Jiangnan’s rural retreats offer an escape from the city hustle

There was once a province called Jiangnan. Although no longer marked on maps, it exists in everyday parlance as a cultural region – somewhere rich, fertile and evocative of the fabled Song dynasty (AD960-1279).

Sometimes referred to as the Yangtze River Basin, Jiangnan is associated by many with Shanghai and the industrial cities of the lower valley of that waterway. Yet, while Jiangnan does boast an unequal share of China’s top-tier cities, swathes of the region – from the lower half of Jiangsu and southeastern Anhui through inland Zhejiang – remain rural. Furthermore, roughly 70 per cent of Jiangnan is hill country, bearing craggy topography that has sequestered villages from the prosperity concentrated along the port-studded coast.

This situation is changing only now, as roads and railways connect remote villages, transforming them into seductive bolt-holes for burned-out urbanites, a trend that is being repeated across the country.

Last year, rural tourism revenue in China exceeded 950 billion yuan (US$139 billion), according to government data, reflecting a 5.8 per cent increase on the previous year, as mainland travellers sought an escape from the “996” work culture of the major east coast cities. That money is flowing into an increasing number of villages recognised by UN Tourism as Best Tourism Villages, such as Digang (Zhejiang province), Dongluo (Jiangsu) and Jikayi (Sichuan), as well as more established attractions such as Wuyuan (Jiangxi), Hongcun (Anhui) and Baisha (Yunnan). But with many of those destinations having become victims of their own success, in-the-know travellers are turning their backs on commercialised old towns and embracing the great vistas, cultural integration and escape from the crowds found in even more remote settings.

It is that promise of rural quietude and pastoral scenery that had me plotting a passage south.