Huangshan or Huizhou: Beautiful as It Is, Expensive as It Is | Traveling in China During the COVID Era

The renaming of Huizhou to Huangshan City already exposed the ugly side of local tourism development—attempting to use a single mountain to cover the culture of an entire region. But little did they expect that the scenic areas here would blatantly demonstrate the principle: 'live off the mountain if you're by the mountain, live off the village if you're by the village.'

Monk Pumen (the founding master) would be turning in his grave.

Looking back at Huangshan's past and present: the mountain was opened by Pumen, the paths were built by artisans, the money was contributed by Huizhou merchants, the cliff inscriptions were left by literati in high spirits, and the temples and monasteries were built by devout believers over successive dynasties...

We are just later generations enjoying the shade, making minor repairs and enclosing the area to charge fees. How do the managers of Huangshan have the nerve to set such high ticket prices everywhere? I won't go into details, but I still need to vent my complaints!

Although I don't have long legs, I consider myself to have visited many famous mountains and rivers. Before climbing the renowned Huangshan, for the first time I felt my enthusiasm dampened by the absurd fee standards. But—'since we're here'—since we're here.

Perhaps Huangshan sensed my disdain. Before we ascended, there was a heavy rain, and another downpour when we descended. So throughout our time on Huangshan, what we saw was not the widely praised 'sea of clouds,' but an intermittently visible 'sea of mist.'

To be fair, Huangshan is still beautiful, even though we encountered its 'ugliest' side on a rainy day. The beauty I experienced came from my inherent fondness for granite landforms, plus the endorsement of Huangshan's symbolism through poems and paintings by literati—perhaps what is called 'atmospheric beauty.'

As for the mountain itself, it's not so exaggerated as to say 'after visiting Huangshan, no other mountain is worth seeing.' Instead, I found it looking a bit like Zhangjiajie, a bit like Huashan, and even a bit like Jinfo Mountain, yet not reaching the ultimate characteristics of each...

We stayed at the Yuping Tower Hotel on the front mountain. This location may not be perfect for watching sunrise or sunset, but it is right next to the Welcoming Pine, with Huangshan's main peaks—Lotus Peak and Heavenly Capital Peak—to the north and south. Another reason for choosing this place is that Yuping Tower was formerly Wenshu Temple, a natural temple built under the leadership of Monk Pumen.

A 50-year-old monk, after dreaming of a misty mountain with odd pines and strange rocks, trekked for eight years and finally found that dream mountain. He explored the route, raised funds, propagated the Dharma, and with the support of Huizhou merchants and many devotees, began hewing the mountain. Two years later, he journeyed alone to the capital to obtain an imperially bestowed plaque for the temple, and Huangshan finally became famous worldwide.

By the time we reached the hotel, dusk was approaching. The already sparse off-season tourists had descended, and we rarely saw the Welcoming Pine so quiet. Facing the majestic Heavenly Capital Peak, at the Welcoming Pine, in front of Yuping Tower, I suddenly felt a sense of awe toward the mountains before me.

Several ancient villages in southern Anhui, headed by Hongcun, charge an entry fee of 100 yuan per village. The facilities and management at these scenic spots are mediocre—even a World Cultural Heritage site shouldn't be exploited like this. I've never liked overly commercialized attractions, but still, 'since we're here.'

Looking at other similar ancient cities and villages across China, they either do not require mandatory tickets (and if they do, the prices are not outrageous), or tourists staying inside the ancient city get ticket discounts, which are strategies that earn goodwill and benefit businesses.

Relying on the reputation of Huangshan and Huizhou merchant culture accumulated over dynasties, this area will remain a popular attraction for some time. But these ancient villages are rooted here, not tourism sites built with huge investments. I'm curious how long such an unsustainable fee system can last.

The only saving grace was that due to the epidemic in Anhui, we hit the off-peak of off-peak season and saw a peaceful and quiet Hongcun.

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountains;

I smile without answering, my heart is at ease.

Peach blossoms flow away with the water;

There is another heaven and earth beyond the mortal world.

Bishan refers to the rolling mountains northwest of Yi County. Now this place, where the Yunmen Pagoda stands, is the Bishan Village that rose to fame due to artists and designers participating in rural construction. White walls and black tiles, crisscrossing fields—this is the appearance of Chinese villages as read in poems.

The Bishan Bookstore is the most eye-catching project of the 'Bishan Project.' As the eighth branch of Librairie Avant-Garde, it resides in the over-200-year-old Qitai Hall. The staff said that the Bishan Bookstore is most beautiful on rainy days. Raindrops fall from the courtyard, gathering into streams that flow from the roof into the indoor water channels—this is a special feature of the Huizhou-style courtyard. Huizhou people who value feng shui believe that collecting rainwater in the courtyard is a way to gather wealth.

In a small shop in Bishan Village, we met a girl from Northeast China. Two years ago, she traveled here and liked Bishan so much that she moved in. She rents a villager's house and runs a shop selling handmade trinkets. The 'Bishan Project' quietly came to a halt a few years ago. Most visitors now come because of the Bishan Bookstore. This practice of revitalizing rural areas through art still attracts attention and fellow travelers.

Ou Ning, the initiator of the 'Bishan Project,' once said: 'Villages don't need gates; everything is open. Rainwater falls from the courtyard, birdsong can penetrate walls, while in concrete jungles we can't even see the sky.'

Such Bishan is destined to be different from Hongcun and Xidi.

Nanping Village, not far from Bishan, is also a scenic spot that charges entry fees, but its management and pricing are much more reasonable. We ordered wontons at a small shop at the village entrance, and an elderly couple quickly went to the kitchen in the back to prepare them. After cooking, they sat down and chatted warmly with us, worried that we might not have enough (more than 20 wontons!), and such a bowl of wontons cost only 10 yuan.

In their own house, the visit to Nanping began with a warm and friendly welcome.

Just like countless villages in Southeast Guizhou, southern Anhui also has ancient villages everywhere. We chose Nanping for its over three hundred Ming and Qing dynasty ancient buildings and well-preserved large-scale ancestral hall clusters. Walking through it felt like touring an open-air museum of ancient architecture.

With narrow, crisscrossing lanes and alleys, Nanping is also called 'Maze Village.' To better understand the ancestral hall culture and avoid getting lost, we hired a guide, as suggested by the elderly couple at the village entrance. Perhaps due to timing, we saw almost no other tourists that day.

As we left Nanping, the sunset pierced through the clouds, emitting a soft golden light. The green rice fields and lush mountains on one side were captivating, and I sighed inwardly: Truly Bishan!

When renting a car, the local driver asked where we planned to go. When we mentioned Xixinan, he immediately replied, 'There's nothing to see in Xixinan.'

Compared to other more famous ancient villages in Huizhou, Xixinan indeed has a lower profile. But when we arrived and saw the fairy-tale-like scenery before us, we couldn't help wondering: For locals accustomed to Huizhou landscapes, what counts as worth seeing?

Like other ancient villages in southern Anhui, Xixinan is a scenic area but still inhabited by locals. With lush woods and shallow waters, it's a great place for sketching and gathering inspiration, and nearby residents often come to play in the water.

The unreasonable high fees at Huangshan and Hongcun and the like almost exhausted my goodwill toward the 'vanished Huizhou.' The natural simplicity of Bishan, Nanping, and Xixinan, on the other hand, seemed to let me find a bit of that 'place of lifelong obsession, not even in dreams could one reach Huizhou.'

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, step by step, as if probing, we went from suburbs to neighboring provinces, and then to farther places within the national borders. Trapped in China, we turned our attention to Chinese scenery. Strangers in our own motherland, fortunate to once again step into the mountains and waters of this land. This is a record.

Travel Notes Table of Contents1. O Huangshan2. O Hongcun3. Bishan4. Nanping5. Xixinan6. AfterwordTravel InformationHotel IndexGuide IndexFlight IndexSite NavigationTravel IndexCruise IndexCorporate Travel IndexFranchise CooperationDistribution AllianceFriend LinksCorporate Gift Card PurchasingInsurance AgencyAgency CooperationHotel FranchiseDestination & Scenic Area CooperationMore Franchise CooperationAbout CtripAbout CtripCtrip Hot TopicsContact UsCareersUser AgreementPrivacy PolicyBusiness LicenseSecurity CenterCtrip Content CenterIntellectual PropertyTrip.com Group Algorithm Disclosure