Name: So Hostel
Address: Room 502, Unit 2, 1st Building, East Gate 2, Wuyuan Home, Dongsheng RD, Wuyuan, 婺源县上饶市 JX, China, 333200, Shangrao, Shangrao, Shangrao, 333200, China
Rating: 7

Air conditioning

24-hour reception

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Heating

Ticket assistance

Washing machine

Terrace

Private check-in/check-out

Dryer

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Fridge

Hairdryer

Locker

Shower

Wardrobe/Closet

Slippers

Rooms

Laundry

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Common kitchen

Microwave oven

Coffeemaker

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

Chinese

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Bike rental

Barbecue grill(s)

Sun Deck

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Darts

Sports

Pets allowed

Pets

At the hostel

Room amenities

So Hostel

Shangrao

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

I arrived at the high speed train station after dark and was approached by a taxi driver who spoke some English. The hostel is hard to find, in a flat in a residential area without signage, so it helped that the driver could call the hostel. The hostel is ran by an old man who doesn’t speak any English. It’s a small place with a limited number of beds/rooms. As a solo female traveller, one could feel uncomfortable to be in such a remote place alone with the old man. I met a girl who was staying here every other week for work and that kind of reassured me.
The lower dorm beds have privacy curtains and the ladies dorm has its own bathroom. The apartment’s interior design is pretty cosy and stylish. You can use the kitchen and there are washing machines. It’s within walking distance of the north bus station, from where buses to the villages leave.
It would be nice if they would have some more info available for independent travellers, like e.g. bus times to the villages and info about bike rental. I spent one night in a village and decided to come back here afterwards, since the other hostel in Wuyuan sounds more like a party place and that as not what I was looking for.
In terms of activities: 
- I rented a bike(30 fora day, 600 deposit) from Merida bike shop (google maps address is not correct, it’s on the other side of the T junction, open until 9 pm) and cycled to Sixi and Yancun. First part of the bike ride was disappointing, along lots of constructions works. As soon as you leave town there is a comfortable new bike lane. I stopped for a quick lunch at the turnoff to the villages but forgot to ask the price upfront and was ripped off pretty badly - so don’t be misled by the ‘innocence’, these villages see a lot of tourists and some people know how to take advantage of them.
- I took a bus to Lingjiao and hiked to Guangkeng from there. These villages were by far my favourites, there were no other tourists around, people were very friendly and these villages feel much more authentic than the ones that are ‘ticketed’ (not that I don’t want to pay for heritage) and attract tour groups. The hiking trail is well signposted, but not well maintained. There is only one point where you need to turn, when you can walk through one of the shelters. The hike takes 3 to 4 hours and the trail was completely deserted the day I went so you might want to consider taking a guide from the village for safety reasons. When reading up on the hike I came across a post warning for snakes, but I only met a dead one towards the entrance of Huangkeng.
- in Huangkeng I addressed some men sitting at the main square, they took me to a friendly guesthouse next to the bridge where I got a basic room and nice vegetarian lunch and dinner. The owners made sure I got on the right bus the next morning (at 8.20, there is one at 6.20 as well). The hike and these villages were definitely the highlight, and made visits to less authentic villages pale in comparison.
- The bus back passes by several villages and meanders off the main road and back several times. I got off at Xiaoqi, where the visit to the upper part was the highlight. In the lower part almost all ‘sites’ included in the ticket have been turned into souvenir shops, really annoying. But if you take the time to walk a bit further along the old postal road to the upper part, you can still find some hidden gems there.
- I asked for a taxi to get to Likeng and apparently there are shared taxis driving along the road, which got me there for only 10 or 15 rmb. Maybe it was due to the rain, but Likeng felt like an unpleasant tourist trap to me. I took a similar shared taxi back to Wuyuan. From there I continued to Sanqingshan the next morning (direct bus to the west cable car).

Basic nice place, might feel uncomfortable for solo female travellers

The owner was very friendly and we met some other nice travelers here.  My boyfriend and I had a bunk room to ourselves.  The mattresses were extremely soft, which is unusual in China, but I found it so soft it was uncomfortable.  A/C and wifi worked well, shared toilet is a squatty.  This is an apartment in a residential building, located close to the "local" bus station.  Recommended if you are looking for a family/homey atmosphere.

Friendly hostel

Like others have mentioned, it is a home converted into a hostel. It really does have a warm cozy home feel. Rooms are spacious with good beds and showers(even heating in the bathrooms for the chilly winter days). If you don't mind a little noise till around 10pm (people are up cooking, chatting just like you would at home) then its a nice place to stay. 

The location was a little tricky to find but our taxi driver found it for us. Its right next to  a pretty cool bridge that some locals go singing on at night( can't hear them from the hostel).

It's like home

I will save you the detective work - this hostel is located on the main avenue, Dongsheng Road, but you need to access the place from the river. In the north part of the street close to a 'bus station' (actually a courtyard with minibuses stopping there), there's a roundabout with some Chinese bank (Bank of China? Agricultural Bank? don't remember) on one side and a wildly-lit Bank of Shangrao facing it opposite. On this roundabout, head to the river and to the north, and in that block on your right hand you will finally see directions leading you to the hostel (which is actually situated in a building right next to that bank I don't remember). 

It is actually a flat transformed to hostel (with the owner living there too) - with good and bad sides to it. You may find it a bit awkward - or very homely and welcoming, depending on your taste. There are all necessary amenities and some extras, such as coffee machine. Everything is really clean and new. The owner is really friendly but does not speak much english and the majority of information and maps available on site are only in Chinese - so don't rely on getting much info here.

So Hostel

Main amenities of the hostel

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

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