Free-entry attractions during the off-season

March is the first month of the tourism off-season in China with the New Year’s crowds dispersing, making it a great opportunity to take advantage of the beautiful weather, along with some great deals including discounted hotels, flights and authentic local experiences.

One more travel hack is knowing that a great number of tourist attractions across China offer free entry or half-price tickets this month, and some deals even last for the whole year.

Zhejiang Province, Quzhou 浙江省衢州

Quzhou offers free entry for 13 popular tourist attractions from Monday to Friday until Dec. 31. The tourist attractions include Lanke Mountain, Yaowang Mountain, Tianji Longmen, Longyou Caves, Jianglang Mountain, Erbadu Ancient Town and Qianjiangyuan National Forest Park.

Lanke Mountain, also known as Shishi Mountain, is a hill located 10 kilometers southeast of Quzhou city center in Zhejiang beside the Wuxi River. The hilltop is 164 meters above sea level and features a rock formation shaped like a bridge. A cave is located under the bridge, which is said to be the location of the legend concerning a woodcutter named Wang Zhi.

Tianji Longmen is one part of the Ziwei Mountain National Forest Park scenic area, a national 4A scenic spot and a part of the Xianxia Ridge mountain range located south of Quzhou.

The Longyou Caves are a series of large artificial sandstone caverns located at Phoenix Hill, near the village of Shiyan Beicun on the Qu River in Longyou County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang. They are thought to date to a period before the start of the Qin Dynasty in 212 B.C., although no trace of their construction or even their existence has been found in historic records.

Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province 浙江省绍兴

Shaoxing offers free entry for the entire year of 2018. The must-dos for tourists here are black-awning boat rides, visiting the hometown of Lu Xun, and Shaoxing nyu’erhong yellow rice wine tastings.

Wearing a felt hat, sailing on a black-awning boat, savoring a bowl of Shaoxing wine with fennel beans, and enjoying the traditional local opera while having fun with a game of floating wine cups along a winding river ... you name it. There are tons of reasons for you to visit Shaoxing, and getting on a black-awning boat to sail around the water city to feel its softness should not be missed.

Lu Xun Native House, Datong School, the former residence of Xu Xilin, the former residence of Fan Wenlan, and Shaoxing Museum are all free to visit all year round. Other tourist attractions in the city are also free throughout the year except for during the National Day holiday.

Shajiabang-Yushan Mountain & Shanghu Lake, Jiangsu Province 江苏省苏州沙家浜虞山尚湖旅游区

The entry to the tourist area only costs 80 yuan (US$13) per person until May. Usually the ticket price is 150 yuan. The Shajiabang-Yushan Mountain and Shanghu Lake tourism area is located in Changshu, a famous historical city. The hidden gem Yusha Mountain is a national forest park and a cradle of Wu culture. It is also home to two national 5A tourist attractions and is a national famous historical and cultural city.

In addition to its esteemed status as a national forest park, Yushan Mountain is famous as the burial place of Yu Zhong. Its name is derived from the famous ancestor of the Wu culture, Yu Zhong, who lived during the Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-221 B.C.) and was buried here after his death.

Adjacent to Yushan Mountain, Shanghu Lake is renowned for being the place where Jiang Shang, a very popular strategist and once a premier who won the respect of people, lived a reclusive life after his retreat at the end of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C.). With large swaths of wetlands and flying herons, it is China’s best ecological lake for leisure and tourism.

Chengde, Hebei Province 河北省承德避暑山庄景区

The ticket to Chengde Imperial Summer Resort only costs 90 yuan till March 31. The price will go back to 120 yuan after March 31. The resort is not only a world cultural heritage site but also a national 5A tourist attraction in China. It is regarded as one of China’s four famous gardens, and the other three are the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lingering Garden in Suzhou.

The Mountain Resort in Chengde, also called Ligong, is a large complex of imperial palaces and gardens situated in the city of Chengde in Hebei. It served as a holiday getaway site for emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Surrounded by lakes, forests and mountains, it is China’s largest existing imperial garden and the former summer capital of the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of 5.64 million square meters.

Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province 四川省九寨沟

The entry to Jiuzhaigou, which costs 220 yuan (US$35) during peak season, costs only 80 yuan from now till March 31. After being closed for seven months, Jiuzhaigou National Park is reopening its tourist sites bit by bit.

Shuzhengqunhai Scenic Area is the door to the beautiful scenery in Jiuzhaigou. It’s home to over 40 lakes that cumulatively account for around 40 percent of the total number of lakes in Jiuzhaigou, including Penjing Lake, Luwei Lake and Huohua Lake, to name a few.

The small but exquisite Wucai Pond is 6.6 meters deep, 2,995 meters above sea level and occupies an area of 5,645 square meters. On sunny days, the lake reflects various colors when the surface ripples, shining with red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple light, making it look other-worldly.

Kangding scenic area (Mugecuo), Sichuan Province 四川省康定情歌(木格措)风景区

Entry to Mugecuo, which costs 105 yuan during peak season, costs only 75 yuan from now till March 31.

Mugecuo, situated in the north of Kangding County, the home of a famous love song in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, is known as Kangding Love Song Scenic Area. Covering 350 square kilometers, the scenic area consists of six major parts: Cuckoo Gorge, Grass Ground, Qicai Sea, Yaochi Spring, Mugecuo Lake and Honghai Grassland.

Endowed with numerous lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, dense woods, fragrant flowers, peculiar peaks, and grotesque rocks, Mugecuo Scenic Area presents picturesque scenery all the year round.

The Qicai Sea is a crescent-shaped lake which looks like a colorful lens embedded in the forest and lawn. It is so named due to the fact that the lake water can change into seven colors as the weather and sunlight change.

Siguniang Mountain, Sichuan Province 四川省四姑娘山国家级风景区

The entrance tickets to Shuangqiao Valley, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley only cost 50, 40 and 40 yuan respectively from now till March 31.

Siguniang Mountain is the highest mountain of Qionglai Mountains in western China. It lies 220 kilometers west of Chengdu, in the Qionglai Mountains of western Sichuan in China. Siguniang Mountain Scenic Area is an unspoiled wilderness park famed for its steep and imposing ridges and valleys.

The scenic area includes one mountain — Siguniang Mountain, and three valleys — Shuangqiao Valley, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley. The blue sky, clouds and mist, snow peaks, ancient cypress forests, rushing waterfalls and alpine meadows make this area a nature lovers’ dream.

Ruoergai Flower Lake, Sichuan Province 四川省若尔盖花湖

The entry to Ruoergai Flower Lake, which costs 75 yuan during peak season, only costs 35 yuan from now till March 31. And the entry to Yueliang Bay is also only 30 yuan.

Ruoergai Flower Lake is a natural lake located in the Gers Dam Grasslands, the second-largest grassland in China only after the Hulunbuir Grasslands. The lake, commonly known in Chinese as Huahu Lake, got its name from its shape, which looks like a small white flower growing in the lake.

The breathtaking beauty of the calm and vast grasslands and sky, the absolute blue water, together with the pure clouds above is sure to dazzle you like a hammer striking your heart. People say that seeing Ruoergai Flower Lake for the first time is like experiencing love at first sight.

Laoshan Mountain, Shandong Province 山东省青岛崂山景区

The entry to Laoshan Mountain is only 30 yuan from now till March 31, 2019.

Laoshan Mountain is located near the East China Sea on the southeastern coastline of Shandong Peninsula in China. It has been nicknamed the “No. 1 seashore mountain” since long ago. Among all the famous mountains in China, it is the only one situated on a coast line.

Laoshan Mountain overlooks the sea and features imposing canyons, undulating peaks and shrouding mists. There are oddly-shaped stones, imposing cliffs and caves dotting the mountain. The roads are curved and uneven. Many clear springs and waterfalls ornate around the areas.

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Gansu Province 甘肃省敦煌莫高窟

The entrance to the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, which costs 200 yuan during the peak season, only costs 100 yuan from now till April 30. All college students can enjoy 50 percent off based on the already half-price entry.

Enjoying a time-honored history of over 1,600 years, the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes together with the Maijishan Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes are collectively called the “Four Grottoes of China.”

The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the “Thousand Buddha Grottoes,” form a system of 492 temples, 25 kilometers southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road in Gansu Province. It comprises the largest, most richly endowed, and longest-used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world.