Exploration of Mt. Huangshan and the Hui-style Villages

Upon your arrival in Huangshan, no matter in the train station or the airport, you will be picked up on time and then driven to the Tunxi Old Street, which is the most complete pedestrian commercial street in China with the architectural styles of the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties (960 - 1911). It is also the busiest commercial street in Huangshan City. Here, you can appreciate the blue stone slabs and the ancient Huizhou architecture, visit the museum, and stroll through some time-honored shops and buy some local specialties, such as the "scholar's four jewels" (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper) and the Huangshan tea. Afterwards, you will check into a local hotel and stay here for one night.

In the morning, we will first drive northwards for around 53 kilometers (33 miles), about 1 hour to the Tangkou transfer center, where you will change to the sightseeing bus to the Huangshan Scenic Area. Huangshan, one of the most famous mountains in China since ancient times, has four wonders including the strange pines, grotesque rocks, seas of clouds and hot springs. In addition, the rime, snow and sunrise are also some landscapes that cannot be missed. In the following 2 days, you will explore this fantastic place and find the beauty of nature. After getting off the sightseeing bus at the Ciguang Pavilion, you will take the cable car for around 10 minutes to the Yuping Scenic Area. Then you will hike upwards and along the way, you will see the Yuping Tower, the Greeting Pine, the Tiandu Peak, the Lianrui Peak, the hundred steps ladder, the Aoyu Peak as well as the Haixin Pavilion. At around noon, you will arrive in the Baiyun Hotel. You can enjoy your lunch here and have a short rest.

In the afternoon, you will continue to explore the Yuping Scenic Area as well as part of the Xihai Scenic Area. You will come to the Bright Summit, Qunfeng Summit and visit the Flying Stone, the Echo wall and the Dispelling Cloud Pavilion. If weather permits, you can enjoy the sunset at the Dispelling Cloud Pavilion and then get back to the hotel and have a good rest.

Today, you need to get up early to watch the sunrise. The best watching place is at the Qingliang Platform, the Shizi Peak, the Bright Peak or the Yuping Tower. Afterwards, get back to your hotel to enjoy the breakfast and then the rest time will be devoted to the West Sea Grand Canyon. You will visit the Shuguang Pavilion, the monkey stone, the black tiger pine and the Baieling. From Baieling, you can take the cable car down to the Yungu Temple. Then take the sightseeing bus first and afterwards change to our vehicle driving for around 40 minutes to the Hong Village. Tonight, you will stay here.

Hong Village is the most representative village of the Hui-style residential villages, known as the "village in Chinese paintings". It is also the setting for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. Today's journey will be relatively relaxing. You will wander around the village to appreciate the very special Hui-style architecture, learn about the local lifestyles and customs, and enjoy the exquisite Lunar Palus and the vast South Lake. Here, you will also see some women squatting by the lake to do laundry, which is a very traditional way for the Chinese to wash clothes.

In the afternoon, we will drive for around 10 minutes to the Lu Village to appreciate the wooden carving house, which enjoys the name of the "No. 1 wooden carving house in China". Afterwards, we will drive back to the Hong Village and you will stay here for one night. The night view is totally different from the daytime's. If you're energetic, you can wander around freely to see the red lanterns.

Today, we will drive for around 10 minutes to the Zhuhai Pit, where the bamboo fighting scene of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed. On the way, we will pass the Tachuan Scenic Area, which is a popular destination in autumn. If you happen to come here at this time, we will have a stop here for you to take pictures.

Afterwards, we will continue to drive for around 30 minutes to the Nanping Village, which has a history of more than 1,100 years. There are 36 wells, 72 lanes and more than 300 ancient houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 - 1911), but with a population of just over 1,000. A considerable scale of ancestral halls, branch halls and family halls are well preserved here, which won the village the name of the "Museum of Chinese ancient ancestral hall architecture". In addition, there are also many old private schools. After around 2 hours' visiting here, you're sure to know more about Chinese traditions. Then we will drive for around 1 hour and 20 minutes to the Xixi South Village.

In the morning, you can stroll around the village to feel the authentic ancient villages and appreciate the well-preserved natural scenery. Then we will drive for around half an hour to the Huizhou Ancient City, which is one of the four well-preserved ancient cities in China. Here, you will visit the Hui garden, the memorial archway, the local government, the merchant's mansion, the memorial hall and etc. After the tour, you will be transferred back to the train station or the airport and depart from Huangshan.