East China · Zhejiang · Tonglu, Hangzhou
The Fuchun River runs straight through it — part of the real-world scenery in the scroll "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains." Lately, one abandoned old house after another has turned into a village café, giving old-town slow living a new shape.
Why it's special
A 600-year-old landscape scroll, a river that still runs the same course, and a wave of young owners turning old houses into cafés — three layers stacked in one small city.
Tonglu sits in northwestern Zhejiang, with the Fuchun River running straight through it — in 2015 it ranked first nationwide among county-level cities for resident well-being. The Yuan-dynasty painter Huang Gongwang spent his late years at a hermitage called "Xiaodongtian" beside the Fuchun River (in what's now Fuyang district's Miaoshanwu), painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" over several years — a scroll depicting the river's scenery from Fuyang down to Tonglu. Tonglu's stretch of river is part of what that scroll actually shows. In recent years, riverside villages like Shen'ao, Difu and Meirong have taken up rural-art renovation: old houses turned into cafés, an old oil press turned into a viral "village café," giving these once-quiet villages a new way to be visited. The trade-off is real too — the villages are spread out, reachable mainly by taxi or hired car, at a much slower pace than a dense old-town circuit.
Fuchun River scenery
Rural-art village renewal
The village-café scene
Don't miss
Not a checklist — the handful of things in this riverside town worth setting aside real time for.
Eat & bring home
"Tonglu flavor" centers on rice cakes, country dishes and river fish — many dishes use cured meat or lard, so check the notes before ordering.
Plenty of tofu-based options, but rice cakes and country dishes often carry cured meat — confirm before ordering.
Halal options are limited — search for a clearly halal restaurant ahead.
Pork and cured meat are common in local cooking — state your restriction before ordering.
Good to know
Reality check
The honest take
If you want a dense, checklist-style old-town tour, Tonglu may feel too spread out. If you want to slow down by the river and watch a village get lived-in again by a new generation, this is the right fit.
Huang Gongwang's hermitage was in Fuyang's Miaoshanwu — Tonglu's river stretch is only part of what the scroll depicts. Adjust expectations; don't expect a "birthplace of the painting" museum here.
There's no dense public transport between Shen'ao, Difu, Meirong and the other villages — arrange a hired car or taxi route ahead of time, not on the fly.
Ticket prices and hours at Yan Ziling's Terrace, Chuiyun Tongtianhe and similar sights shift with season and policy — recheck on the day of your visit.
Village boutique lodges vary a lot in style — confirm foreign-guest registration capacity and current 2026 rates directly with the lodge, rather than booking on photos alone.
In China, hotels normally handle your registration; for guesthouses, you usually register at the nearest police station within 24 hours of arrival.
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Is it for you?
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Membership = one-time purchase, lifetime access to all member depth.
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Where to next
A few different next stops from Tonglu.
The provincial hub, 20-30 min away by high-speed rail — for restocking on big-city convenience.
Another slow-living benchmark in Zhejiang, known for bamboo forests and boutique lodges — a natural continuation of this slow-travel route.
Travel responsibly
A river that made it into a 600-year-old scroll deserves to be treated just as carefully by this generation.
