Say it quietly but Anji is a beautiful place that tourism is yet to tarnish.
Anji (安吉县) is a county of Huzhou in Zhejiang province, located on Lake Tai. It is popular with families from Shanghai and represents the perfect getaway.
Anji County (安吉县) offers a glimpse of rural life amid the bamboo forests and the area spans 60,000 hectares of bamboo groves. Home to more than 40 different species of bamboo, the county houses China’s largest bamboo nursery and is famed for its eco-friendly industries and agriculture.
Part of the city of Huzhou, Anji sits 65km away from the province’s largest city, Hangzhou. It is also well known for it’s rare white tea plantations.
Hidden in the east of China, this region is considered eco-friendlier by encouraging local businesses and artisans. This green way of life is attracting more and more urban Shanghai families seeking an escape from the urban hustle and bustle.
Surrounded by bamboo forests, the resort provides everything you need for a quiet rural weekend. You can enjoy mountain waterfalls, charming tea gardens or you can breathe all day fresh air on the rice terraces.
Where to stay?
We heard other families mention Club Med and decided to give it a try. We previously visited Anji and stayed in a farmhouse and did some hiking. This time we travelled with a group of four other families and we were certainly well looked after. The most important thing with this choice is that it is all inclusive, so you think that you are paying more but when you factor in the three meals (and free drinks) and the endless activities it is certainly worth it. The activities continue from the morning until the night and they also have a children’s performance in the evening.
The children are immersed in the endless activities and surprisingly the adults have their own activities and when you come here in a group – you are more inclined to try out different sports that you normally would not do, like for me, canoeing and archery, but I had a great time attempting these sports.
We travelled with friends who enjoyed tennis so we would play a game in the morning at 7am and then have a hearty breakfast to start the day. My son would join the Kid’s Club and my wife would so some yoga activities. It was actually the perfect arrangement.
The key to staying at the Club Med is to go with other families who are motivated to do activities, on vacation I have a tendency to switch off by the pool but not on this holiday! When my son was at his club, doing tennis, archery and swimming. I would be on my own schedule – I started with 7am tennis followed by breakfast, then swam, archery, had a huge lunch with wine, following this would play badminton and then go for a bike ride through the accompanying winding roads up to the mountains. Exhausting yet fantastic.
My son then came back for dinner and then in the evening there is a show for children, the one we spectated was a glow stick rave party and was rather high energy – but my son was having so much fun that i could not enjoy it and the whole show is designed to be participative. The performances and guest activities are led by the Club Med Officers and they give everything to make sure the children especially are settled and having a whale of a time, they have unlimited energy and enthusiasm which drives the whole hotel.
The hotel is vast and there are numerous sports activities going on but there are village tours and hikes available if you wish to explore more of the Anji culture. Dotted alongside the roads are numerous vendors keen to sell the local brew that Anji is known for, Anji bai cha or Anji white tea – which despite its name is actually a type of green tea only grown in the local area.
Usually we would holiday in Thailand but with the travel restrictions, we decided to try something within China but not too far away from Shanghai. This hotel really ticks all the boxes. The location is convenient and we were able to take a taxi there in three hours or alternatively you could come by bullet train and then taxi. It allowed me to make friends and play tennis whilst my family also explored some new activities.
The food is tremendous and you can take three meals a day and the bar offer you free flow options in the evening and there are table tennis and billiards tables next to the theatre.
We stayed for three days and my son asks me if we can go back, and the whole family are keen to return. I even managed to get some work done in the day time – in between the flurry of activities.
I would whole heartedly recommend this to parents with children under twelve as the kids club will guarantee that your child will have a great time at the club. If your kids are older it would also work as they could do their independent schedule but it would work better if they did not come alone.
We got there taking a taxi, it took approximately three and a half hours. You could also take the high speed train but we decided we just wanted to travel directly and without the hassle.
The Club Med Joyview Resort has all the facilities to keep the whole family immersed in a guaranteed
unforgettable experience
Anji’s strength is the pure simplicity
You can roam around the forests or sit at the rice terraces and ponder away the day. It is an ideal place to reflect on things and there is a certain rural mystique to Anji.
By contrast to the traditional village, the hotel, The Club Med Joyview Resort , has a modern interior that is both well designed and comfortable.
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In conclusion, we spent more than we would usually on a hotel but considering everything was all inclusive it works out to be well worth the splurge and we could all return back to Shanghai recharged having got away from city life.
0572-589 8888
No.1888 Qingyuan Road, Anji, Zhejiang,
Ski Resort Package in Anji
