A Solo Trip: Exploring Huangshan, Sanqingshan, Wuyuan, Wuyishan, Guifeng, and Hongcun in Ten Days

Southern Traveler Ding Zi

After years of work pressure, I was tired both physically and mentally. Once relieved, I felt completely relaxed, so why not take a solo trip?

After a simple plan, I decided to make Huangshan the first stop. From an economic perspective, taking a bus is the most expensive, followed by high-speed train, and the cheapest is by plane. So I chose to fly. However, direct flights from Nanning to Huangshan only arrive in the evening, so it was better to combine a flight with a high-speed train. I bought a ticket on xCheng.com (total fare 490 yuan, including insurance).

On November 24, I got up at around 6 a.m., took the airport shuttle from Fangchenggang to Wuxu Airport, and arrived at Wuxu Airport around 9 a.m. The plane took off on time at 11:45 a.m. At 1:50 p.m., the plane landed at Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport. I spent 20 yuan on an intercity bus to Hangzhou East Station, then transferred to the 4:19 p.m. high-speed train from Hangzhou to Huangshan North. I arrived at Huangshan North at 6:17 p.m.

At that time, it was drizzling, the sky was getting dark quickly, and the temperature was only 13°C (Fangchenggang was 25°C that day). After getting off the high-speed train, I had no sense of direction, so I quickly called the boss of a Huangshan guesthouse (booked on xCheng.com). The young, handsome boss was very enthusiastic and immediately drove to pick me up. When we arrived at the guesthouse, the boss stir-fried a tasty dish for me, and I was very satisfied with the meal.

The boss also turned on the heater in my room in advance. The room was large and clean. After a long day of travel, I washed up and went to sleep.

I originally thought there would be early buses like in our port city, so I planned to go from Huangshan North Station to the Huangshan Scenic Area and climb the mountain the same day. So the next day (November 25), I got up at around 6 a.m.

The guesthouse did not provide breakfast, but the boss was so kind. When I went downstairs, I saw an aunt (probably the boss's mother) busy, and she told me to wait, the noodles would be ready soon. I said I didn't order any, but she said it was complimentary. Soon, she brought me a steaming bowl of noodles with a poached egg on top. This was my first touching moment in Huangshan, and I felt the people of Anhui were very warm.

After breakfast, I carried my backpack and walked for about ten minutes (it was too early, so I didn't ask the boss to drive me) to the transfer center. I found that the bus to the Huangshan Scenic Area would not depart until 9 a.m. Oh man, I got up too early.

At around 10 a.m., I finally took a passenger bus to Tangkou Town (the entrance to Huangshan Scenic Area). I found the boutique hotel Cheng x Jing (booked on xCheng.com), which was conveniently located right next to the scenic area transfer center entrance. The front desk clerk arranged a room for me. Knowing that I wanted to go up the mountain immediately, he advised me that going up today would be a waste of money, as I would only walk a redundant path and wouldn't be able to see the scenery. He suggested I go up the next day and finish the trip in one day, which would save over 200 yuan (he turned out to be right).

I said that not going up today would waste time, so the clerk suggested I visit the surrounding area. I said Hongcun, and he immediately arranged a ride for me, which was very cheap, only 60 yuan round trip.

This hotel not only offered warm and attentive service but also had very standardized management and attention to detail. The cleaning lady told me that I needed to bring plenty of water for hiking Huangshan, so she gave me two extra bottles (the room only came with two). This was my second touching moment in Anhui, and I had to give a thumbs up.

Cloudy with light rain, temperature 8-12°C. Hongcun: a national historical and cultural village, a 5A national scenic spot.

Off we went. The driver was very enthusiastic, introducing local customs and culture, especially Da Hong Pao tea, but unfortunately I don't drink tea. Both sides of the road were lined with metasequoia trees, and the golden leaves carpeted the ground, making it very beautiful. The driver said that due to the rain in recent days, the leaves had fallen; otherwise it would be even more beautiful. I noticed that the roofs of the houses all had gable walls with 'horse heads' built on them, some with three layers, some with four. I found it strange. The driver told me that this was for fire prevention and was a characteristic of Anhui.

After about an hour, I arrived at the scenic area. I bought a ticket (half price, 52 yuan), and the driver told me to call the dispatcher to arrange a pick-up when I finished.

The village is backed by a mountain on one side and faces water on the other. The houses are all old-style Huizhou architecture, combining the elegance of Jiangnan water towns with local features, giving an antique and quaint feel. Unfortunately, the commercial atmosphere was too heavy, covering the original flavor. In front of the village was a half-moon-shaped pond (I later learned it was called Moon Pond), and the reflections of the houses on the water were very beautiful.

At the village entrance, there were two ancient trees said to be 500 years old: a Chinese wingnut tree and a ginkgo tree. The wingnut tree was 19 meters tall with a trunk circumference of 6 meters, requiring 4 or 5 people to encircle; its canopy was like a giant umbrella shading several acres at the entrance. The ginkgo tree on the south side was 20 meters tall, with golden leaves half on the tree and half on the ground.

At that moment, I saw someone selling duck legs. Feeling hungry, I bought one for 10 yuan and tried it; it tasted good. Entering the village, I saw the 'mao tofu' featured in 'A Bite of China'. I bought a portion for 5 yuan. The taste was similar to our southern fermented bean curd but not as salty, and it wasn't particularly good.

The light rain was getting heavier, and I forgot to bring my umbrella, so I had to buy one for 15 yuan at a village supermarket.

The village alleys crisscrossed and were easy to get lost in. Every household had a ditch connecting to each other, convenient for water use and fire prevention, with the ditches leading straight to the front Moon Pond.

As the rain grew heavier, I didn't visit Chengzhi Hall or Jingxiu Hall, known as the 'folk Forbidden City', leaving some regret. Hongcun was originally built by wealthy Huizhou merchants and big landlords.

The driver said that the area outside Hongcun was also very beautiful, so I went out of the village to take a look. Indeed, a small river wound around the village, and the clear water reflected the green tiles and white walls, like a paradise. I took a few snapshots.

After about an hour, I left Hongcun. I remembered passing a place called Tacun, which was 2.5 kilometers from Hongcun, and I thought it was a place for autumn foliage. Since it was still early, I slowly walked back along the same road. The scenery along the way was also beautiful, though it was deep autumn, the autumn atmosphere lingered.

Tacun is indeed one of China's three best places for autumn foliage, attracting many photographers with their 'long guns and short cannons'. However, entering the village required a 40 yuan ticket. Since the peak autumn season had passed, few people entered, and everyone just looked and took photos from the surroundings. If you come from mid-October to mid-November, it would definitely be beautiful enough.

Tacun backs onto a road with many exits. To prevent 'attack' from photographers, villagers guarded every intersection, like the children's militia during the Anti-Japanese War, constantly watching for the enemy, tightly sealing the village.

At around 3 p.m., it was still raining, so I decided to go back. I called the female dispatcher, who told me to wait a moment for a car. After about ten minutes, the car came...

Back at the hotel, I discussed the next day's climbing plans with the service clerk.

Huangshan is divided into the front mountain and the back mountain. There are two cable cars: one from Cloud Valley Temple to White Goose Ridge (back mountain), and one from Ciguang Pavilion to Jade Screen Pavilion (front mountain). Usually, people go up from Cloud Valley Temple and down from Jade Screen Pavilion, completing both sides in one day. However, the Cloud Valley Temple cable car was closed for maintenance until December 14. If I went up from Ciguang Pavilion, it would be mostly uphill and I would have to backtrack, possibly running out of time. Hiking up from Cloud Valley Temple would take an extra 3 hours (about 7 hours in total), but I could basically cover the whole route. So I decided to start from Cloud Valley Temple (everyone should do their homework before going; climbing without a cable car can be exhausting).

Cloudy with light rain, temperature: 8-12°C at the base, 5-9°C on the mountain, a bit cold.

I had booked a ticket the day before (half price, 90 yuan). On the third day (November 26), after having breakfast at the hotel (noodles or wontons, 15 yuan; other options around 20 yuan), I took the scenic area shuttle (20 yuan) at 7:30 a.m. After about 20 minutes, the bus arrived at Cloud Valley Temple. I and more than 20 others got off and started climbing along the boardwalk.

As we climbed, I gradually couldn't hear other people's voices; I had left them behind.

I was sweating profusely, breathing heavily like an ox, it was very hard. But the porters were even harder. Some carried bamboo poles, others carried loads on shoulder poles, stopping every three to five steps to rest. I asked how much they weighed, and they said over 100 catties. Wow, I admired them.

A young man caught up with me; we started talking. He was from Beijing and also traveling alone. We chatted as we climbed. My legs began to hurt, especially my left knee, which felt weak and swollen. I gritted my teeth and persevered.

After 2.5 hours (average 3 hours), we finally reached White Goose Ridge (the cable car exit). We walked another 500 meters to a three-way intersection. We asked some people coming from below where we were, and they said Black Tiger Pine. Looking up, we saw a black pine tree with twisting branches like a black tiger ready to pounce.

The young man was staying on the mountain overnight, while I had to get back down. Our routes diverged, so we parted ways. I headed left, passed White Goose Villa, and went from West Sea to Cloud Pavilion. The fog grew thicker and thicker, everything was gray, making it hard to tell directions, let alone see the scenery. The fog gradually turned into raindrops, soaking me from head to toe with sweat and rain. I was cold and hot, hungry and uncomfortable.

I continued toward the First and Second Rings. The mountain path became steeper and steeper, with steps at 90-degree angles in some places, and only room for one person in others. The cliffs on the side were unfathomably deep and dangerous. No wonder it gets jammed during the National Day holiday, I thought. In a place like this, it takes 1-2 minutes for one person to pass, so with many people it would definitely be crowded.

Because I was walking too fast, my legs hurt more and more and became uncontrollable. Suddenly, both thighs stiffened, and every movement was excruciating. I knew I was having cramps. I stopped, endured the pain, and massaged my legs with my hands. After a few minutes, they slowly eased. I slowed down and continued toward the West Sea Grand Canyon (the most scenic spot).

After walking several hundred meters, I descended almost vertical steps to the bottom of the canyon. Although the thick fog obscured everything, I could still see the outlines of strange peaks and rocks, which were indeed beautiful. There were many strange rocks at the bottom, but the fog was too thick to see them clearly.

Continuing 800 meters ahead was the small train station. But when I got there, there was no train; it was a funicular tram. About 20 people stood in a carriage, operated by a driver, slowly moving upward like an elevator. Another 100 yuan gone after I got to the Grand Canyon service station.

At the service station, there were many tour groups and people taking a break. I took out my self-heating meal box and prepared to cook it, but I didn't know how to operate it. I asked a girl who was eating next to me. She taught me and even helped me cook it herself. After about ten minutes, the aroma of the meal filled the air, attracting many onlookers. Some asked me what it was; I told them it was a self-cooking meal box, and they said it was great to have a hot meal on the mountain and they would bring one next time.

The service station was 500 meters from Bright Summit Peak, the second highest peak in Huangshan, but the path was all steep stone steps, and you had to return the same way. It was a great test of willpower and stamina. I thought, since I'd come this far, I had to climb it even if I had to crawl.

I finally made it through the toughest and most dangerous parts. I thought that from Bright Summit Peak down to Jade Screen Area (the downhill cable car station) it would be all downhill, but I was wrong.

Coming out of Aoyu Cave, although it was downhill, the stone steps were carved out of the mountain and very steep. Below was a bottomless abyss. I had to grip the safety rope tightly, or I would fall and never be found. If someone came from the opposite direction, it was hard to pass; one person had to wait for the other to pass slowly.

After coming down from Lotus Peak, it was easier to walk, but too many downhill sections were not good either. Probably due to my shoes, the toenail of my right big toe pushed against the neighboring toe and caused a blister, my middle toe was bruised, and my heel was cracked, causing great pain.

But soon, I saw the symbol of Huangshan — the Welcoming Guest Pine. Only after seeing this pine had I truly arrived at Huangshan.

This was also a great place to learn photography skills. All the tourists gathered here to take photos with the Welcoming Guest Pine. With cameras and phones all around, many people asked me to take their pictures, and I was very busy.

There was a mother and son, the son in his 40s and the mother in her 60s, who asked me to take a group photo for them. To make the son look tall and mighty, I almost lay on the ground. They were thrilled with the photo and called me the most professional and skilled master, which made me a bit embarrassed. I also met two women and one man from Liuzhou, and I took a photo for them.

After taking photos, I originally planned to sprint to the Carp's Back, but my feet hurt too much and time was tight, so I gave up.

I said goodbye to the Accompanying Guest Pine and the Farewell Guest Pine, took the Jade Screen cable car (90 yuan) at 4 p.m. (the cable car closed at 5), and returned to the hotel.

In the evening, I had dinner downstairs at the hotel. I wanted to try the famous Anhui dish stinky mandarin fish (featured multiple times on 'A Bite of China'). I ordered one. When the fish was served, it had a strange smell. It tasted salty, like leftover fish that had been sitting for a few days, but without the fermented fragrance. It was both salty and stinky. I only ate half and gave the rest to the waiter. They laughed and said I was stunk out.

Cloudy with light rain, temperature 8-12°C. Chengkan: a national cultural relic protection unit, a 4A national tourist area, 'Hometown of National Treasures', a Bagua feng shui village.

Chengkan is a must-pass place from Huangshan North Station to the Huangshan Scenic Area. Since there is no stop on the expressway, there was no direct bus from Huangshan to Chengkan. I asked the hotel clerk to help arrange a ride for me. After asking many people, no one was going there. One driver said I could get off at the Chengkan service area on the expressway and then walk about ten minutes to Chengkan; I agreed.

On the fourth day (November 27), the driver picked me up at around 8 a.m., then picked up a few other people, and we set off for Chengkan.

At around 9 a.m., we arrived at the service area. I transferred the fare (25 yuan) to the driver via WeChat and then walked while asking for directions. I left the service area and came to a road, saw some houses not far away, and walked toward them. But I felt something was wrong, so I quickly turned on navigation. I had indeed gone in the wrong direction, adding several hundred meters. I backtracked and followed the navigation. After a few minutes, I saw houses that looked like a town, and after a few more minutes I found the hotel I had booked online (it was the first house at the village entrance, easy to find).

The hotel owner was a young guy who had come from elsewhere to open the shop. He took me upstairs and let me choose my own room. He was very friendly.

After putting down my luggage, I went out for a stroll. Along a small river, it took five minutes to reach the scenic area entrance. From the outside, I could see a clear stream running through the village in an 'S' shape, like the dividing line in a bagua diagram. The reflections of Ming and Qing ancient buildings in the water were very beautiful. Eight mountains surround the village, naturally forming the eight trigrams, creating a natural bagua layout.

I didn't go in directly but went to find the bus stop to check the departure time for the next day. There were four buses from Chengkan to Huangshan North, the earliest at 7:20 a.m. Next to the bus stop was a postal express office. I thought I could send some extra clothes home (this was a big mistake; in the following days I almost froze).

As I walked, every exit of the village had one or two people on guard (like in Tacun). It felt more and more like the children's militia guarding against the Japanese.

I went to another entrance and bought a ticket (half price, 53 yuan) to enter the scenic area. A girl at the ticket gate checked my ticket, and I asked her to take a photo of me. She was very warm and had some photography skills, quickly taking a good photo.

After the photo, I passed a gate with a pair of couplets on both sides. The first couplet said, 'After climbing Huangshan, there is no mountain in the world,' and the second said, 'After visiting Chengkan, there is no difficulty in life.' There was no horizontal scroll.

In front of the village, there was another crescent-shaped pond (similar to Hongcun), with patches of lotuses in the pond and two ancient bridges crossing it, forming a beautiful ink painting.

There were very few tourists inside the village. When a tourist appeared, a few women would gather around and ask if they needed a guide (if you like research, it's best to spend 20 yuan to hire one). I followed a tour group and entered the village following the guide signs. All the streets and alleys in the village were paved with granite slabs. Ancient houses stood in close rows, connecting vertically and horizontally, with green tiles and white walls, varying heights, long and short streets, interlocking like a maze. There was a saying that 'ten tourists, nine lost,' meaning that nine out of ten tourists entering the village would get lost.

Visiting the ancient houses, one could see the earliest green 'air conditioning,' learn the allusion of 'not leaving the inner door or stepping out of the second door,' and see many ancient precepts. In particular, the earliest automatic fire prevention system showed the wisdom of our ancestors.

People still lived in the village (I later asked the villagers and found out there were over 2,000 original residents). They grew flowers, vegetables, and raised livestock, maintaining the original style.

After following the tour group for most of the way, I turned back to explore on my own. But this time I really got lost. I wandered for a long time but couldn't find the exit, eventually returning to the same spot. The ticket patrol uncle saw me coming back and asked for my ticket. After seeing it, he said I hadn't yet visited the most essential scenic spot. I asked where it was, and he pointed it out to me as 'Luodongshu Shrine'.

I re-entered the village. This time I didn't dare to wander randomly and honestly followed the guide signs. Just before reaching another exit, I finally saw the Luodongshu Shrine (a private ancestral hall).

Truly worthy of being called 'the number one ancestral hall south of the Yangtze,' the hall was magnificent in scale and meticulously built, integrating 'antiquity, elegance, beauty, and grandeur' in its architecture.

The hall contained many items of great research value. For example, the colored paintings on the beams of Baolun Pavilion, which have maintained their colors for over 400 years, still baffle experts as to what materials were used. The main hall had four pillars, which experts estimate are worth at least 2 billion yuan (guess what kind of wood). The ancestral hall was indeed priceless. However, the protection measures were too poor, especially for the four pillars, which had no protection at all. Tourists touched and scraped them freely, leaving scars and faint inscriptions like 'XXX was here.' I hope the management pays attention and does not destroy the precious heritage left by our ancestors.

The ancestral hall is also a history book, recording the glorious history of a family. It is not only a place to worship ancestors but also a classroom for educating descendants. Through strict family precepts, generations of benevolent people were cultivated, which is also a spiritual treasure in modern society.

After leaving Luodongshu Shrine, I returned to the hotel to rest. At around 4 p.m., I took some clothes to the courier company to send home. Seeing that it was still early, I walked around the scenic area. I saw some tourists walking up a slope, so I asked the ticket girl what they were doing. She said the area above was also part of the scenic area, mainly for studying bagua and fortune-telling, and the original ticket could be used to enter.

I also wanted to go and look, so I walked up the slope. The slope was not high, and I soon reached the top. Looking down, I saw the Bagua farmland, with all the plots arranged according to the eight trigrams and planted with different plants, but it was not the right season, so I couldn't see it.

There were many houses on the mountaintop, all related to bagua and feng shui, including fortune-telling. They were probably built to support the village below and were relatively new. They mainly featured the formation of bagua, the influence of bagua on feng shui and life, etc.

Some content was enlightening. There was a pair of couplets that read: 'One gate, one universe; one hexagram, one life.' The horizontal scroll read: 'Eight Gates and Eight Trigrams.' It combined bagua with life well, giving people a general understanding of feng shui.

At around 5 p.m., it gradually got dark, and I returned to the small hotel. In the evening, I continued to plan for the next day. I checked that the distance to Wuyuan was not far, so I decided to go to Wuyuan... You asked me which is better, Hongcun or Chengkan. I think Chengkan has deeper historical roots and richer cultural landscapes, mainly because it is less commercialized than Hongcun.