Huangshan Spotlight Experiences
The charms of Huangshan are not just found in the Yellow Mountains.
As a cradle of ancient civilization, this place has long been immersed in a profound history and unique culture, so that it has become a muse for artists and religious leaders. The essence of Chinese ink painting is right there.
See a different side to Huangshan and enjoy rural fun with these spotlight experiences by getting closer to the proud locals' cuisine, religion, and creative ideas for a rural utopia.
A Rural Artistic Utopia — Bishan Escape Tour
Duration: 2 Hours+
In China, most people yearn for a bustling and modern metropolis, while only a few try to go against this one-way path and seek a rural utopia. Then Bishan was chosen.
Compared with its famous neighbors, Hongcun and Xidi (about 20 kilometers away), which were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000, Bishan is more modest and less restless. So far, there is no entry threshold, and a complex of Hui-style architectural structures featuring white walls and black tiles are well-preserved there.
A group of writers and artists gathered there to try and weave their utopian dream among Bishan's century-old houses, green fields, and hills.
A poet couple renovated three deserted houses as cozy hideaways, including a pigsty, an oil workshop from Chairman Mao's ruling period, and a merchant's mansion from the Ming Dynasty.
Their painter son runs his brewpub, which used to be a small baozi shop next to one of the hotels.
An owner of one of world's coolest bookstores handpicked an old ancestral temple and opened a branch of the bookshop. And a Japanese design team even rebuilt an old-school ration market.
No one is better for telling the stories to you than your guide, a born and bred local.
If you are interested in how the artists creatively combine arts and the countryside, or if you are also one of those who seek a rural utopia, this escape tour may offer some insights for you.
Hongcun Lakeside Monastery: a Journey to Find Inner Peace
Duration: 2 Hours+
Traveling is not just about hiking the heights and wading through waves, but also about finding peaceful moments to explore your inner self. This small yet pious monastery is recommended for those who seek peaceful moments after a long journey.
What would a monk do to calm his mind? He may spend hours meditating, copying Buddhist sculptures, and painting on traditional paper fans. Get closer to the monks and learn about their daily lives.
Join in with any of the activities you are interested in. Sip a cup of tea and sit next to a master, try to relax and meditate, and find your inner peace in the temple next to the calm lake.
In spring and autumn, when all kinds of flowers are blossoming around the lake, you may also want to go for a walk and listen to the story about the lost ancient village that sits at the bottom of the lake.
Be a Huizhou Farmer — Visit a Local Family
Duration: 3 Hours+
People in Huangshan are very proud of their local cuisine. Anhui cuisine is one of China's eight great cuisines and the best Anhui food is known for incorporating wild ingredients.
First, they make sure of the freshness of the vegetables.
Step into a local family's organic farm, pick the freshest vegetables, and enjoy the simple happiness of being a farmer and collecting gifts from nature. Draw spring water from their wells and wash the dirt away from the vegetables.
If you want, participate in making a home-cooked meal using the Anhui cooking style under your hospitable hosts' guidance. Enjoy the meal in their ancestral house, which has a courtyard in the center.
Learn about their family history and their love of this magic land where they have chosen to stay for generations.
After your meal, enjoy some rural fun as you go for a walk along the zigzag alleys. The paths you step onto or the stones you touch may have been there 1,000 years ago.
Got the Postcard Tour
Here is a new funny way to travel around Huangshan!
Aiming at creating more beautiful memories for our travelers, we have handpicked few signature spots on your journey(the Yellow mountains and Hongcun) and made those pictures into postcards.
Your guide will help with taking good pictures of you and the postcard when you are on the perfect spot. You can hold the postcards as gifts and the pictures of you will send to you.