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Yueyang Travel

Yueyang Travel Guide

Yueyang City (岳阳) is located at the northeastern edge of China’s Hunan Province, neighboring Changsha City in the south, Jiangxi Province in the east and Hubei Province in the north. It is a vital port city in the middle reaches of Yangtze River.

Abundant beautiful lakes, including the famous Dongting Lake - The Kidney of Yangtze River, endow Yueyang with amazing lake views. And the long history of over 2,500 years left the city many precious relics, ancient buildings, traditions, legendries and poetic atmosphere.

Why Visit Yueyang, Hunan, China?

  • Beautiful Dongting Lake & Yueyang Tower: It is hard to find anywhere else in the world to find a place that can offer such beautiful lake sceneries with world-class pavilions and strong poetic atmosphere as Yueyang does. A visit getting close to Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower in Yueyang will surely become your lifetime memory!
  • The Birthplace of Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Festival): Dragon Boat Festival, or called Duanwu Festival or Zongzi Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival that is said to in memory of Quyuan, a famous poet in Chinese history. Quyuan ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. Miluo River is right here in Yueyang. Therefore, sometimes Yueyang is regarded as the birthplace of Dragon Boat Festival! Here, you will meet with the strongest atmosphere of the festival and enjoy interesting festival activities. In 2009, China’s Dragon Boat Festival with Dragon Boat Festival Customs on the Banks of Miluo River was inscribed into UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
  • Interesting International Dragon Boat Festival Since 1987: Dragon Boat Festival comes on every fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which usually happens in June. Yueyang has held the International Dragon Boat Festival each year since 1987. And the festival there usually lasts at least 3 days, which is extremely grand and interesting. During the festival in Yueyang, you will have opportunities to take part in a set of events, including enjoying the dragon boat race, watching traditional performances, eating traditional Chinese rice-puddings, and so on!
  • Paradise for Bird-watching: Every winter, tens of thousands of birds will fly to Dongting Lake in Yueyang, giving bird watching lovers a close chance to observe bean goose, little swan, pied avocet, lesser white-fronted goose, oriental white stork, Eurasian spoonbill, and so on! Every December, there is also an international Bird-watching Festival held, which has held as many as 11 sessions till 2020.

Top Attractions in Yueyang, Hunan

The most famous highlights of Yueyang are Yueyang Tower, Dongting Lake and Junshan Island Scneic Area, which are also usually the must-visits for a Yueyang tour.

Yueyang Tower (Yueyang Pavilion)

Facing to the beautiful Dongting Lake and Junshan Island Scenic Area, Yueyang Tower (岳阳楼), or called Yueyang Pavilion, offers amazing water and mountain scenery. Besides, the strong poetic atmosphere of the tower, which can be proved by many famous poems in China, makes it stands out of so many elegant towers in China and be praised as One of the Three Great Towers in South China!

Dongting Lake

Dongting Lake (洞庭湖) is the second largest freshwater lakes in China. It enjoys the reputation of The Kidney of Yangtze River, because it is a vital regulatory lake of the Yangtze River Basin and has saved this region from countless floods. Besides, the lake itself is very beautiful. Apart from enjoying the wonderful lake view at the banks, visitors can also enjoy a leisure cruise journey there.

Junshan Island Scenic Area

Junshan Island (君山岛) refers to beautiful island located at the north bank of the Dongting Lake. The island faces Yueyang Tower across the water. Other than the beautiful lake and Mountain View there, the island also boasts many historical relics, including sacred pavilions and tombs of imperial concubines of this region in ancient times. Visitors can take a boat or car to get close to the island.

Quyuan Temple & Miluo River

There are many Quyuan Temples in China, and the one at Yueyang (屈子祠) is also recommended for history lovers. Here, you will stroll around elegant pavilions and tablets to learn the entire life of Quyuan and why he decided to end this life. Besides, you will get close to Miluo River (汨罗江), where Quyuan drowned himself in despair.

Yueyang Weather & Best Time to Visit Yueyang

Hunan Travel

Yueyang belongs to the humid subtropical monsoon climate, featuring by four distinctive seasons, abundant rainfall and long period of warmth and short period of cold. The yearly average temperature in Yueyang is about 17℃, which is relatively pleasant. The hottest time in Yueyang usually comes in July or August, with an average high temperature for about 32℃. January is usually the coldest month there, and the average temperature of this month is about 3℃.

Best Time to Visit Yueyang, Hunan, China?

If you only take the weather and temperature into account, Yueyang is suitable to be visited all year around, because this city is neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter. Most visitors also believe that the months from May to October are the best time to visit Yueyang, because the rest months of a year are the dry season for Dongting Lake, which may not guarantee the best lake scenery. And the months from October to March are also good, because Dongting Lake will then become a Paradise for Birds, and you will meet with over 200,000 migratory birds there!

 

Yueyang Transportation: How to Get to/around Yueyang

Yueyang Sanhe Airport Yueyang East Railway Station Yueyang Railway Station Changsha South Railway Station Yueyang Travel

How to Get to Yueyang

Being the sub-central city of the large Hunan Province, Yueyang has a well-established traffic system. No matter you are going to visit it by flight, train, coach or bus, you will find it can be easily reached.

By Flight

The airport in Yueyang is named Yueyang Sanhe Airport, which offers flight services to/from over 27 domestic cities like Beijing (2.5 hours), Shanghai (1.5 hours), Hangzhou (1.5 hours), Shenzhen (1.5 hours), Xiamen (1.5 hours), Chengdu (2 hours), Kunming (2.5 hours), etc.

Yueyang Sanhe Airport (IATA:YYA)

Location: Konggang Avenue, Yueyang County, Yueyang City, Hunan, China (湖南省岳阳市岳阳县空港大道,岳阳三荷机场), about 17.5 kilometers and 0.5 hour from/to Yueyang City downtown area by car.

By Train

Yueyang now has two train stations. However, Yueyang Railway Station is only served for normal K-trains, T-trains and Z-trains. Yueyang East Railway Station offers high speed train services. By riding a high speed train, you can get from/to Guilin in 3.5~4.5 hours, Guangzhou in 3~3.5 hours, Yichang in 3.5~4 hours, Shenzhen in 3.5~4.5 hours, Beijing in 6~6.5 hours, Shanghai in 5.5~6 hours, Xian in 5.5 hours, etc. Besides, you can take a high speed train to travel between Yueyang and Changsha in merely 0.5~1 hour.

Yueyang East Railway Station

Location: Balingdong Road, Yueyanglou District, Yueyang City, Hunan, China (岳阳市岳阳楼区巴陵东路,岳阳东站), about 9 kilometers and 20 minutes to/from the city center of Yueyang.

Travel around Yueyang

In this modern city, you can get around in ease and convenience by taxi, city bus or private car. Most of its highlights gather at its city downtown, including Yueyang Tower, Dongting Lake, Junshan Island Scenic Area, etc.

Changsha to Yueyang

Changsha neighbors Yueyang in its north. These two cities are only 165 kilometers and 2~3 hours away by car. There are also frequent high speed trains running between them. Every day, there are as many as 90 bullet trains around available. And the train ride takes only 0.5~1 hour.

Travel Yueyang with China Discovery

To help you enjoy a worry-free trip to Yueyang, it is highly recommended travel with China Discovery. So our local guide and driver will escort you from your accommodation to/from the tourist spots, railway station, airport, etc. By the comfortable nonsmoking licensed private vehicle of China Discovery in speed and safety, and you can focus more time on the highlights instead of navigation and hard communication with locals! Please contact us if you need any help!

Yueyang Accommodation & Where to Stay in Yueyang

Where to Stay in Zhangjiajie - Wulingyuan Hotel

Most visitors take a one-day side trip from Changsha to Visit Yueyang, and then travel back to Changsha for accommodation or get to the airport or train station in Yueyang to go to their next destination. Therefore, hotels in Yueyang are not very necessary for them. However, if you prefer to a Yueyang tour in a more leisure pace or want to spend more time in Yueyang, you are also suggested to find a hotel there. Accommodation options in Yueyang are a lot, including hundreds of hotels from luxury 5-star hotels to budget inns for you to choose. All of them can guarantee you a nice sleep in relatively affordable prices. You can just select the one for you according to your preference.

Where to Stay in Yueyang, China?

Yueyanglou District in Yueyang City downtown is the hottest chosen place to stay in Yueyang. If you only want a short day tour in Yueyang and are looking for hotels in Changsha after the Yueyang tour, you are suggested to find a hotel near Wuyi Square in Changsha.

Check more about Changsha Hotels: Where to Stay in Changsha >>

Yueyang Maps

To help you make a better understanding about Yueyang, here we list some useful Yueyang English Maps for you, including Yueyang China Map, Yueyang Hunan Map, Yueyang Tourist Map, etc.

Yueyang China Map

Yueyang China Map

Yueyang Hunan Map

Yueyang Hunan Map

Yueyang Tourist Map

Yueyang Tourist Map

Other Popular Destinations in Hunan

Apart from Yueyang, there are many other wonderful destinations in Hunan Province for your discovery of the nature, culture, history, food... of this diverse province in central China!

Other Popular Destinations in China

China is vast and diverse. You can choose your favorite destinations among more than 70 tourist destination and regions, like Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, etc. Following are 8 popular destinations you may get interested in. Check all destinations in China.

Yueyang China Map

Chinese Name: 岳阳

Chinese Pinyin: yuè yáng

Population: 5.8 million

Language: Mandarin & Hunan Dialect

Tel Code: 0730

Zip Code: 414000

Time Zone: (UTC+8)

How to Plan a Yueyang Tour

Usually, visitors prefer to visit Yueyang and Changsha together, which takes about 2~3 days. During their tour, they spend 1~2 days to savor the highlights of Changsha, including Yuelu Academy and Yuelu Mountain, Hunan Provincial Museum, Huangxing Pedestrian Street, etc. The rest time of the tour is for them to take a one-day side trip to visit Yueyang from Changsha to explore the highlights of Yueyang, including Yueyang Tower, Dongting Lake and Junshan Island Scenic Area.

It is also very popular to extend the tour to Zhangjiajie (3~5 days) to admire the marvelous Avatar Mountain and Fenghuang (1 day or so) to get close to the primitive ethnic villages. If you have more days in Hunan, you can also spend 1 day to Shaoshan - the birthplace of Chairman Mao, 1~2 days to Hengyang to enjoy hiking at Mount Heng (Hengshan) - one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China, or 1 day to Chenzhou to take beautiful pictures at Dongjiang Lake - one of the Top 10 Photography Places in China, etc.

Beyond Hunan, the diverse China offers many other surprises. It is also good idea to visit Hunan with other hot destinations, like Fanjingshan, Kaili, Guilin, Chengdu, Yangtze River, Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, etc. Have your preference? Customize your Yueyang tour with China Discovery now!

Top Yueyang Tours

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
7 Days Hunan Discovery Tour from Changsha

Changsha / Shaoshan / Zhangjiajie / Fenghuang / Zhangjiajie

Mr. Pasquale from Italy - Fenghuang Ancient Town
5 Days Amazing Zhangjiajie & Fenghuang Ancient Town Tour

Zhangjiajie / Fenghuang / Zhangjiajie

Orange Beach
6 Days Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang and Changsha Tour

Zhangjiajie / Fenghuang / Changsha

Yuelu Academy
3 Days Changsha & Shaoshan Essences Tour

Changsha / Shaoshan / Changsha

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