Anhui Jiuhua Mountain Huatai Travel Guide

Huatai is located at the back mountain of Jiuhua Mountain, with scenery similar to Huangshan. Around May 1st, the mountains are covered with azaleas, making it the best viewing period.

How to get to Huatai: The best option is to take the scenic area shuttle bus from Kecun Visitor Center at the foot of the mountain to Huatai, which takes about half an hour. If you take the shuttle from Jiuhua Street on the top of Jiuhua Mountain, it's a detour: you have to go down from the front mountain to the back mountain, and you don't need to buy the 160 yuan Jiuhua Mountain ticket when going from the visitor center at the foot to Huatai.

Mountain route: After exiting the Huatai cable car, there is a sightseeing loop. On the left is a hiking path that leads to Dahuatai, where you can see alpine azaleas along the way in May. On the right is a plank path mainly for viewing peaks and strange rocks, with beautiful scenery similar to Huangshan. The two paths form a loop. On this loop, there is a fork that leads to Jiuhua Mountain Tiantai, with staff checking tickets. If you buy a ticket, you can walk to Tiantai on the front mountain of Jiuhua. It seems to be 3.5 kilometers of mountain road. Those with good physical strength can try to go to Tiantai from here.

Cost: Huatai does not require an entrance ticket. The main cost is the round-trip cable car ticket at 160 yuan. Huatai has no official hiking trail; only locals know the small mountain paths. Without a local guide, it's difficult to hike up on your own. The cable car is quite long, and 160 yuan is reasonable. Additionally, there is a shuttle bus ticket from Kecun Visitor Center at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain to the lower station of Huatai Cable Car, 15 yuan one way. If you are not going to the main scenic area of Jiuhua Mountain, you don't need to buy the 50 yuan transportation package. So the total cost is 190 yuan.