Longhushan (Mount Longhu): A Birthplace of Taoism, Red Cliffs & a Bamboo-Raft River

Longhushan, a cradle of Taoism near Yingtan: dramatic Danxia red cliffs, a bamboo-raft drift past 2,600-year-old cliff coffins, and how to get there from Nanchang.

By Chen · Hello Nanchang · Last updated June 15, 2026

Longhushan, Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, China · 1–2 days; best in spring & autumn; raft drift runs in daytime

Why Longhushan?

Longhushan — "Dragon-Tiger Mountain" — is one of those places that quietly ticks an absurd number of boxes: a UNESCO World Heritage site, a Global Geopark, a top-tier (5A) Chinese scenic area, and a birthplace of Taoism, China's home-grown religion. It sits just south of the city of Yingtan in eastern Jiangxi, an easy hop from Nanchang. The pull is a rare combination: striking natural scenery and deep cultural history in the same compact park. You drift down a clear river on a bamboo raft, past flame-coloured sandstone cliffs, while looking up at 2,600-year-old coffins wedged into the rock face — and an hour later you're walking through an ancient Taoist temple town. It's one of Jiangxi's most rewarding day-or-two trips, and far less crowded with foreign visitors than the big-name mountains.

The three things Longhushan is known for

Danxia landform (red-cliff scenery). "Danxia" is a type of dramatic landscape — rust-red sandstone weathered into cliffs, pillars and rounded domes. Longhushan's is some of China's finest, and gliding through it at water level on a raft is the classic way to see it.
A cradle of Taoism. By tradition, Zhang Daoling — the founder of the Way of the Celestial Masters, an early organised form of Taoism — practised and "refined his elixir" here in the Eastern Han dynasty nearly 1,900 years ago. The legend that a dragon and a tiger appeared when the elixir was complete gives the mountain its name. His successors, the hereditary "Celestial Masters," were based here for centuries, which makes this one of Taoism's most important ancestral sites.
The cliff coffins (hanging coffins). High on the cliffs above the Luxi River sit wooden coffins of the ancient Yue people, some around 2,600 years old. How they were hoisted onto sheer rock faces with Bronze-Age technology is still debated — and the park stages a regular re-enactment that "raises" a replica coffin up the cliff to show one theory. Genuinely fascinating, and visible from the raft.

Longhushan's Danxia landform — rust-red sandstone cliffs and rounded domes rising above green water and forest

How to get there from Nanchang (the key question)

This is one of the easiest day trips in the province — Longhushan is barely half an hour from Nanchang by bullet train.

Take the high-speed train to Yingtan North (鹰潭北 / Yingtanbei). Trains from Nanchang are extremely frequent (dozens a day) and the fastest take only around 35 minutes; second class is cheap (a few dollars). Yingtan sits on the busy Shanghai–Kunming high-speed line, so connections are excellent.
From the station to the park. The scenic area is about 20 km south of Yingtan. The simplest route from Yingtan North is a city bus to the older Yingtan Railway Station, then the dedicated tourist bus K2 out to the Longhushan visitor centre — roughly a 30-minute ride, only a few yuan, running about every 30 minutes through the day. A taxi or Didi straight from Yingtan North is faster and still inexpensive if you'd rather not change buses.

Book trains on 12306.cn or via Trip.com, and bring your passport for the gate. Note there are two Yingtan stations — the high-speed trains use Yingtan North, so check your ticket.

Tickets, the bamboo raft & getting around

Longhushan is large and spread out, so as with most big Chinese parks you pay for entry plus an internal sightseeing bus, and the famous bamboo-raft drift is usually a separate add-on. Roughly how it works (confirm current rates when you book, as they shift with season and packages):

Entrance ticket: in the region of ¥120 per adult.
Sightseeing bus: a full-area pass is around ¥50 (single hops about ¥10), and it's effectively essential for moving between the scattered sites.
Luxi River bamboo-raft drift (筏游泸溪河): the signature experience — a roughly 10 km, ~1.5-hour float downstream past the Danxia cliffs and the hanging-coffin sites. Often sold as part of a combined ticket.
Combined ticket: the common all-in option (entrance + sightseeing bus + raft) runs around ¥220 per adult, with reduced rates for seniors and minors and free entry for young children. There's usually also a cheaper entrance-plus-bus package if you skip the raft.

The park generally opens around 8:00–8:30 in the morning with last admission in the late afternoon (slightly different summer and winter hours), and the raft drift runs in daylight — so start early to fit everything in.

A bamboo raft drifting down the Luxi River at Longhushan, past the red Danxia cliffs

What to see & do

Drift the Luxi River. Do this first if you can. The raft glides past the best of the red cliffs and directly below the cliff-coffin caves — the single most memorable thing here.
Watch the cliff-coffin "hoisting" performance. Timed shows re-enact raising a coffin up the rock face; check the day's schedule on arrival.
Shangqing Ancient Town (上清古镇) & the Celestial Masters' Mansion (天师府). A riverside old town that's been a Taoist centre for centuries, with the sprawling former residence of the hereditary Celestial Masters — quiet lanes, temples and old architecture. The cultural heart of the visit.
Walk among the Danxia formations. Trails and viewpoints let you see the sandstone domes and pillars up close, away from the river.

Ancient wooden cliff coffins (hanging coffins) of the Yue people wedged high in the rock face above the Luxi River at Longhushan

How long to stay & best time to visit

Because the train is so quick, plenty of people do Longhushan as a long day trip from Nanchang: early train out, raft plus the main sites, back for dinner. To take it slowly — adding Shangqing town and the Danxia trails without clock-watching — give it one night, staying near the park or in Shangqing.

Spring & autumn are ideal: comfortable temperatures, clearer skies and the cliffs at their most photogenic. Spring brings green hills and blossom.
Summer is hot and humid (and the river is busy), though the morning raft is refreshing; winter is cool and quiet with reduced hours.
Whenever you go, a dry, low-mist day shows the red cliffs at their best — try to avoid heavy rain.

Where to stay

Shangqing Ancient Town: the atmospheric choice — small hotels, guesthouses and Taoist-themed stays inside the old riverside town, walkable to the Celestial Masters' Mansion.
Near the visitor centre: more standard hotels and family-run homestays close to the park gate, convenient for an early start on the raft.
Yingtan city: if you only want a quick base before moving on, the city has plenty of ordinary business hotels near the stations.

Quick tips before you go

Take the high-speed train to Yingtan North (鹰潭北) — not the old Yingtan station — and confirm it on your ticket.
Buy the combined ticket if you want the raft; do the raft drift early before it gets busy.
Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive; small counters here won't take foreign cards.
Bring sun protection and a hat — the raft and clifftop viewpoints are exposed.
It pairs well on a longer eastern-Jiangxi loop with Sanqingshan and Wuyuan / Jingdezhen further up the line — see our other Jiangxi destination guides.

Images: "Longhushan 9269" and "Longhushan 9273" by Zhangzhugang (CC BY-SA 4.0); "Luxi2" (bamboo raft on the Luxi River) and "Flyingcoffins" (the cliff coffins) by User:Neon (CC BY-SA 3.0) — all via Wikimedia Commons.

Last verified: 2026-05. Train times, fares, ticket prices, bamboo-raft and sightseeing-bus fees and opening hours change often — please double-check official sources before you travel.

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