Sights in Ānhuī
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Huáng Shān Summit
Regardless of how you ascend Huáng Shān, you'll be stung by a dizzying entrance fee; ticket prices continue to gallop way ahead of inflation. Pay at the eastern steps near the Cloud Valley Temple Cable Car Station (云谷寺索道站; Yúngǔsì Suǒdào) or at the Ciguang Temple (慈光阁; Cíguāng Gé), where the western steps begin. Minibuses run to both places from Tāngkǒu.
Make sure to pack enough water, food and appropriate clothing before climbing; taking sunscreen is also recommended as the sun can get fierce on clear days from spring onwards. Bottled water and food prices increase the higher you go, so take provisions with you.
As mountain paths are easy to …
reviewed
-
A
Refreshing Terrace
Refreshing Terrace attracts sunrise crowds (nearby hotels supply thick padded jackets to customers). The North Sea (北海; Běihǎi) sunrise is a highlight for those spending the night on the summit. Lucky visitors are rewarded with the luminous spectacle of yúnhǎi (literally 'sea of clouds'): idyllic pools of mist that settle over the mountain, filling its chasms and valleys with fog and turning its peaks into islands that poke from the clouds. Located five minutes from Beihai Hotel.
reviewed
-
Beginning to Believe Peak
Beginning to Believe Peak is a major bottleneck for photographers gathering around jaw-dropping views. The staggering and otherworldly views from the summit reach out over huge valleys of granite and enormous formations of rock, topped by gravity-defying slivers of stone and the gnarled forms of ubiquitous Huangshan pine trees (Pinus taiwanensis). Many rocks have been christened with fanciful names by the Chinese, alluding to figures from religion and myth.
reviewed
-
Cloud Valley Temple Cable Car
Minibuses ferry visitors from Tāngkǒu to here. Either arrive very early or late (if you're staying overnight) as queues of more than one hour are the norm. In the peak season (officially 1 March to 30 November), people can wait up to three hours for a ride - you may as well walk.
reviewed
-
Taiping Cable Car
Accessing Huáng Shān from the north via the Taiping Cable Car is also an option. Minibuses run from Huáng Shān Qū (an additional access point to Huáng Shān) to the cable-car station.
reviewed
-
West Sea
The wind regularly whips up at the West Sea, where breathtaking views stretch out along a huge gorge and the chains of the observation area are left garlanded with clumps of padlocks by romantic couples.
reviewed
-
Jade Screen Cable Car
Minibuses run from Tāngkǒu to the Ciguang Temple, which is linked by the Jade Screen Cable Car to the area just below the Yupinglou Hotel.
reviewed
-
Purple Cloud Peak
Clamber up here for a long survey over the landscape and try to catch the sun as it descends in the west.
reviewed
-
Flower Blooming on a Brush Tip
The Flower Blooming on a Brush Tip is a granite formation topped by a pine tree.
reviewed
-
Zhīyuán Temple
Just past the village's main entrance on your left, worshippers hold sticks of incense to their foreheads and face the four directions at this enticingly esoteric yellow temple. There are chanting sessions in the evening that pilgrims can join.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Xīdì
Dating to AD 1047, the village of Xīdì has for centuries been a stronghold of the Hu (胡) clan, descended from the eldest son of the last Tang emperor who fled here in the twilight years of the Tang dynasty. Typical of the elegant Huīzhōu style, Xīdì's 124 surviving buildings reflect the wealth and prestige of the prosperous merchants who settled here.
Xīdì has flirted gaily with its increasing popularity and, as a Unesco World Heritage site, enjoys an increasingly lucrative tourist economy. The village nevertheless remains a picturesque tableau of slender lanes, cream-coloured walls topped with horse-head gables, roofs capped with dark tiles, and doorways ornately …
reviewed
-
Tǎchuān
Located 3km northwest of Hóngcūn is the tiny little village of Tǎchuān. It's set at the base of a valley and noted for its stunning autumn scenery. Each year, the leaves on old-growth trees in and around the village change colours for anywhere between 10 to 30 days. The entire valley comes ablaze in shades of orange, green and brown, much to the delight of photographers. On other days, the villagers eke out their living by planting rice and tea. From afar, the village looks like a pagoda as it's built across the steps of foothills. House 18 has some of the most exquisite wooden carvings in the region. Admission includes a guide with limited English-speaking skills.
reviewed
-
Parks
Among Héféi's green spaces, Xiāoyáojīn Park and Bāohé Park are the most pleasant. Bāohé Park contains various sights worth paying for.
reviewed
-
Nánpíng
With a history of over 1100 years, this intriguing and labyrinthine village, 5km to the west of Yīxiàn town, is famed as the setting of Zhang Yimou's 1989 tragedy Judou. Numerous ancient ancestral halls, clan shrines and merchant residences survive within Nánpíng's mazelike alleys, including the Chéngshì Zōngcí (程氏宗祠) and the Yèshì Zōngcí (叶氏宗祠). The Lǎo Yáng Jiā Rǎnfáng (老杨家染坊) residence that served as the principal household of dyer Gongli and her rapacious husband in Judou remains cluttered with props, and stills from the film hang from the walls. Admission includes a guide with limited English-speaking skills.
reviewed
-
B
Míngjiào Temple
Small and atmospheric and looking out of place, this temple sits 5m above ground on the pedestrianised section of Huaihe Lu.
reviewed
-
Huàchéng Sì
The largest, most colouful and elaborate temple in town. Ornately carved dragons serve as handrails up the main steps. The eaves and beams of the buildings are painted in every colour imaginable and the icing on the cake is the three huge golden bodhisattvas that greet visitors: each one sits at least 25m tall.
reviewed
-
Hóngcūn
Dating to the southern Song dynasty, the delightful village and Unesco World Heritage site of Hóngcūn, 11km northeast of Yīxiàn, has at its heart the crescent-shaped Moon Pond (月沼; Yuè Zhǎo) and is encapsulated by South Lake (南湖; Nán Hú), West Stream (西溪; Xī Xī) and Léigǎng Mountain (雷岗山; Léigǎng Shān). Famously conceived to resemble an ox, with its still-functioning waterway system representing the entrails, Hóngcūn is home to members of the traditionally wealthy Wang (汪) clan. The village is a charming and unhurried portrait of bridges, lakeside views, narrow alleys and traditional halls. Alleyway channels flush water through the village from West Stream to Moon Pond an…
reviewed
-
Guānlù
Around 8km west of Yīxiàn and further along the road beyond Nánpíng, this small village's drawcard sights are the fabulous households – Bādàjiā (八大家) – of eight rich brothers. Each Qing-dynasty residence shares similar elegant Huīzhōu features, with light wells, interior courtyards, halls, carved wood panels and small gardens. Each an independent entity, the households are interconnected by doors and linked together into a systemic whole. A distinctive aspect of the residences is their elegantly painted ceilings, the patterns and details of which survive. The houses have now been subdivided among the decendants' families. Sadly, many wings are in disrepair as man…
reviewed
-
Former Residence of Li Hongzhang
Further west along Huaihe Lu, this restored home of a local official from the late Qing dynasty sits stoically amid the hubbub of commercial activity all around.
reviewed
-
C
Ānhuī Provincial Museum
Contains displays of bronzes, Han-dynasty tomb rubbings and some fine examples of the wooden architectural style found around Huángshān.
reviewed
Advertisement
