Huangshan(China)

February 2017

Huangshan(Yellow Mountain) is known in China as the most beautiful mountain. If you have seen the brush paintings depicting these kinds of mountain peaks and pine trees & ever wondered they really existed, yes, they do — in Huangshan.

Huangshan is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This was part of a packaged tour we took, and we were bused in from Hangzhou. It was a 3-hour drive covering 212 kilometers passing by many small villages filled with white houses that are famous in the southern Anhui Province.

Huangshan City, which is still known as its old name Tunxi, has a pedestrian street which retains a bit of old charm with lots of contemporary tourist nagging going on. But the pace is slow, and you can find reasonably priced restaurants along with various shops selling teas, brushes and ink blocks, candies, and local products. Our favorite was the “10 Yuan($1.50) Store” that had a rather eclectic collection of items that you never knew you needed. There seemed to be no shortage of massage places to stay. Our room at the Huangshan International Hotel, a 15-20 minute walk from the Old Street, was comfortable enough.

The next morning, Thomas, our local tour guide, showed up on time at the hotel lobby. We found him on Tripadvisor & he was just terrific. He used to be a school teacher, but he said he could support his family better as a tour guide. He used to make about $500/month as a teacher. He drove us to the mountain in his car.

He grew up in the area, and he was eager to show us as much as possible. Considering our ages, he tried not to push us too hard, but, still, we saw a lot more than those from our tour group that went on a group tour sponsored by the tour company. He charged us only about $65 for his full day service. Pat received the senior discount & got into the park for free. I paid 75 Yuan(about $12). The cable car and the shuttle bus rides were 198 yuan/pp.

Thomas helped us with getting the tickets – not much English was spoken at the ticket office – and, overall, we were very happy that he was with us to show us where to go. These days any decent tourist attraction in China is overcrowded by Chinese tourists, and Huangshan was no exception. Thomas knew how to dodge big tour groups & we did manage to take some pictures without any strange faces in them.

Wikipedia article mentions: “The hotels, restaurants, and other facilities at the top of the mountain are serviced and kept stocked by porters who carry resources up the mountain on foot, hanging their cargo from long poles balanced over their shoulders or backs.”

As we ascended the mountain, we certainly witnessed enough of this in action.

There is Thomas.

Chairman Mao

Our lunch was at a restaurant on top of the mountain. Thomas helped us with ordering, and he discouraged us from ordering expensive items. “You can have better food for less in town,” he explained.

People stay in a hotel near the top of the mountain to witness the sunset and sunrise, we were told. But we had only a day to spare, and, we felt we had seen enough. With lots of people competing for the best view of the sun setting or rising, we might not have gotten what we had bargained for even if we had stayed overnight. Maybe in the winter time, you will be able to experience peace and quiet.