4 Days Huangshan Mountain Tour with Ancient Villages Living Experience
Tunxi - Nanping - Hongcun - Huangshan Mountain
Tunxi - Nanping - Hongcun - Huangshan Mountain
Wanting to find out what is the real rural ancient Chinese village’s living like? Join in it!
Many villages in Huangshan region are fairly old. Some of them are more than one thousand years old. How are they now? What changes our modern civilized world has brought to them? Are they “living well”? Are the villagers suffering from the fear and anxiety as we are suffering in the cities of concretes?
In Nanping Village, a tranquil ancient village locating about 1 hour’s driving from Huanshan City, you will find most of its beautiful dwellings, halls and alleys are still remaining their original looks as hundreds years ago while some parts of the villagers’ living styles have changed and some not. Well, the fertile farmlands are still there, the curling smokes from kitchen chimneys that remind travellers of home are still there, horses and cattle are still there. Wheelbarrows are old but still can transport crops in autumn. Hoes are still sharp when cultivating in spring. Yes, how can the homes vanish?
In this interesting 4 Days Tour, you will explore the old tastes of traditional living of ancient Hui-style village by joining in the real living and doing some farming works and cooking. After that, you will also go to visit the picturesque Huangshan Mountain. What a fantastic trip!
Day 1 Huangshan Arrival
Airport or railway station pick up and check in hotel
Welcome to Huangshan! Upon arrival, be greeted by our local tour guide who is holding a sign with your name in the Arrival Hall of Huangshan Tunxi Airport or Huangshan North Railway Station. Then a comfortable vehicle (non-smoking) with an experienced driver will transfer you directly to your hotel in Huangshan downtown. Your guide will help you check in. The rest of the day is on your own to discover this beautiful city.
Arrival ideas: Currently, there are non-stop flights to Huangshan from Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian and Chengdu, etc., usually 2 daily flights from each city. You can also take high speed trains from Shanghai (2.5~3.5hrs), Hangzhou (1.5~2hrs), Beijing (5.5~7hrs), and Guangzhou (7hrs), etc.
Huangshan City
Day 2 Tunxi - Nanping - Hongcun (B, L)
Highlights of today: Nanping Village Farming Work Experience, Hongcun Village
Today you will be taken to Nanping and Hongcun to explore what are the real Chinese ancient rural village like, and what the villagers are doing for their living.
First, you will get to Nanping Village which is only about 1 hour’s driving from Huanshan City. It sits peacefully at the foot of Nanping Mountain with a beautiful small river winding through. Over 300 well-preserved ancient established during Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911) lie at the southern side of the river while on the northern side of the river is vast cropland. After arriving at Nanping Village, you will first spend about 1 hour to visit its grandiose ancestral temples, criss-cross lanes, fairly decorated dwellings, then go to a local family to experience farming works which may differ by seasons. Your tour guide and hosts will arrange activities accordingly, such as learning to balance the wheelbarrow, picking mulberry leaves, receiving water from ancient wells, picking vegetables in the vegetable plot, making fires with wood, drying crops, etc. Most importantly, enjoy a home-made lunch with the hosts.
After lunch, you will get some rest, then transfer about 30mins to visit Hongcun Village, the best examples of ancient Huizhou-style architecture, which is listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites with Xidi Village. Hongcun was originally established during Song Dynasty (960-1276). It is praised as the most beautiful village in China, known as the "ancient village in the Chinese painting". As the home to the local successful officials or merchants, Hongcun Village's layout was designed very well, acting up to both China's Geomantic Omen and actual natural environment. All houses, halls and yards are very exquisite and grandiose, and retain most of the original features. Moon Lake, the crescent-like pond surrounded by several grand dwellings, and Southern Lake in front of the village are the best locations to take photos. Famous Oscar-winner film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed in Hongcun.
After the sightseeing, go to check in a well-selected local guest house and have a good night rest.
Day 3 Huangshan Mountain Sightseeing (B)
Route: Yungu Cable Way - Begin-to-believe Peak - Dispelling Cloud Pavilion - Bright Summit - Flying-over Rock
Walking Distance: about 7~9km/5~6 hrs
Today after breakfast, drive about 35 kilometers (40～60mins) to the foot of Mount Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and one of the most beautiful mountains in China. Your memorable Huangshan trip starts!
To save energy and time, you will directly transfer by park bus from the mountain foot to Yungu Temple to take a cableway to upper beautiful sightseeing area of Huangshan Mountain – North Sea Scenic Area which is famous for marvelous precipitous peaks, beautiful giant pine trees and far-reaching vision. Walk to lofty Begin-to-Believe Peak (1668m) to stretch your eyesight over cloud seas to far distance, and then hike about 40 minutes to Dispelling Cloud Pavilion to look down the Dreamland - . Walk down along the stone steps to the deeper area of the canyon while enjoying the Avatar-like rising rock peaks, unfathomable cliffs, bizarre stones and tenacious pine trees.
Generally speaking, it takes about 3 hours for energetic hiker to hike from the Dispelling Cloud Pavilion, via 1st Ring and 2nd Ring to the bottom and return to the starting point. For beginners, children, and senior travelers, you can decide the hiking length on your own according to your physical condition, usually 2 hours for the 1st Ring and 2.5hrs for the 2nd Ring. In the bottom of the canyon, there is also a monorail cable trains for those who don’t want to return by walking to transfer back to the peak area.
If time and energy allow, you can spend about one hour to explore the Sky Sea Scenic Area where you can enjoy the sunset from the second highest peak - Bright Summit (1840m), visit the incredible Flying-over Rock, then return back your hotel and have a good rest.
(Please Note: from December to the late March of next year, West Sea Grand Canyon is usually closed for the cold weather and heavy snow. Please feel free to contact us to adjust your itinerary.)
Day 4 Huangshan Departure (B)
Route: Lion Peak - Yungu Cable Way
Walking Distance: about 3km/2 hrs
Get up early (usually around 5am to 6am) to enjoy the magnificent sunrise from Huangshan. We suggest you watch the sunrise from the Refreshing Terrance which is only a few minutes’ walking from Beihai Hotel. In good-weather days, you can see clearly the golden light of the sun piercing the mists, and rocky peaks rising above the frothy, ever-changing sea of white clouds. After the sunrise, get back to your hotel for breakfast.
Continue on your wonderful sightseeing on the Yellow Mountain to see the famous Dawn Pavilion, Stone Monkey Watching the Sea on the Lion Peak (1690m). Then walk along the wood path to the cable station to take a cable car to exit the mountain. Your driver is ready at the mountain foot to transfer you back to Huangshan City for lunch.
After lunch, go for a relaxing stroll on the 900-year-old Tunxi Ancient Street to appreciate authentic old Huizhou-style architectures. Next comes an interesting visit to Hu Kaiwen Ink-stick Factory to find out how ancient Chinese people produce ink sticks (major item used to write and paint in ancient time).
Tour ends. Your tour guide will escort you to catch your flight/train to next destination.
Note: All attractions can be customized according to your arrival and departure arrangements, lowest price & best-value guaranteed. Please feel free to contact us at any time.
1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.
Hi Rita,
The trip was fantastic and there were no problems. I made a couple of mistakes, but the wonderful guides were of great assistance.The tour arrangements were excellent. All connections and meetings with guides went perfectly.
I would recommend your service to others with an interest in China.
Cheers and thanks….and I may book another tour next year!!
Wilson
Hi April
We are glad to have chosen to Century Oasis. The ship is new, spacious and clean. Staff were friendly and provided excellent service.
Thank you for checking with us and I'm really pleased to have booked with Yangtze River Cruises and for your prompt service.
Regards
Heong
Hi April,
Absolutely fantastic, can’t fault. On board food was awesome and me being vegetarian they even made me special meals each day. Staff were wonderful. I also had laundry done, no issues and very good price. Bar was well stocked and well priced. I also got a foot massage and my daughters hair washed and blow dried also value for money.
Concierge did only once on check in to offer an upgraded package for food and cabin. Then never asked again which was perfect.
Porters hired by ship in Chongqing tried to charge me 100rmb for their service but the English speaking concierge told them off very sternly.
Shore excisions included were awesome. I only did 1 optional which was the show on the second night which was absolutely amazing, it felt like I was in the show.
Only complaint is the ships announcements came into cabin speakers.
Dane
Hi Tracy,
Apologies for the late reply.
We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 days at Bifengxia. We arrived with an open mind, so I cannot really say that the program met our expectations or not. We learned a lot about the animals, which was great and we spend a lot of time observing them, which was fun. The program itself was more like a 3-day VIP arrangement with backstage passes rather than a volunteering program. Volunteering sounds like you have to make an effort and we were not really put to work, we were treated like guests, which is of course always positive. You prepared us well about the restrictions on interaction with the panda's which was much appreciated, and we did not expect much interaction for starters because we were visiting a research base, not a circus! The panda base itself is a tranquil site and we had a lot of people approaching us for a short conversation, really nice.
If you would ask me if I had any suggestions for improvement, then I do not really have an answer. We enjoyed the hospitality of the hotel, really nice place with a beautiful room, friendly staff and good food. Your team added to the fun and made the visit more memorable when we managed to add a visit to an old village on the last day.
I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in a laid-back panda learning experience in a mountainous area in rural China.
Hope this helps!
Jeroen
Hi Tracy,
Sorry, didn’t respond to you earlier. Since the China trip, we are trying to catch up with everything that we held off for month.
Here is the list of our ranking of each Tour Guides we had in each city.
Guilin - Sharon
Beijing - Linda
Shanghai - Liqi
Zhangjiajie - Nancy
Xi’An - Lily
All the Tour Guides and Drivers provided the service that we needed. Our family really appreciate their hospitality and enjoyed our visit in China. Everyone was an excellent representative of their city and an ambassador to the visitors. They make us proud as a native Chinese, who have excellent command of the English language. The professionalism and knowledge on each city’s history is outstanding. I know our kids have learned a little more about Chinese historical facts and their heritage. For those who speaks Cantonese, Grandpa is very thankful.
Above all we rank Sharon in Guilin as the best of our guides along with the driver. Sharon was very attentive, detailed, and caring of our group and especially grandpa who’s over 90 years old. In addition, she was very open to exposing us to local cultures and food. We thought she went above and beyond her duties and responsibilities.Overall, thanks much to you and to the China Discovery team for a very memorable trip.
Kin
We are one of the few China travel agencies who have kept active and received lots of feedbacks and reviews during pandemic years
"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.
Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.
Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!
After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.
Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.
We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.
Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.
Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.
Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!
Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!
Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.
Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!
In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!
The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.
If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.
Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.
We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.
The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.
There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.
All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!
Huangshan City
Peaceful and Authentic Nanping Village
Ye's Ancestral Hall in Nanping Village
Huizhou-style Architecture in Nanping Village
Yungu Cable Car on Mount Huangshan
Beautiful Yellow Mountain in Bright Day
Jenny's group from Vietnam - Yellow Mountain, Huangshan, Anhui
Tunxi Ancient Street
Jenny's group from Vietnam - Yellow Mountain Sunrise, Huangshan, Anhui
The hiking routes on Huangshan can be customized according to your days, energy condition and interest, basically for one day, two days or three days. It doesn't matter a lot to start your hiking from the Front Mountain or the Back Mountain.
1.5 Days Back Mountain + West Sea Grand Canyon Leisure Hiking:
- Day 1: Yungu Cableway - Begin-to-Believe Peak - Lion Peak - West Sea Grand Canyon (hiking around 9km/6hrs)
- Day 2: Sunrise - Flying-over Rock - Bright Top (hiking around 7km/3hrs)
2 Days Front Mountain + Back Mountain + West Sea Grand Canyon Full Highlights Hiking:
- Day 1: Yuping Cableway - Greeting-guests Pine - Lotus Peak - One-line Skye - Bright Top - Flying-over Rock (hiking around 11km/6hrs)3 Days In-depth Hiking:
- Day 1: Mercy Light Pavilion - Half Way Temple - Greeting-guests Pine - Lotus Peak - One-line Skye - Baiyun Hotel (hiking around 14km/7.5hrs)Please feel free to let us know your idea if you have no idea where to start.
To stay one night or more on the mountain is very worth doing as you will have more time to enjoy as much as landscape of Huangshan especially the amazing sunset and sunrise. There are only 6 hotels on the mountain - 2 hotels (Yupinglou Hotel and Baiyun Hotel) in the Front Mountain, and 4 hotels (Beihai Hotel, Xihai Hotel, Shilin Hotel, Paiyunlou Hotel) in the Back Mountain. The South Building of Xihai Hotel is the only 5-star hotel on the mountain. Beihai, Shilin, Baiyun are 4-star, while Paiyunlou and Yupinglou are 3-star. Our guests usually accommodate at Xihai Hotel, Beihai Hotel and Baiyun Hotel as they have better rooms, facilities and foods. Please kindly know the hotels on the mountain are not as good as the 4-star and 5-star hotels in the big cities while the prices are sometimes higher because there is no vehicle road can be built to the top area of the mountain, which made these hotels cost much longer time and much more money during their the constructions. Besides, the supply of the hotels are basically rely on porters who usually walk for many hours to carry the foods, drinks, vegetables, eggs, beddings from the foot of the mountain.
Only hotels provide foods on the mountain, usually Chinese dishes of local Hui-style Cuisine cooked by seasonal vegetables, pork, chicken, beef, fish, etc. Beihai Hotel and Xihai Hotel's buffets are most popular. Western food is usually not provided, but if you ask, Beihai Hotel and Xihai Hotel can arrange. Basic western breakfasts, such as breads, jam and coffee, can be offered in Beihai Hotel and Xihai Hotel.
Huangshan mountain area features a humid sub-tropical monsoon climate. Summers and Winters are longer than Springs and Autumns. There are plenty of rainfalls, usually more than 180 rainy days through the whole year. It snows often in the Winter days, usually around 50 days per year. Clouds and fogs occur easily, and go fast sometimes. The average temperature in Summer is around 20°C. In winter days, it will drop to below 10°C. Basically speaking, Huangshan can be visited all year around. But Lotus Peak, Celestial Capital Peak and West Sea Grand Canyon are not open during Winter days (December to March). The best time to visit is from March to October. If you want to escape from crazy crowds, you can avoid travelling to Huangshan during Chinese holidays and School summer holidays (July~August).
There are a lot of walkings that you can't avoid on the mountain, so it is very important to travel light to save energy. Before going up to the mountain, you can store your luggages in a hotel located at the bottom of the mountain. Recommended packing list: comfortable and breathable clothes, hiking shoes, alpenstock, sunblock, raincoat, small bag.
Tunxi - Huangshan - Tunxi
Tunxi - Hongcun - Huangshan Mountain
Huangshan - Hongcun - Bishan
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