Yongjia county is located in southeast Zhejiang province. [Photo/yjnet.cn]

Located in southeast Zhejiang province, Yongjia county faces downtown Wenzhou from across the Oujiang River.

For more than 1,800 years, the Nanxi River, which flows through Yongjia county, has bred a colorful culture along its banks, which serve as home to more than 200 old villages and several scenic areas. Dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), four of the county's most renowned villages—Yantou, Cangpo, Furong and Xipeng—have well-preserved historic architectures, customs and folk arts, including Ouju, a unique form of Chinese opera from Wenzhou.

Xie Lingyun, a poet renowned for his verses about China's landscapes, once took up the post of the director of Yongjia. He wrote a variety of poems lauding the beautiful scenery and culture of this place, earning the county a reputation as the cradle of China's landscape poetry.

Stunning landscapes along the Nanxi River include mountains, forests, waterfalls and wetlands.[Photo/zjol.com.cn]