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AmoyMagic--Guide to Xiamen & Fujian
Copyright 2001-8 Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Order Books Xiamenguide Forum
Butterfly Valley (Tong'an)
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Dedicated Tong'an Page Tong'an PicsDirections to Butterfly Valley
Tong’an Butterfly Valley (Húdiégǔ 同安蝴蝶谷) This is a delightful place to spend a day—and remote, so relatively unfrequented. Mr. Yè Jīnpū (叶金铺) who runs an orchard at the base of the mountains, happened upon butterfly valley, which locals call “Stone Ship Pit” (Shíchuán Kēng石船坑). A few butterflies flew out of the trees about 200 meters up a narrow trail that he was exploring. The further he went, the more rugged and scenic the trail, and the more butterflies of all colors—blue, green, yellow, white, black, purple. Within 200m he saw over 1000 butterflies of at least 10 kinds, and 10 connecting waterfalls. A short walk to the west led to 22 pools, 9 more falls (one was 60m in height), and an 80m natural stairway. Location: Tīngxī District, Rěnyú Village (Tīngxī Zhèn Rěnshē Cūn 汀溪镇荏畲村).

Getting There: #618 bus to Tóng’ān, Little West Gate (Xiǎo Xīmén 同安小西门). Then rent a taxi or drive (only after reading “Darwinian Driving”).

Driving Directions: Locals say you need a guide but here’s how to drive there.
From Tóng’ān City, follow the brown “SPA” signs to Trithorn Hot Springs Re-sort about 6km. north. Turn left on the road just after the bridge and just before the hill (about 200m. before Trithorn exit). After 1km., take the right fork towards Xīyuán Village (西源). Go 8.1km to Rěnshē Village (荏畲村). Turn down the narrow concrete road to the right (just past two yellow buildings). After 0.6km, this becomes a dirt road for 1.3 km. At the dead end, ascend the steep dirt steps to the right, turn left at the small stone canal, and follow this route until you’ve had enough of pools, falls, butterflies and birds (During our relatively short trek we saw some skittish yellow wagtails, red-whiskered bulbuls, and some flocks of noisy little green Japanese white eyes.
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