Huangshan: Loveliest Mountain & Ancient Villages
“No mountain is worth seeing after a trip to Huangshan”. Huangshan, also called Yellow Mountain, is best renowned for its “five wonders”: the wind-carved pines, spectacular granite peaks, sea of clouds, hot spring and winter snow.
Huangshan Mountain is the paradise of Photographers as there are too many landscapes to capture - sunrise over the misty peaks, sunset from the sea of clouds, granite peaks and twisted pines wreathed in spectral folds of mist, wild animals, snows, etc. If lucky, catch the best chance to take photograph of Buddha’s light (a full-circle rainbow). No matter which of the seasons you come, you will be treated with a visual feast. After the photography tour in Yellow Mountain, spend one day exploring Xidi and Hongchun Ancient Villages, the two UNESCO-listed villages famous for their unique Hui-style architecture and ancient traditional Chinese living.
This Huangshan photography tour will leave all the beauties both natural and cultural in your mind and never fade away! It also can be customized according to seasons, dates, physical condition, interests, etc. Feel free to tell your ideas to your personal travel consultants to create the perfect photography trip together!
Travel Route: Tunxi / Huangshan Mountain / Hongcun / Xidi / Tunxi
Travel Length: 5 Days
Tour Code: CD-PTHST-05
Tour Type: Private Tour
Departure: You Choose (you may plan it according to the best season and time.)
Welcome to Huangshan! Clear the customs and retrieve your baggage by yourself upon arrival, be greeted by our tour guide in the Arrival Hall who is holding a sign on which says your name. A comfortable vehicle (non-smoking) with an experienced driver will transfer you directly to your hotel in Tunxi (Huangshan downtown). Your guide will help you check in. The rest of the day is on your own to discover this beautiful city.
Today after breakfast, our guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel, then drive about 80 kilometers (1.5 hours) 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 hiking starts!
To save more time and energy to explore the highlighting mountain top area, you will directly transfer by park bus from the mountain foot to Mercy Light Pavilion to take a cableway to the upper Jade Screen Scenic Area (Yuping Scenic Area), also known as the Front Mountain. After a few minutes’ ascending walking from the upper cableway station, you will reach the symbol of Mount Huangshan - Greeting-guests Pine where you can spend some time taking pictures with this most famous pine trees in China, and enjoying the beautiful view of the grandiose Celestial Capital Peak (1810m). The big stone by the side of the Pine is the best sightseeing location. From the Greeting Pine, walk about 20mins on the up-and-down stone steps to the fork where you can take the right uphill road to hike 1 hour to the top of the Lotus Peak(1864m), the highest peak on the Mount Huang, and 1 another hour to descend the peak to the Lotus Pavilion. You can also miss out the Lotus Peak, and go the left road to get to the Lotus Pavilion to save energy. Leave the Lotus Pavilion and walk down along the One Hundred Cloud Ladders to a lower valley, then climb up the steeping path of One-Line-Sky to get to Turtle Fish Peak. From the peak, an even path leads you to the hotel of today - Baiyun Hotel.
After a short rest at hotel, you will have a hiking to Fairy-walking Bridge where fewer visitors visit but the scenery is pretty. You can also take photos of the sunset there. After the photography, walk back to Baiyun Hotel.
After breakfast, hiking about 500 meters to the Bright Top (1860m), the second highest peak on the mountain as well as the central location of the mountain. Walk around for sightseeing and photography for a while. Then you will walk about 20mins down to the Peaks Top where you can look down upon the deep West Sea Grand Canyon, and walk 20 more minutes to get to the famous Flying-over Rock. It's very interesting to see how a 12 meters high giant rock standing still on a flat but small stage of stone for millions of years. The rest of today is to take photos in Grand Sea West Canyon.
Grand Sea West Canyon is also known as the Dream Land. It is the perfect place to take photos of deep valley, beautiful stone paths, mists, stones and peaks. You will start photography from the Dispelling Cloud Pavilion, then hike down the valley via 1st Ring and 2nd Ring, and return to the Dispelling Cloud Pavilion. You can decide the hiking length on your own according to your physical condition, usually 2 hours for the 1st Ring + return and 2.5hrs for the 1st Ring + 2nd Ring + Return.
After today's photography, go to check in hotel.
Get up early (usually around 5am to 6am) to enjoy the magnificent sunrise from Huangshan. 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 photography on the Yellow Mountain to take pictures of the famous Dawn Pavilion, Stone Monkey Watching the Sea on the Lion Peak (1690m). Then walk to another legendary peak - Beginning-to-Believe Peak (how the name come - an ancient traveler began to believe that Mount Huangshan was the most beautiful mountain after seeing the stunning landscapes on the Beginning-to-Believe Peak). The famous Black Tiger Pine locates along the road to the Beginning-to-Believe Peak.
Lastly, you will descend the mountain by cable car from the White Goose Station to Yungu Temple. After reaching the Yungu Temple, the park bus will transfer you to the Tangkou Town where your driver is ready to pick you up and transfer you to Hongcun to check in your hotel.
Today, you are going to visit two remarkable ancient villages, best examples of ancient Huizhou-style architecture which are listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Hongcun and Xidi. Quite different from other traditional ancient villages in China, the layout, landscape, architectural form, decoration, and construction techniques all retain the original features Hongcun and Xidi are much more exquisite and grandiose, because they were built by successful officials or merchants returning home from official appointments and business.
Hongcun, originated during Song Dynasty (960-1276), is praised as the most beautiful village in China. It is famous as the ancient village in the Chinese painting. The most beautiful sites are the Moon Lake, the crescent-like pond surrounded by several grand dwellings, and Southern Lake Academy, a private ancient school served for the village. One interesting fact is that the whole village is arranged in the shape of an ox. The famous Oscar-winner film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed in Hongcun.
Xidi Village is only about 10km from Hongcun. Its well-spaced houses with white walls, elegant decorations and black tiles are surrounded by mountains, which makes Xidi an ideal place for paint from life. Xidi is a magnificent villager of imperial officers. It contributed about 130 government officials, some of whom were dignitaries in the imperial courts, during Ming and Qing Dynasties. Currently, there are still 124 well-preserved ancient dwelling with unique style in the village.
After the sightseeing, it’s time for departure. Your tour guide and driver will escort you to catch your flight/train to the next destination. Our service ends.
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