Planning a trip to Huangshan involves discovering the hidden gems of this Chinese wonder. This guide is designed to assist in exploring the enchanting landscapes and cultural richness of this remarkable destination, providing valuable insights for an unforgettable experience.
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Highlights in Huangshan
The Yellow Mountains are absolutely the highlight. Either a cable car or walking are ways to get around. For adventures, if the weather permits, you could have a flying experience with a paramotor. It is also well worth getting up early to watch the sunrise.
Visit nearby villages. Hongcun Village at the foot of the Yellow Mountains is the most popular one where you could learn about the original Hui style architecture (a type of traditional Chinese architecture) and have some cultural experiences like making fish-shaped lanterns.
Bishan Village, though it will be a little far away from the Yellow Mountain is also recommended for its peaceful vibe if you want to escape from the noisy city. Ride a bike along the field, listen to the chirp, or just have a cup of coffee on the hotel terrace and enjoy the idyllic views in the distance.
How Long to Spend in Huangshan
We suggest at least a 3-day Huangshan trip for the essence experience and a not-in-rush travel pace. See our 3-Day Ancient Villages and Yellow Mountain Tour.
If you wish to experience more activities like those mentioned above, such as learning to make lanterns or embarking on a trekking tour, you may require approximately 4 to 5 days. See 4 Days Trekking in the Yellow Mountains Tour.
Huangshan is usually a stop for many first-time visitors to China. If you want to include Huangshan in your trip to China, you could see our 2-Week Beijing, Guilin, Hangzhou, Huangshan, and Shanghai.
You could get more ideas on our How Long to Spend in Huangshan or contact us to make a Huangshan (or China) itinerary based on your needs.
Suggested 5-Day Huangshan Itinerary
- Day 1: Arrival and rest
- Days 2-3: The Yellow Mountains sightseeing (hiking, watching the sunset and sunrise, a flying experience)
- Day 4: Visit Bishan village and Hongcun village with a lantern-making experience
- Day 5: Departure
For more details, you could see our 5-Day Dynamic Huangshan Tour
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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Beautiful Hongshuan
We recently spent 4 days with Alvin hosting us throughout Huangshan, Tunxi and Hongcun. The scenery was spectacular, hotels quirky, food excellent and knowledge and passion from Alvin was so invaluable and also fun! Would highly recommend. more
Jan 2024, Joanne
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2 days in the mountains
Alvin was attentive and good company. He went to the extra effort to show us things we were interested in viewing and provided detailed information. more
Jan 2024, Robert Fleming
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Huangshan 2-5 Jan 2024
As compared to another guide I had back in 2019 for Huangshan with another agency, Jack’s services were exemplary. He was patient and flexible to accommodate to our requests. Very knowledgeable, responsible and responsive. Throughout the trip he was always telling us the best angles and spots for nice pictures. Most importantly, he speaks English, hence we are able to communicate comfortably with a mix of Chinese and English. more
Jan 2024, Amanda Tan
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5 days 4 nights Huang Shan trip
I had very little time to plan for this trip due to my busy schedule. Emily was very helpful and almost instantly drafted a planned itinerary for me and my family after a short chat with her. Super efficient and it took me just hours to decide on my schedule. We had also very good guide (小赵)with us. She is meticulous and knowledgeable, we were all very well taken care of during the trip. Had a great and enjoyable trip! more
Dec 2023, David
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Huangshan
We booked a 3 day tour of Huangshan with China Highlights. Tony was our guide in Huangshan. He was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. I was able to appreciate the Hui culture and Huangshan more thanks to Tony. The entire trip went smoothly thanks to China Highlights! more
Dec 2023, helen
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Wonderful experience!
Absolutely stunning at every turn. Our guide, Jack showed us wonderfully beautiful spots where few visitors go. He knew all the best spots and went out of his way to ensure our stay exceeded our expectations. The arranged hotel was very good too. Well done! more
Nov 2023, george123w2014
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Great experience from beginning to end!
Our guide, Frank, in Huangshan, Xidi and HongCun was knowledgeable, punctual and personable. He made everything go smoothly. The trip to China was wonderful and was enjoyed by my adult kids and their partners who have never been to China. Thank you both so much!!! more
Nov 2023, Susan X. Lu
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China 29 days trip
From our guide in Xi’an to the guide in Kwelin , they are all excellent. 韩颂 in Beijing, Susan in Xi’an, Alvin in Huang Shan, Sally in YiZhang , Peter in Zongzhing, Doyle in 昆明,Daisy in Tali, Martin in Lijiang and the last Vincent in Guilin. They all performed their services well. We are happy to have met them, hopefully we will keep in touch. more
Nov 2023, Tiong-Oen Pouw
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Enjoyable short trip with beautiful sightseeing
The Local Guide Tony was knowledgeable and he gave lots of information about the province and towns. He was patient to us especially I have slight difficulty in walking. He was capable and managed to bring us around Huang Shan to see all the different peaks and other sights even though the weather was not ideal on the first day.Overall, we enjoyed our 4 days 3 nights trip. more
Nov 2023, Lay San Ong
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Huangshan, Anhui Province, China
Our guide, Tony, was very kind, helpful and had an excellent level of English.This was the first time I booked directly with a Chinese travel agency, but I would certainly do it again and recommend it to everyone who wants to visit China. more
Oct 2023, Ina
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Stunning Yellow Mountain and beautiful Ancient Villages
We had the most fantastic experience with our tour guide, Jack Fan, who is very knowledgeable about the Yellow Mountain and was able to get us quickly to the most stunning highlights. He was our "photographer" anytime we wanted a photo and that was very often. We made the most of our time having him guiding us. He was truly the mountain man as he is a local there. He is very passionate about what he does. He loves history, nature, and travel, which is a must for a guide. He provided historical facts about the stunning Ancient villages at Hong Cun and Xidi. He answered any questions we had about history, nature, and current things we had. I felt like he was a professor, and we were his students in a very good way. He was NEVER late, and neither was our driver. They never bought us anywhere to "sell" us things. He took us to buy tea only when we asked to buy a specific tea, staying much later than he should have! I wanted to check out lotus and rice fields, which was not on the itinerary, but he squeezed it in for us. We were very well taken care of. I highly recommend Jack for a tour guide who speaks English. more
Sep 2023, annemompt
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Beautiful Huangshan
Our tour guide Tony was indeed very knowledgeable and helpful the entire trip. His explanation and description of the villages in English is very good. Tony is very accommodating to our requests too. The hike up in the mountains was really good and exciting and Tony managed to bring us to most of the recommended viewpoints and waited for us to catch our breath when we’re too exhausted hiking. I fully recommend getting Tony as your guide. more
Jul 2023, CindyBeezeebee
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"The Mysterious and Gorgeous Peaks Make Yellow Mountain a MUST Visit"
My girlfriend and I went to Yellow Mountain during the Labor Day Holiday in China, and honestly were amazed by the actual beauty of it all. Our tour guide Sunny (thank you so much for your exquisite work) made our trip even better. The hotels that were chosen by the China Highlights agency were perfect, the Shanshui Boutique in the heart of the Huangshan city was so convenient to walk from, and the Xihai Hotel on the mountains was a perfect stop for the hiking we did for two days. The tour that we did was not enough to see everything of course so we shall be returning in the near future. We were so lucky about the weather and the crowds (holiday) that the perfect visit was even more marvelous as I proposed to my girlfriend on the Flying Rock peak during a breathtaking sunset. This will always be our rock and for that I am very grateful since Sunny the tour guide made it perfect for us. more
May 2023, High F
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Absolutely Stunning Yellow Mountains
In April 23 China Highlights organised a 3 day, 2 night trip for us from Shanghai to Huangshan. From the Bullet Train to the scenery at the World Heritage Yellow Mountains to the Tea ceremony - It's a must visit for anyone visiting China, however, not often on Western Tourist Programs. more
May 2023, Megan S
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Stunning Yellow Mountains - Huangshan
In April 23 China Highlights organised a 3 day, 2 night trip for us from Shanghai to Huangshan in the Anhui Province. From the Bullet Train to the scenery at the World Heritage Yellow Mountains, the meals and the Tea ceremony - It's a must visit for anyone visiting China, however, not often on Western Tourist Programs. Liberman who arranged the trip, and Tony who was our guide were always available to assist us. 10/10 - Thanks very much. Adam Liaws, "Destination Flavour China"(S1 Episode2 visits the Anhui province - worth a watch to see how beautiful the region is. more
May 2023, Leonie Megan
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Mystical misty mountain tour
We three ladies took a three-day trip away from our families to enjoy the peace of the countryside and the inspiring beauty of Huangshan. China Highlights and our tour guide, Jack Fan, made the trip everything we had hoped for an even more. We started the first day with bicycle and foot tours in Bishan Village- absolutely charming! We then moved to Huangshan and… wow! It’s easy to see what artists and poets have been inspired throughout the centuries. Jack has spent years on the mountain and knows every corner of it. He made sure to take us to the best places in the limited time we had and made it all extra special by sharing the history and stories. He also knew exactly how long every path would take and planned to maximize our time with a steady pace. Early rain quickly passed and left us with the views of the moving “sea of clouds” that everyone talks about. We are all so glad we didn’t miss Huangshan- there’s a reason everyone says it’s the most beautiful mountain in China. Thanks, Jack, for a wonderful tour! more
Apr 2023, christinajeanne
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4 Day Yellow Mountain Trip
Tony was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, who skillfully dealt with any issues as they arose to make sure the days passed seamlessly and enjoyably. more
Sep 2022, Paul
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5-Day Dynamic Huangshan Tour is a must!
My husband and I were in awe of the natural beauty of the Yellow Mountain. Our guide Phillip Tong, with China Highlights, gave us an exceptional experience at our pace. (As an older couple this was greatly appreciated.) He shared his vast knowledge of history and cultural significance as we trekked over and around the mountain, touring Bishan, and Hongcun. We concluded our trip by making fish lanterns. China Highlights has once again provided us with great memories. more
Aug 2022, Catherine C
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I did a 4 day trekking in the Yellow…
I did a 4 day trekking in the Yellow Mountains with China Highlights and it was even more stunning than I thought it would be. Spend two nights in the mountains and one in Huangshan, totally worth is. This is a place you must visit and according to my guide every season had it’s own beauty. I will definitely come back! Coco planned the whole trip according to my wishes and Tony was a perfect guide being very knowledgeable and supportive. If you don’t have 4 days I’m sure a three, or even two, day trip will be very nice as well! more
Aug 2022, Elizabeth
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We had a memorable experience hiking
We had a memorable experience hiking the Yellow Mountain in Huangshan. Our trip was complicated by the typhoon that hit the area and we had to have a flexible itinerary, China Highlights helped with this. Once we arrived, Tony was very helpful & was able to tailor the experience for the different fitness levels in the group. more
Sep 2021, Leigh Smith
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When to Go
Generally speaking, Huangshan is worth visiting all year round.
In spring and summer, the natural scenery is very green, and you can see more different views with the changeable weather. You can appreciate seas of clouds on the Yellow Mountains and appreciate yellow rape flowers along the road. You can see red flowers covering the mountains in May.
Cool autumn is a good season to climb mountains, with less rain, and the red leaves on the Yellow Mountains are beautiful.
In winter, though the Yellow Mountains are cold, is still worth traveling. You can also see the snow-capped mountains and rime trees if you're lucky enough to meet the snowy weather. Both the scenic area and hotels are on discount, and you can enjoy a virtually crowd-free trip in winter.
See more on Best Times to Visit Huangshan
Get to Huangshan
If you travel to Huangshan from its nearby cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou, taking a bullet train is the most popular way.
If you are traveling from some other city such as Beijing, it is faster to fly, of course, you could also choose to take a bullet train.
Get Around Huangshan
The majority of sightseeing in Huangshan relies on car transportation, whether it's commuting from hotels to the Yellow Mountains or exploring villages. Public transportation poses difficulties in accessing certain village areas like Bishan Village for sightseeing. Opting for a taxi is notably less convenient and flexible compared to the freedom and convenience offered by private cars.
We will manage all the transport within Huangshan and provide private transfers to enable a smooth and hassle-free journey. All our tours are customized. Just contact us to create your Huangshan trip based on your interests and requirements.
Where to Stay in Huangshan
The accommodation areas we recommend are mainly based on different sightseeing needs:
If you want to see the sunrise and sunset in the Yellow Mountains and want to visit the mountains more conveniently, we recommend choosing the hotels on the mountain. Spend one day to climb the mountains, then spend a night on the mountain, and descend on the next day.
Huangshan has many boutique hotels with a peaceful and artistic vibe. Some of them have been converted from traditional buildings, retaining the local architectural style. If you want to enjoy the quiet countryside, we highly recommend staying there for a few nights, waking up in the fresh air and cycling around the surrounding fields.