Mount Huangshan, Anhui – China’s Most Beautiful Mountain – Travel Guide

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Mount Huangshan, Anhui – China’s Most Beautiful Mountain – Travel Guide

Huangshan, aka Yellow Mountain, is a famous scenic mountain located in southern Anhui Province. It features amazing scenery the exact liking to that in many famous Chinese paintings, along with rock formations, waterfalls, hot spring, and most famously its cloud viewing areas. It features 36 peaks with the main peak, Lotus Peak, being 1864 meters above sea level.

Huangshan Mountain Scenic Area is World Cultural and Natural Double Heritage listed, World Geopark, National AAAAA-class tourist scenic spot, national-level scenic spot, national civilized scenic tourist area demonstration site, and one of China’s top ten famous mountains.

Facts

    • Chinese: 黄山
    • UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site
    • Location: Huangshan City, Anhui
    • National 5A rated attraction
    • Ticket price: 190 RMB Mar to Nov and 150 RMB Dec to Feb.
    • Hours: Sunday to Friday 06:30 – 16:30 Saturday 06:00 – 16:30 (note that it is OK to stay on the mountain overnight)
    • Huangshan Scenic Area covers an area of ​​160.6 square kilometers

    Highlights

    Huangshan is known mostly for its natural attractions and landscapes which include rock formations, unique pine trees, valleys of clouds (typical of late Autumn in the North Sea area), and hot spring. The mountain is also famed for its waterfalls with the three most noted being Renzi Waterfall (人字瀑), Baizhang Waterfall (百丈泉), and Jiulong Waterfall/Nine-Dragon Waterfall (九龙瀑).

    The mountain is divided into key scenic areas which contain numerous attractions

    Yuping Scenic Area 玉屏景区
    Huangping Yuping Scenic Area is centered on Yuping Building (Yupinglou Hotel), with Lotus Peak and Tiandu Peak as the main body. A famed attraction is the Yuping Reclining Buddha (玉屏卧佛) and the Yupinglou Hotel (黄山玉屏楼宾馆).

    North Sea 北海景区
    It has plenty of wonders. Before your eyes flash the Shixin Peak, the Lion Peak, the Refreshing Terrace, the Monkey Gazing at the Sea, the Flying Stone and more. At 1690 meters above sea level, the Lion Peak is in the scenic area, and the cool terrace on the peak is the best place to watch the clouds and sunrise.

    Songgu Scenic Area 松谷景区
    Songgu Scenic Area on the north slope of Huangshan Mountain. It is a combination of the valleys of the Lion Peak, Camel Peak, Book Box Peak and Pagoda Peak. Walking up the mountain from Furongling, you need to climb more than 6,500 stone steps, with an altitude difference of 1,100 meters. Visit the Songgu Scenic Area to see the peaks of Furong Peak, Danxia Peak, Songlin Peak, Shuangsun Peak, Xianren Guanhai, Xianren Pao Road, Tiger Sangyang, Guan Gong Block Cao, Crouching Tiger Stone and other rock formations, Emerald Pool, Wulongtan and other water features. Ancient buildings such as Furongju and Songgu Chanlin.

    Baiyun Scenic Area 白云景区
    Huangshan Baiyun Scenic Area is located in the western part of Huangshan Mountain, covering an area of ​​1,655 hectares. The scenic spot is centered on the fishing bridge, the fishing bridge is located under the Shiren Peak, the convergence of Baiyun and Baimen two streams, 610 meters above sea level, the fishing bridge is also known as the Baiyun Temple.

    Yungu Scenic Area 云谷景区
    Located in the eastern part of Huangshan Mountain, Yungu Scenic Area is only 890 meters above sea level and is a valley. The main attractions in Yungu are Yungu Mountain Villa, ancient trees, rock formations, “Jiulong Waterfall” and “ Baizhang Spring ”.

    Hot Spring 黄山-温泉景区
    The Huangshan Hot Spring is spouted from the Ziyun Peak, and the Taohua Peak is separated from the stream. It is the first stop to enter the Huangshan Mountain through the Huangshan Gate. The amount of water in the hot springs is about 400 tons per day. It is always around the year. The water temperature is around 42 degrees per year. It is an alpine hot spring .

    Visiting

    • Autumn (September – November) – Postcard-perfect scenes with color everywhere
    • Summer (Late May – August) – warm but not hot, cools off the higher you go.
    • Spring ( Late March – Early May) – everything is lush and blooming. It’s cool temp wise and often rains requiring warm clothing and jackets.
    • Winter (December – Early March) – off-peak season and some sections may even close yet everything is discounted and you get snow-covered peaks.

    Around the mountain – there are no roads on the mountain so it’s cable cars and walking. You can walk the main sights circuit in a day although some may take a more relaxed approach and stay on the mountain overnight, catching the sunset and sunrise.

    Crowds – Being such a popular attraction, it’s not recommended to visit during national holidays, and even weekends can be busy.

    Here is a link to the Baidu Map which is useful, even though it is Chinese only, for having trails and icons for toilets food halls etc.

    The Cable Cars

    • Yuping Cableway (玉屏索道) – Mar 2 to Oct. 31: Ticket Price 80 RMB Hours 06:20 – 17:40 (Mon to Fri); 06:00 – 17:40 (Sat to Sun and public holidays) | Nov. 1 – March 1: Ticket Price 65 RMB Hours 07:20 – 16:40
    • Taiping (黄山太平索道-丹霞站) – Mar 2 to Oct. 31: Ticket Price 80 RMB Hours 06:20 – 17:40 (Mon to Fri); 06:00 – 17:40 (Sat to Sun and public holidays) | Nov. 1 – March 1: Ticket Price 65 RMB Hours 07:20 – 16:40
    • Yangu Cable Car (云谷索道) – Mar 2 to Oct. 31: Ticket Price 90 RMB Hours 06:20 – 17:40 (Mon to Fri); 06:00 – 17:40 (Sat to Sun and public holidays) | Nov. 1 – March 1: Ticket Price 75 RMB Hours 07:20 – 16:40
    • West Sea Valley/Xihai (西海大峡谷观光缆车) – Ticket Price 100 RMB Hours 08:00 – 17:00; closed from December to March

    Climate

    Huangshan is in the subtropical monsoon climate zone. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, and the climate changes vertically. The local topography plays a leading role in the climate. There are many clouds, high humidity and precipitation, forming a special mountain monsoon climate. There is no heat in summer and cold in winter. The average annual precipitation of the mountain top is 2369.3 mm, and the average annual rainy day is 180.6 days. It is mostly concentrated in April-June, with snow cover day 32.9 days, foggy day 259 days, strong wind 118.7 days, annual average temperature of 7.9 °C, summer maximum temperature of 27 °C, winter. The minimum temperature is -22 ° C, and the longest rainless period is 40 days.

    Surrounding attractions

    • Hongcun Ancient Village (宏村) (西递村古建筑群)
    • Tunxi Ancient Street (老街)
    • Shexian County (歙县)
    • Chengkan Village (呈坎村)
    • Tangmo Ancient Village (唐模村)
    • Tangyue Archways (棠樾牌坊群)
    • Huizhou Ancient City (徽州古城)
    • Mukeng Bamboo Forest (木坑竹海)

    Getting there

    Tankou is the name of the small one-street town that is right at the gate to the Huangshan Scenic area. It’s from here that you can take the special scenic area buses departing from National Line transfer station (新国线南大门换乘点售票处) that head up to the lower Yuping Cableway (玉屏索道), Yangu Cable Car (云谷索道) and to the Hot Spring Scenic Spot (黄山-温泉景区).

    Tunxi district is the Huangshan city area and is approximately 60km from the mountain yet it is a popular base due it being more developed, more affordable accommodation, and having the airport.

    No matter where you come from, all visitors to the mountain pass through the only gate at Tankou.

    By High Speed Train

    Huangshanbei Station (黄山北站), aka Huangshan North Station, is connected to the Fuzhou High Speed Railway which connects directly to Shanghai and Fuzhou.

    Huangshanbei Station is 42 km from Huangshan Scenic Area, 18 km from Huangshan Tunxi, and 17 km from Huizhou Ancient Town.

    There is a bus station at the train station with services connecting to Tankou (汤口) taking about one hour/20RMB ticket. They will take you to the terminal at Tankou where you can then take the scenic area buses that head up to the mountain’s lower cable car points, the bus ride is 20 RMB and 20 minutes.

    Also at Huangshanbei Station, there are two direct buses each day that head directly to two of the lower cable car entry on the mountain.

    From Huangshan Tunxi International Airport you can take a bus or taxi (15min/20 RMB) to the Huangshanbei Station (黄山北站) where you can take the bus as outlined above.

    Staying at Huangshan

    Staying on the mountain

    There are some amazing hotels actually on the mountain where you can stay and capture the real mountain experience.

      – four-star scenic retreat on the mountain and only ten minutes walk from the main sunrise viewing spot.

    Staying near the mountain at Tankou

    As mentioned earlier, Tankou is a small town that serves as the gateway to the mountain scenic area.

    Staying at Tunxi

    Tunxi is the main city of Huangshan and is 60km south of the mountain and Tankou.

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