4 Days Private Tour to Huangshan & Hongcun Village

This morning, your guide and driver will accompany you on an hour-long drive to Mt. Huangshan, aka Yellow Mountain, a UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site. Shining for its five natural wonders, including oddly shaped pines, bizarre rocks, seas of clouds, hot springs, and winter snowscapes, this mountain is said to overshadow all other mountains in China. 

To save your time and energy, we’ve included a cableway to convey you up to the White Goose Ridge. Here, admire the sight “Magpie on a Plum Blossom”, formed by a pine like a blooming plum flower and a magpie-shaped rock. With your guide, also visit the 701 TV Station for a sweeping view of jagged peaks amid surging clouds. Let’s then proceed to the Beginning to Believe Peak, one of the superb spots to appreciate peculiar pines. The Black Tiger Pine has a thick trunk and lush foliage, like a commanding tiger. The 500-plus-year-old Sea Exploring Pine is just 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall, but its side branch extends forward like a dragon fetching a treasure from the sea. Turn your gaze upon the Dragon Claw Pine, whose five main roots spread out like a dragon’s strong claws, digging deep into the rock.

Afterward, follow your guide west to visit the Cloud Dispelling Pavilion. “Could Dispelling” means that the mist, rising from the West Sea Grand Canyon below, often disperses before the stone pavilion. Standing here, you’ll admire stunning, ever shifting seas of clouds: advection clouds spread like a boundless snowfield - placid and undisturbed. Waterfall clouds hang like jade ribbons in the sky, plunging from peaks into deep valleys. There are also wave-like clouds surging and rolling with the wind. On clear days, when rays of sunshine break through the clouds, you may catch the spectacle “Buddha’s Light”. At night, you’ll rest at a hotel on the mountain. Have an early sleep and get ready for tomorrow’s sunrise!

► Friendly Tip: Once you ascend to the mountainside by cable car, all sightseeing will be on foot. For a more comfortable journey, you’re advised to carry a light bag with only daily essentials, and store your heavy luggage in your private car at the mountain base.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Xihai Hotel - North Building (4 stars) or Xihai Hotel - South Building (5 stars)

★ Featured Inclusion: A Breathtaking Sunrise on the Mountain

Brightly and early, your guide will meet you at your hotel lobby and then escort you to enjoy an awe-inspiring sunrise, if the weather permits. As the eastern sky brightens, the sea of clouds begins to glow with golden light, while a stretch of peaks is still in slumber, silhouetted against the dark sky. Suddenly, a ray of crimson sunshine pierces through the morning mist, and the sun rises over the distant ridges, with clouds ablaze like a sea of molten gold. Such scenery is not only a communication with nature, but also a thrilling resonance of the soul. 
► Note: We’ll appreciate the sunrise from the best spots varying by season: Purple Cloud Peak in summer (Jun-Aug), Lion Peak in spring (Mar-May) and autumn (Sep-Nov), and Beginning to Believe Peak in winter (Dec-Feb).

Later, we’ll go back to the hotel for breakfast. After that, let’s head to the 360-ton Flying-over Rock, supported by a tiny flat ledge. The boulder takes on diverse shapes from various angles: Looking southward from the north, it resembles an enormous peach, also named the “Celestial Peach Stone”. Seen from east to west, it looks like an elder monk in a cassock overlooking the West Sea Grand Canyon, hence another name “Old Monk Peering into the Sea”. Continue onward to Bright Summit, a flat, 360-degree platform with unobstructed views, where you can soak up all the jagged peaks of the gorge, and take scenic photos strikingly like Windows desktop wallpapers.

Let’s then appreciate the majestic West Sea Great Canyon, hailed as “Mt. Huangshan’s Miniature”. Look! Twin Bamboo Shoots Peak rises sheer like bamboo shoots sprouting from the soil. In the distance, Archway Peak stands proudly, forming a natural gateway. Inside the canyon, each strange boulder seems to tell you a story, such as “Immortal Walking on Stilts” and “Fairy Playing the Chinese Lute”. During spring from March to May, the mountainsides are carpeted with red azaleas and white magnolias, adding the most vibrant hues to this magnificent scene.

Heading east, we’ll ascend to the Refreshing Terrace, sitting on the slope of Lion Peak. Here, you can appreciate both multiple cliff inscriptions - precious legacies left by ancient sages, scholars, and poets - and vivid rock formations like the “Eighteen Arhats Worshipping the South Sea”. At the summit, marvel at the famous sight “Monkey Watching the Sea”, also known as “Monkey Gazing at Taiping”, as the monkey-shaped rock overlooks the former Taiping County below. After the visit, your guide will accompany you down the Yellow Mountain by cable car. 
► Note: The specific mountain routes and attractions may change according to the weather conditions on that day. 

★ A Unique Overnight in the Heart of the Countryside

At last, your guide and driver will escort you on a scenic 50-minute drive to Hongcun Village and assist with your check-in. More than just a place to stay, this handpicked inn is a unique retreat transformed from a repurposed oil factory. Here, you’ll discover a serene, rural escape where simple pickle jars serve as vases for reeds and sweet osmanthus, and handwoven indigo-dyed cloths adorn the tables. Open your wooden window to reveal a timeless landscape of white-walled dwellings framed by lush, tree-blanketed mountains.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Pig’s Inn in Bishan Village

After breakfast, your guide and driver will accompany you to visit Hongcun Village, a living water conservancy museum standing for over 800 years. It enjoys an unparalleled buffalo-shaped artificial water system, which not only handles firefighting, irrigation, drainage, and daily water supply, but also regulates the village’s microclimate. No wonder UNESCO has recognized it as “a paragon of the harmony between humanity and nature”. Lose yourself in the stone-paved lanes and admire intricate wood, brick, and stone carvings adorning the archways, window lattices, and pillars of centuries-old houses. Through your guide’s intriguing commentary, you’ll find that the themes of these carvings range from Chinese historical stories to vivid scenes of daily folk life, mostly bearing heartfelt wishes for national prosperity and people’s happiness. 

Next, we’ll dive into the Xidi Village, boasting a long history of nearly 1,000 years. Compared to Hongcun Village, it feels more rustic and historic, resembling a cultured, otherworldly scholar. Shaped like a titanic ship, the village has neat rows of traditional houses as ship’s cabins, as well as an memorial archway and nearby trees at the entrance as its masts and sails, with surrounding fields making it look like a large vessel moored at a harbor. As you wander around the village, revered as “China’s First Village of Couplets”, check out the elaborate couplets hanging at the entrances of some courtyards. The village is home to more than 200 well-preserved ancient couplets, whose content includes moral cultivation, business wisdom, life ethics, and more. Listen to your guide’s explanation to unveil the profound philosophy behind the additions or omissions of Chinese character strokes on certain couplets.

At the end of the 4 days tour packages of Huangshan, after about 16:00, your guide and driver will see you off at the airport or railway station. Should you wish to extend your trip to Shangrao for Wangxian Valley with its cliffside inns, or Jingdezhan - the millennium porcelain capital, feel free to contact us to customize your exclusive itinerary!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast