Longyou County

Longyou County (龙游县 Lóngyóu Xiàn) is in Quzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. It has a total area of ​​1138.7 square kilometres and a total population of 410000.

You're probably coming here to see the Longyou Grottoes, which can be visited in a few hours. These are not well known outside Zhejiang and do not get many foreign visitors.

• 29.0585119.18981 Longyou Caves (龙游石窟), Shiyanbei Village, Xiaonanhai Town, Longyou County, Quzhou, Zhejiang, China (By bus 9 / K8 from Longyou County), ☏ +86 570-7053663. 08:00-16:30. The Longyou Grottoes are a group of large artificial sandstone caves in Longyou County, Zhejiang Province. There are 24 known caves, and some of them are open to visitors. The caves are famous for their large size, stone carvings and mysterious history. Visitors can explore the caves and learn about this unusual ancient site. ¥85.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 29.022068119.1844252 Longyou Residential Court (龙游民居苑), No. 46, Baota Road, Donghua Subdistrict, Longyou County, Quzhou, Zhejiang, China (About 3 km from Longyou Grottoes. It can be reached by taxi or bus from Longyou County.), ☏ +86 570-7855904. 08:00-16:30. Longyou Residential Court is located on Jiming Mountain in Longyou County, Zhejiang Province. It has many traditional houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These old buildings were moved from different places in Longyou and rebuilt here. Visitors can see traditional Chinese buildings, wood carvings and stone carvings, and learn about the history and culture of Longyou. ¥50.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 29.025952119.1830013 Longyou Museum (龙游县博物馆), No. 46, Baota Road, Donghua Subdistrict, Longyou County, Quzhou, Zhejiang, China (It is in Longyou Residential Court and can be reached by bus or taxi from Longyou County.), ☏ +86 570-7855430. 09:00-16:30, Tuesday-Sunday. Longyou Museum is a museum about the history and culture of Longyou County. It was established in 1988. The museum has many cultural relics, including ceramics, bronze objects and celadon from ancient tombs. Visitors can learn about the history, culture and local life of Longyou. Admission is free. Free.  (updated Sep 2026)

• 29.0057119.16071 Longyou station (龙游火车站). This station in the south of town serves both high-speed and regular trains on the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Changsha-Kunming lines between Hangzhou and Shangrao.  (updated May 2018)

• 29.0611119.1692 North bus station (龙游客运北站). The main bus station is on the north side of the river not far from the Grottoes, and has regular buses to other major cities in Zhejiang.  (updated May 2018)

There are several local bus routes, notably route 9, which connects the train station with the Grottoes via a bus yard and the middle of town. Officially this runs more than 20 times per day, but the reality may be different.

Taxis can be found, and will generally find you. Do not assume that you will be the only passenger(s). There are also smaller, slower pedicabs.

• 29.063119.1854 Longyou Grottoes (龙游石窟, Lóngyóu Shíkū) (By bus 9 / K8). 08:00-16:30. The Longyou Grottoes are a series of at least 24 large artificial sandstone caverns located inside Phoenix Hill, just north of the centre of Longyou on the north bank of the Qu River. They are thought to date to a period before the creation of the Qin Dynasty in 212 BCE, but there is no record of their existence prior to 1992. They were discovered when a local spent 17 days pumping out one of the local rectangular fishing holes. The small fishing holes held much larger fish than might be expected given their area at the surface. The almost completely unadorned grottoes average more than 1000 square metres in area, reach depths of 30m, have thin walls between them but do not connect, and would have required the excavation of nearly one million cubic metres of sandstone. It is not known when they were built, by whom, for what purpose, nor where the excavated stone went. Five of the grottoes have been drained, lit, and connected on a tour route. In the first of these mysterious ancient excavations, some of the walls and support columns have now been decoratively carved. ¥85 entrance fee.  (updated Jan 2018)

If you want to see more rock, some sandstone hills and an arch can be seen outside Quzhou, and Sanqingshan is gorgeous.