Old Village Appreciation

Tunxi District is in the center of Huangshan City, close to Mt. Huangshan. Tunxi is noted for its old street and houses with a scenic backdrop.

In the morning, we will visit the Three Houses of Cheng's Family, Baishu Street which is a quiet Dongli Lane. You can take a taxi there, taxi fare at CNY10. The houses in Anhui area harken from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), with grey tiled roof tops, white walls, sculpted beams and painted rafters. The old houses are full of wood and stone carvings. The entrance fee is CNY30 per person.

Continue your visit to the Former Residence of Cheng Dawei, a Ming era famous merchant and mathematician, 1 km away.  Directions: walk eastward to the Xinyuan West Road; move about 600 meters along the road then turn right onto the Qudong Road; and another 130 meters, you will be there.

Cheng Dawei formally established the operating rules of abacus, and authored a masterpiece of mathematics “Systematic Treatise on Algorithm”. You will learn more about this great mathematician and Chinese abacus in this visit. What's more, there is an exhibition of different kinds of abacus, from the most delicate to the very coarse. It opens from 9:00 to 17:00 and entrance fee is CNY20 per person.

Your next goal is Tunxi Old Street. Directions: walk northward along Qianyuan South Road to take either a bus No.8 or a bus No.5 at the appropriate busstop; get off at Ermalu after 7 stops; head westward along the Yan'an Road, and you will find the entrance of the old street. Tunxi Old Street is a 1,273 meters long pedestrian only street and an icon of Tunxi district. It made its first appearance in the late Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) some 800 years ago. The street is paved with black stones, lined with some 200 old buildings of the typical Hui-style. Sample the delicious snacks such as fried tofu, preserved trout, and Huangshan sesame baked cake available on the street. Try also the Anhui cuisine at the Lao Jie Di Yi Lou restaurant.

Stay overnight in Tunxi district.

Huizhou District has many old residences and monuments. Find them aplenty at Qiankou and Chengkan villages.

No bus services from Tunxi to Qiankou, so you have to get a private car or a taxi in order to visit the two villages at CNY200 – 240 per day, a drive of 40 minutes to Qiankou Villlage. The village's Museum of Civilian Residences is an epitome of residences from Ming and Qing dynasties in Anhui area. The oldest building is the Sijian Di, which was built in Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) more than 1,000 years ago. Admission to museum is free.


It takes about 20 minutes to drive from Qiankou to Chengkan Village. Chengkan Old Village is also known as the Eight Diagrams (Ba Gua) Village, as a stream traverses through the village and makes the terrain look like the shape of Eight Diagrams. The whole village has 3 streets, 99 lanes and more than 300 old buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ancestral Temple, civil residence, bridge, pavilion and an open-air theatre are found in the village. Among those, Baolun Ge is the most outstanding one for its artful structure, fancy carved wood and colorful paints. The entrance fee of Chengkan Village is CNY80 per person.