Who doesn’t like travelling the globe? I have been trying my best to wander as much as possible. Currently, I live in Suzhou (Jiangsu province of China) working as a postdoctoral fellow. Not to mention, I have been trying my best to explore this beautiful country. In July 2018, I was travelling to Huangshan city (黄山, Huángshān) – my 23rd Chinese city! Huangshan is worldwide famous for the granite massif. The scenery in the mountainous district is absolutely stunning. I really loved being here!! However, be informed that the Chinese cities/districts are usually very huge and you’d better work out a list of top things to do in Huangshan city in advance!
In fact, I travelled to Anhui province earlier in March, but then I mainly visited Hefei, the provincial capital city. I was again back to Anhui province and spent all my time in Huangshan city. Such a paradise! The overall span of the city is quite huge and you’ll need to plan carefully which places you are going to visit. I visited quite a few Huangshan travel attractions – and I am going to share with you all the useful information that I possibly can!
This post is aimed at describing some of the important personal observations and top things to do in Huangshan city. The tourist attractions specific details could be found in the relevant hyperlinked articles. Overall, these blog-posts are aimed at serving as a comprehensive Huangshan travel guide.
- Harbin Travel review.
The scenic drive to Xidi village – photo from a moving bus.
top things to do in Huangshan city
Here is a list of my articles about the top things to do in Huangshan city of Anhui province-
- Huangshan logistics and general travel issues – covered in this post,
- Hongcun village (宏村, Hóngcūn),
- Yellow Mountain – Huangshan scenic area (黄山风景区, Huángshān fēngjǐng qū),
- Huangshan Hot Springs (黄山温泉, Huángshān wēnquán),
- Xidi village (西递, Xī dì).
Why to visit huangshan mountain?
Well, do you know which two mountains are considered to be the most famous and scenic in China? Let me tell you my opinion– if you wish to visit only one Chinese mountain- you could probably visit the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (张家界, Zhāngjiājiè) in Hunan province – the mountain that inspired James Camron to plot Pandora in Avatar movie.
You got it – the gigantic mountains from the Avatar movie closely resemble to the quartzite sandstone pillars of the Zhangjiajie.
The second most famous mountain in China is Yellow Mountain (黄山 – Huángshān) – in Mandarin Chinese, 黄 (Huáng) means yellow and 山 (shān) means mountain. Collectively, 黄山 (Huángshān) means Yellow Mountain.
Both the mountains offer you the amazing landscapes and numerous photo taking opportunities. The scenery is mind-blowing. So is the hiking experience. Highly recommended.
Where is Huangshan scenic area, the Yellow mountain?
Well, Huangshan is a city located in the Anhui province of China. The city is quite big and there are numerous scenic areas, such as Xidi village, Hongcun village, the Yellow Mountain, Hot Springs, etc. Each of these areas are spread across the city and you’ll need to visit them one by one.
The Huangshan mountain scenic area is located near Tangkou (汤口) – a small town that effectively serves as a gateway to the Yellow Mountain scenic area.
Huangshan city travel map
Here is the Baidu Map of Huangshan city- I’m marking some of the important places in English (a basic knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is assumed)-
How to get to Huangshan city?
Well, there are direct trains connecting Huangshan city with different parts of China. You should keep in mind that there are two main railway stations in Huangshan city (look at the map the map)-
- Huangshan Train Station (mainly for the for slow speed trains),
- Huangshan North Train Station (for the high-speed trains).
The distance between the two stations is nearly 10km. You can choose either of the stations, the North Station is relatively closer to the Yellow Mountain.
You can also get to Huangshan city by a direct bus from Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, etc. However, a you’d need a Chinese ID card to book a Chinese bus ticket online. There isn’t any issue if you want to buy tickets at the bus station (if the tickets are not sold). Check out my other post for if you are interested to travel in China by bus.
My train journey
Let me brief you about my train journey from Suzhou to Huangshan city.
Well, I live in Suzhou and, obviously, my journey to Huangshan begun from Suzhou. I had an overnight slow-speed train from Suzhou Railway Station to Huangshan Station (there is no high-speed train from Suzhou to Huangshan). The train was coming from Shanghai and had a stoppage in Suzhou. Here are some of the nuances about the Suzhou-Huangshan train journey:
- Train departure time- 21:14 (Suzhou Station),
- Arrival time 7.10 (Huangshan Station),
- Journey duration – ~10hours,
- Ticket price – RMB 144 – I paid by Alipay,
- Meal – no meal included in the ticket fare, you can buy a meal for an additional cost (RMB 20),
- I was in the sleeping car (compartment). The compartment was divided into multiple sections. There were 6 sleeping beds in each section,
- Beds- a bit hard, clean and overall comfortable,
- Compartments were fully air-conditioned,
- Lights in the compartment were switched off at 10pm,
- Safety -100%,
- Overall rating of the train journey- 4.7/5.
This was the first time that I was travelling by a slow-speed train in China. Overall, it was a great experience.
I particularly liked the morning scenery from the running train.
I could have rated the train journey 5/5 if I would have found at least one toilet with a western style commode in the train. No tissue papers in the toilet – they weren’t there! 🙂 )
Anyways, I’d highly recommend you opting for a train ride.
Huangshan train station to Tangkou
Well, as mentioned earlier, Tangkou is the gateway town to the Yellow mountain. Once you reach a train station in Huangshan, you’ll need to transfer to Tangkou.
The best way to get to Tangkou is by a minibus. You’ll see the bus stop immediately after you exit the train station. Here is a signboard-
The one-way minibus fare to cover ~50km long non-stop journey in 2hrs is RMB 19. The mini buses don’t have any fixed timing (at Huangshan Station). The bus would start moving the moment there are enough passengers.
In my bus, I was the first passenger to get into the bus. The bus got filled very fast as the train had just arrived and there were many passengers who wanted to visit the city. I was sitting right behind the driver and clicked so many pics from the moving bus.
As such, the journey from Haungshan Station to Tangkou is highly scenic. You’ll pass through multiple mountain tunnels. Here is one of them-
The minibus brings you to the Tangkou bus station (新国线黄山风景区-汽车站, Xīn guó xiàn huángshān fēngjǐng qū-qìchē zhàn).
Tangkou bus station and public transport
You’d need to clearly understand the GPS location of Tangkou bus station. No matter, where you want to go in Huangshan district –Hongcun or Xidi, the bus departs from the Tangkou bus station.
The buses to Xidi and Hoangcun depart from the 2nd floor. The buses to the Yellow Mountain Scenic Area depart from the 1st floor.
Basically, the bus station is divided into multiple sections and you should confirm with the receptionist at the information counter about the departing location of your bus.
When I reached the Tangkou bus station for the first time, I didn’t know how to get to my hotel (just 2.5km away). The taxi guys always asked me for RMB 40 -which was too much. After some bargain, I got into a taxi for RMB 20. After reaching the hotel, the receptionist told me that, officially, for RMB 10 we could go up to 2KM.
As such, the bus services to wander in Tangkou are just not sufficient and you can’t rely on them. The best way to get to the nearby places (e.g. Tangkou bus station to your hotel) is by taxi. If you are a foreigner, you may be asked to pay RMB 40 –so you’ll need to bargain. Alternatively, you can ask some Chinese person to help you. Or ask your hotel receptionist to arrange a pickup or book a taxi for you.
Where to stay in huangshan?
Well, it totally depends on you. I was staying in Tangkou. I visited each of the aforementioned Hunagshan attractions from Tangkou. Basically, you can put your luggage in Tangkou and then wander around.
Where to stay in Tangkou
Tangkou is not a big town and has got numerous nice accommodations for the vagabond travelers. If you have decided to stay in Tangkou, it’s better to stay close to Tangkou bus station so that you can walk to your hotel – you’ll save taxi fare. Most importantly, you’ll save time that’s required to find a taxi.
Finding bus timings from Tangkou
Let’s say you want to go from Tangkou to Xidi by a local minibus. How you’ll find the bus departure timings from Tangkou bus station? The simplest option is to ask your hotel receptionist – they’d know the bus timings or they can find bus schedule online using WeChat.
If you are an adventurous person and would like to find the timings by yourself, let me explain to you (again, a basic mandarin knowledge is required or ask a local for help):
- You need to have a WeChat account,
- Subscribe to 山风景区-汽车站,
- Enter the city names in Chinese/Pinyin,
- You can also book the ticket using passport number,
- Pick your ticket at the Tangkou bus station,
- Service charge – RMB 1 (for an RMB 19 ticket, you’ll pay RMB 20).
Here is the screenshot from WeChat for a better clarity (Huangshan to Hongcun bus)-
Part 2:
Again, as I said if you don’t want to get into such hassle, just ask your hotel’s receptionist to find the timings for you.
Generally, there are sufficient number of buses going in different directions (e.g. Xidi, Hongcun) – so it could be ok to not book a bus ticket in advance. You could just come to the bus station and buy a ticket. However, during the peak seasons, may be advance booking would be a good idea (summer is probably not the peak season).
Huangshan city weather
I was travelling to Huangshan in July and it was a peak summer season. The weather was indeed hot and it was often difficult to come out. The great news is, inside the Yellow Mountain Scenic Area the weather was rather cold – around 17-18’C. But everywhere else (Xidi, Tankou, Hongcun, etc.), the midday temperature hovered around 33-35’C. If you don’t like summer (mid-June to mid-Sep), you’d probably visit the Yellow Mountain in some other season.
Stay safe
China is a safe country. However, in Huangshan, there were multiple occasions when I felt quite unsafe. For example, once near the Hongcun village, I asked directions to a random guy. He turned out to be a Trishaw/Tricycle (三轮车) driver. You know, he followed me for the next 20 minutes to get into his vehicle. I told him many times that I was not interested to go with him, but he kept stalking and virtually harassing me until I finally left the Hongcun village (thankfully, he never touched me).
He wanted me pay him RMB 50 to get to a nearby place. This was such a horrible experience. I was so frustrated that I don’t have words to describe my experience. I’m not new to travelling in China, but this happened to me for the first time. I recorded a video of this guy- and you can see him on my YouTube Channel.
Similarly, when you walk in the city center, so many people would come near you to ask you go to their restaurants for a meal- they just don’t stalk you, but may verbally harass you as well (one guy went on to use the F word when I ignored him near Tangkou bus station).
In summary, travelling to Huangshan is a wonderful experience. A basic knowledge of Mandarin Chinese and WeChat App would help you a lot. Do carry a good camera to capture memories. There are some people who may try to stalk you, just ignore them. Even saying a ‘NO’ is not recommended – just walk away and ignore them. Apart from that, you’d love almost everything in Huangshan city.
That’s all in this post about the logistics and top things to do in Huangshan city, Anhui. Do let me know your feedback about the Huangshan travel guide.
If you have any question about the top things to do in Huangshan city or the travel attractions or simply about China tours, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
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Wish you a great time exploring Yellow Mountain!
Cheers!
Last updated: Monday, August 20, 2018