown — S26 ZhuYong Freeway towards Yongjia direction — off at GuMiao Exit — JiuZhang Bridge — Nanxi River Resort

Cangnan∙ Yuliao Beach

A dreamland at first sight

If you ever travel to the Cangnan County, the place you can't afford to miss is the vastest and smoothest beach on the whole continental shelf along the southeast China sea — the great Yuliao Beach. Hugged by green mountains behind, the beach which elongates over a thousand meters along the coastline faces an immense haven guarded by a sprinkle of islets. It’s life in its simplest and easiest form wrapped up in rosy clouds above a tranquil sea.

When putting on her night gown, the Yuliao beach shows what bewitchment she has reserved under the splendid sunshine. As the sun retreats back to his throne under the clouds, the ocean and the sky becomes welded into a giant canvas, against which the starry belt is painted with Monet's brush — a masterpiece of unspeakable beauty.

Drive route: G15 ShenHai (YongTaiWen) freeway — off at GuanMei Exit — 78 Provincial Highway — YuLiao Road — LongKui Road — the YuLiao Beach

Yueqing∙Mount Ling in the Yandang Range

The only nighttime mountain tour in China

Those been to Mount Ling after nightfall would have inundated you with descriptions of the peculiar savor from its vagueness. A folksong from the mountain area which verses: "the bull sleeps by the silent peak, the lovers cuddle under the luminous moon, the child peek on the sly, the grandma turns away in shy.", summarizes all scenic views in the most succinct language.

As each time the moon climbs up the arc dragging the black cloth behind her covering all majestic mountains with a veil of mystery, their outlines are blurred with diffusing darkness, yet their shape sharpened into figures in vivid imaginations. It is by ambiguity can nature be perceived with pure instinct, its poetry, its artistry, its fantasy and its dream crash on you silently but constantly — this is where the heaven whispers into your ear about an epiphany.

Drive route: Wenzhou Downtown — G15 ShengHai Freeway (HangZhou direction) — off at YanDangShanHuTong Exit — JingFu Road — SongXi Road — BaiFu Road — the YanDang Mountain

Pingyang County∙Nanji Archipelago

Clouds, Moon, and Stars to reach out for

The Nanji Archipelago lies on the southeastern sea off the Zhejiang Province, dubbed "the kingdom of shellfish and alga" and "a blue ranch", the fabulous nature featured with precipices on the islands win it a place in the ten most beautiful islands in China, assessed by the famed journal Chinese National Geography.

It's sapphire-blue ocean and flour-white beach in sunlight, and it's also comforting breeze and clapping wave at night, simply by raising your head can you appreciate the celestials, so boldly shining, obstructed by no more. You can bet your apprehensions and anxieties will dissipate to the last bit in the arms of nature. This is not the jungle of concrete and steel, this is an Eden untouched by city lights thus preserving its pristine purity and beauty.

Drive route: Wenzhou Downtown — G15 ShenHai Freeway — off at PingYang Exit — AoJiang Town AoJiang Port Passengers Pier — Fast Ferry to the NanJi Dork

Ruian County∙Mount Jinji

The Celestial Autography — Star Trails

Mount Jinji, formerly named Mount Jinzi, aka Mount Jingzhi, elevation at 1321m and appellation of "little Mount Huang"(a famous mountain bearing historic and cultural significance in China), is located to the northwest of  Heshangyang village in Ruian City Guifeng Precinct. Not only abundant in intimidating peaks, terrific sceneries, unfathomable valleys and a tumbling sea of clouds, but also is it touched by the relics of the revolutionary campaigns raged through the area in the near Chinese history.

Photographed by Chen Yike from Chinese National Geography

Standing at the summit and casting your sight into the horizon, the glitzy starry night won’t be the only thing there to astonish you, the enchanting cloud sea rolling at your feet, also the exciting moment of watching the sunrise, even the insatiable coveting of an astronomy enthusiast will be granted sure gratification from the innumerable constellations to be recognized and the fascinating milky way if lucky enough.

Drive route: Wenzhou Downtown — G15 ShenHai Freeway Ruian direction — off at FeiYun Exit — the new 56 Provincial Highway — S230 Provincial Highway — RuiFeng Road — AoHe Road — the mountaintop of Mount Jinji

Dongtou County∙Zhuyu Island

Hold the stellar lights into your arms

The Zhuyu Island is 3.5km to the east of the Dongtou Island(the Dongtou County), though an uninhabited island, it's now a floating hotspot of recreational activities frequented by the outdoors lovers in Wenzhou. A 4500sqm natural lawn occupying one tenth of the whole island is called "the No.1 lawn on sea".

On this solitary isle in the middle of the vast blue, we can sit in a brightly colored tent listening to the waves singing to our good feeling. Let us watch the sails pass by, the sea birds soar, the reefs protrude and the sun rise and set. Let the sight of strewing tents in between the boundaryless cosmos and the ocean amaze you out of your mind.

Drive route: Wenzhou Downtown — Airport Avenue — LingKun Bridge — the Northern LingNi Dam — the Five Islands-Chained Bridge — DongTou

Wencheng County∙Mount Yue Lao

Eternal vow of love officiated by stars

Named after the mythological love god Yue Lao (the Moon Elder), Mount Yuelao is the only mountain resort themed with "love". It's a natural oxygen generator overflown with negative ions, and whoever sets foot on it is destined to be assimilated into the pervasive romantic air fused by a series of love-centric sites from the love boat, wedding dress gallery, and so on to the temple of Yue Lao.

"in summer night, the sky is densely adorned with glittering stars, like a silver river paved with granules of sands lying on the slate heaven."  What the writer Yang Mo described is a specialty here in Mount Yuelao. What is granted here after nightfall is a sky full of dazzling starry lights at a raise of head, a dreamy sight so treasurable that even blink becomes a waste.

Drive route: Wenzhou Downtown — G15 ShenHai Freeway FuJian direction — off at FeiYun Exit — S330 Provincial Highway — 56 Provincial Highway — ShiYang Tree Farm

Follow us into a night in summer

Over the hills and across the water

A trip convoyed by the stars over you

A panacea to the heart’s yearning

Each second makes

An addition to an inexhaustible memory

Translated by Ni Zang