top of page
MENU
JADE-COMPASS

jade-compass

jadecompass_edit-image.png
PLAN MY TRIP
7.jpg

Wudang Mountain & Enshi

Dao Qin Foundation Camp.

Learn the guqin not as a performance — but as a path to stillness. At the Wudang Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy, the ancient seven-string instrument becomes a daily practice of breath, presence, and inner quiet.

12 Days/ 11 Nights

Pickup Location: Shiyan airport

1 to 15 travelers

Drop-off Location: Shiyan airport

Accommodation: Healing Hotel

Meals: No meals & 3 meals per day

 From ￡1990 Per Person

Enquire Now

  • This journey pairs two very different kinds of stillness. The first seven days unfold at Nanshendao, Wudang Mountain's quiet back garden — old forest, a running stream, and just 5.7 kilometres from the Golden Summit, yet away from the main tourist routes. Under the one-on-one guidance of a Daoist master from the Quanzhen Longmen lineage, guests practise bigu: a traditional Daoist method of pausing solid food intake while sustaining the body through breathwork, saliva-swallowing and stance training, rather than simply going hungry. The practice has real historical roots — a fasting-and-breath-cultivation text was found among the Mawangdui silk manuscripts, buried in 168 BCE, one of the earliest known written descriptions of the method — and it recurs across Daoist texts in the centuries that followed.
    After a closing ceremony and a carefully guided first meal on the morning of Day 7, the journey moves to Enshi, home to the world's only confirmed independent selenium ore deposit and soil that carries roughly two and a half times the national average selenium content. Five unhurried days here begin with hot-spring soaks, forest yoga and herbal therapy at a wellness hotel in Maotian, easing the body back into eating with selenium-enriched meals, before two final days of sightseeing — a floating boat ride through Pingshan Grand Canyon and a walk through Dixin Valley's karst formations — ahead of a fully free day before departure

  • Daoist Heart Method: seated breath regulation, fingers that follow the qi, and sound that opens the body's meridians

  • A seven-step guqin path that moves from stillness and inner gathering through to free, unstructured play

  • The guqin three-word formula that guides every session: Still · Relaxed · Slow

  • Daily wellness qigong and Daoist seated meditation woven through the schedule, not added on top of it

  • Optional refined arts on rest breaks through the week — incense appreciation, tea ceremony, chess and calligraphy

  • Graduates receive two complimentary bigu (Taoist fasting) retreat sessions to use within the year

  • An official academy guqin robe to take home, and all mountain meals served vegetarian throughout

  • Five days of recovery in Enshi, home to the world's only confirmed independent selenium ore deposit

  • Hot-spring soaking, forest yoga, aromatherapy spa and herbal therapy at a wellness hotel in Maotian

  • A floating boat ride on the glass-clear waters of Pingshan Grand Canyon, and an evening of Tujia folk culture

Day 01
Arrival at Wudang Mountain

Private transfer from Wudangshan Airport or Wudangshan Railway Station to the Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy. Settle into your room and meet your fellow students, then gather for a short welcome orientation, where each guest receives their official academy guqin robe. A simple vegetarian dinner eases you into the mountain's rhythm before lessons begin tomorrow.

Day 02
Foundations: The Daoist Heart Method

The academy's daily rhythm begins today, and repeats — with the specific practice content evolving through the week — for the rest of your stay at Wudang. Guests gather each morning for a foundation-form practice before breakfast; the long morning session introduces the Daoist Heart Method itself — seated breath regulation, and learning to let the fingers follow the qi rather than force technique — together with the guqin's three-word formula: still, relaxed, slow. A midday rest follows lunch, then an afternoon of further technique work and practice, an evening meal, and a closing seated-meditation class that returns the day to stillness. Today's focus sits with the first steps of the guqin path: stillness and inner gathering.

  • 07:00–07:30 Morning practice: foundation form

  • 08:00–08:30 Morning meal

  • 09:00–12:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: the Daoist Heart Method and the three-word formula (still, relaxed, slow)

  • 12:00–12:30 Noon meal

  • 12:30–14:00 Midday rest

  • 14:00–15:30 Body–Mind Unity: technique

  • 15:40–17:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: practice

  • 18:10–18:40 Evening meal

  • 19:30–20:30 Evening class: Spirit–Mind Unity (seated meditation and reintegration)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (vegetarian)    Overnight: Wudang Mountain — Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy

Day 03
Stillness and Inner Gathering

The same daily structure continues: morning foundation practice, the Heart–Sound Harmony sessions that carry most of the day's instruction, a midday rest, an afternoon of technique work, and an evening seated-meditation class to close. Today's practice deepens the first two steps of the guqin path — stillness and inner gathering — and guests are welcome to join an optional incense-appreciation session during the midday rest.

  • 07:00–07:30 Morning practice: foundation form

  • 08:00–08:30 Morning meal

  • 09:00–12:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: stillness and inner gathering

  • 12:00–12:30 Noon meal

  • 12:30–14:00 Midday rest, with an optional incense-appreciation session

  • 14:00–15:30 Body–Mind Unity: technique

  • 15:40–17:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: practice

  • 18:10–18:40 Evening meal

  • 19:30–20:30 Evening class: Spirit–Mind Unity (seated meditation and reintegration)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (vegetarian)    Overnight: Wudang Mountain — Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy

Day 04
Body and Mind: Deepening the Technique

The daily rhythm continues as before. Today's Body–Mind Unity sessions move the guqin path forward into more developed fingering, still anchored by the three-word formula of still, relaxed, slow rather than any pressure to progress quickly. Guests are welcome to join an optional tea-ceremony session during the midday rest.

  • 07:00–07:30 Morning practice: foundation form

  • 08:00–08:30 Morning meal

  • 09:00–12:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: developing technique

  • 12:00–12:30 Noon meal

  • 12:30–14:00 Midday rest, with an optional tea-ceremony session

  • 14:00–15:30 Body–Mind Unity: technique

  • 15:40–17:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: practice

  • 18:10–18:40 Evening meal

  • 19:30–20:30 Evening class: Spirit–Mind Unity (seated meditation and reintegration)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (vegetarian)    Overnight: Wudang Mountain — Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy

Day 05
— Heart and Sound: Approaching Harmony

The daily rhythm continues once more. By now, most guests find the foundation form and breath work familiar, and today's sessions turn toward heart–sound harmony proper — letting sound and breath move together rather than treating them as separate tasks. Guests are welcome to join an optional chess session during the midday rest.

  • 07:00–07:30 Morning practice: foundation form

  • 08:00–08:30 Morning meal

  • 09:00–12:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: sound and breath moving together

  • 12:00–12:30 Noon meal

  • 12:30–14:00 Midday rest, with an optional chess session

  • 14:00–15:30 Body–Mind Unity: technique

  • 15:40–17:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: practice

  • 18:10–18:40 Evening meal

  • 19:30–20:30 Evening class: Spirit–Mind Unity (seated meditation and reintegration)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (vegetarian)    Overnight: Wudang Mountain — Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy

Day 06
Toward Free Play

The final full practice day follows the same daily structure once more, now familiar after a week of repetition. Today's sessions bring the guqin path toward its final step — free, unstructured play — with guests encouraged to let go of following instruction note by note and simply play. Guests are welcome to join an optional calligraphy session during the midday rest, and the evening class includes a short discussion preparing everyone for tomorrow's closing recital.

  • 07:00–07:30 Morning practice: foundation form

  • 08:00–08:30 Morning meal

  • 09:00–12:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: moving toward free play

  • 12:00–12:30 Noon meal

  • 12:30–14:00 Midday rest, with an optional calligraphy session

  • 14:00–15:30 Body–Mind Unity: technique

  • 15:40–17:00 Heart–Sound Harmony: free practice

  • 18:10–18:40 Evening meal

  • 19:30–20:30 Evening class: Spirit–Mind Unity, with a short preparation for tomorrow's closing recital

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (vegetarian)    Overnight: Wudang Mountain — Thunder Sound Dao Qin Academy

Day 07
Closing Recital, and On to Enshi

A final morning session closes with an informal recital — each guest plays a short passage in whatever style the week has brought them to, with no exam pressure attached — followed by a short closing ceremony marking the end of the week's instruction. In the afternoon, a private transfer carries the group to Enshi, arriving at a wellness hotel in Maotian in time for dinner.

  • Final morning class and informal closing recital

  • Closing ceremony

  • Private transfer to Enshi

  • Dinner on arrival at the Maotian wellness hotel

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner    Overnight: Enshi — Maotian hot-spring wellness hotel

Day 08
Recovery: Hot Springs and Forest Yoga

The first full day in Enshi is built entirely around recovery, easing the body back to normal function after a week without solid food. A soak in the hotel's natural hot springs relaxes muscles that have had little use, a forest yoga session offers gentle movement, and meals are simple, selenium-enriched dishes suited to a stomach still finding its rhythm again.

Day 09
Aromatherapy Spa and Herbal Therapy

A second unhurried day continues the recovery with an aromatherapy spa session and herbal therapy treatments drawing on the region's local botanicals, alongside further time in the hot springs. Meals continue building back toward a normal diet, still selenium-forward and easy on the stomach.

Day 10
Pingshan Grand Canyon and Tujia Culture

Pingshan Grand Canyon is known for water so clear that its tour boats appear to float above the riverbed rather than on it — a striking ride through the karst gorge. In the afternoon and evening, the focus turns to the region's Tusi and Tujia heritage, with a visit exploring the local Tusi history and an evening folk performance of Tujia song and dance

Day 11
Dixin Valley and Enshi's Oldest Market Street

Dixin Valley's karst sinkholes and rock formations make for an immersive walk through the region's geology, a landscape shaped over millions of years. In the afternoon, Qingyang Liangting, Enshi's oldest market street, offers a slower, human-scale close to the sightseeing — old shopfronts, local snacks and a last chance to pick up selenium-rich tea or other local specialties to take home.

Departure from Enshi
Day 12

A free morning at your own pace, with no activities planned. After checking out, a private transfer to Enshi Xujiaping Airport closes out the journey.

Good to Know

​

  • No prior musical training is required. This course is designed for absolute beginners and returning students alike, and the pace follows each guest's own progress rather than a fixed technical benchmark.

  • All meals during the Wudang week are vegetarian, in keeping with the academy's practice. Enshi meals are selenium-forward but not restricted to vegetarian dishes.

​

11.jpg
14.jpg
16.jpg
8.jpg
道琴.jpg
15.jpg
Image_202608270004331.jpg
FF6.jpg
Image_20260827000404.jpg
Image_20260827000433.jpg
Image_20260827000432.jpg
FF1.jpg
MAP.jpg



What's included



A private English-speaking guide for the whole trip — not just at the big sights. Private driver and vehicle: airport pick-ups, drop-offs and high-speed train journeys in first class, as shown in your itinerary. Hand-picked hotels, in the centre of each city (double occupancy). All admission tickets and listed activities. Meals noted in the itinerary, with drinking water at every table. A VPN and eSIM setup guide so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram just work. 24/7 in-trip support on WhatsApp, from us, in London. Full financial protection (as agent for ATOL No. 10106; ABTA bonded No. Y6874)



What's not included

- International flights 
- Travel insurance 
- Visa fees — though for most UK and EU travellers China is now 30-day visa-free; we confirm your exact status before you book
- Tips for guides and drivers (discretionary, and appreciated)
- Anything you add on the spot — which we'll happily arrange and quote in minutes 


How do I secure my spot on this tour?

Click the ENQUIRE NOW button and fill in the enquiry form, or email us at info@jade-compass.com. Tell us your dates, how many of you are travelling, and anything on your wish list — we'll come back within 24 hours with a real itinerary and a real price. There's no charge for this; it's how we work. Every Jade Compass tour is private, for your group alone. Once you're happy with the plan, a deposit secures your dates — the amount is shown clearly in your quote and goes towards your final balance. We don't ask for anything before you've seen the full plan and the price.

Is this trip guaranteed to run?

Yes — because it's private. Your tour runs from just two people: you and your travelling companion. There's no minimum group size, no "needs six more to confirm", no chance of cancellation for lack of numbers. Your dates and your itinerary are confirmed when you confirm your booking — and they stay confirmed.

What is your cancellation policy?

Cancellation & changes — the honest version
Plans change. Flights move, school holidays shift, family plans wobble. So here's our cancellation policy, written the way we'd want to read it — no small print, no "see our booking conditions".

Every booking starts with a 72-hour cooling-off period: cancel within 72 hours of confirming and it's a full refund, no questions — however close to departure you booked.
After that, the ladder applies from your booking date, not from the day you call to cancel:

  • Booked more than 60 days before departure: full refund up to 60 days before; 50% refund up to 30 days before; 25% after that

  • Booked 30–60 days before departure: 50% refund up to 30 days before; 25% after that

  • Booked within 30 days of departure: 25% from the end of your cooling-off period

  • Or change your dates instead — once, free of charge. We'll rebook your trip and only adjust for any real difference in cost.

One honest note: if you cancel very soon after booking, we'll only keep what we've genuinely committed on your behalf — usually far less than the ladder maximum.


​

Contact Us
bottom of page