1.

World Heritage

As a part of Nanling Mountains, Huangshan Mountain, or Yellow Mountain, is situated in the southern part of Anhui Province within the borders of Huangshan City. Yellow Mountain has an area of about 1,200 square kilometers. The middle range of it is the essence of the Yellow Mountain, which covers an area of 154 square kilometers. Huangshan was firstly called Yi Mountain. Yi in Chinese means black. The ancient people gave the mountain this name on the basis that many rocks on the mountain are black. According to the Chinese mythology, the Yellow Emperor, who was believed to be the ancestor of Chinese, came to the Yi Mountain to make pills of immortality after creating Chinese civilization. He then became an immortal. Emperor Li Longji of Tang Dynasty believed the tale and ordered to rename the mountain as the Yellow Mountain in 747AD, which means the mountain is the Mountain of Yellow Emperor. Since then, the name had been used till today. The first beautiful character of Huangshan is the magnificent peaks. There is no exact number of the magnificent peaks here. There are 36 famous and 36 less-famous peaks in the area of Huangshan which were named in Chinese history. And 10 more peaks have been added to the list of famous peaks. Most of the 82 peaks are over 1,000 meters above the sea level, among which the Lotus Peak is the highest (1,864 meters); the Bright Summit ranks the second (1,841 meters); and Tiandu Peak or the Heavenly Capital Peak ranks the third (1,829.5 meters). In 1990, Huangshan was listed as a World Heritage Site.

2.

Huangshan Welcoming Pine 

Speaking of the four scenic features of the Yellow Mountain, the strangely-shaped pines should come first. They are unique principally because of their great vitality. Generally speaking, plants must grow on the earth. But the pines on Mt.Huangshan grow on the hard granite. Visitors could see pines everywhere on the Yellow Mountain. They grow on the peak, on the cliff, or in the valley. They are unique also because of their special natural shape. The pines' needles are short but thick. The tree crowns are generally flat. And every pine is different from each other in the aspects of shape and spirit. People name them according to their different shapes, such as the Greeting Pine, the Black Tiger Pine, the Crouched Dragon Pine, the Dragon Claw Pine, the Tanhai Pine, and the Unity Pine. They are the representatives of the strangely-shaped pines on Mt.Huangshan.

3.

Diversified-shaped Rocks on Mt.Huangshan

Rugged rocks is another scenic feature here, the shape of the rocks are quite different from each other, some reflect fairy tales or historical stories. Among the 121 famous rocks, the "Flying Stone", "Chess-playing Immortals", "Magpie on the Plum Tree", "Monkey by the Sea", "Boots-drying Immortal", "Three Islands of Penglai", and "Golden rooster Crow" are the better-known ones. Some of these rocks are huge and some are relatively small; some scenery is one-rock scenery, and some consists of several rocks. And some rocks' shapes are different seen from different position. For example, the "Golden rooster Crow" and "Five Immortals" refer to the same spot but different scenery from different watching position, so do the "Magpie on the Plum Tree" and the "Immortal Giving Direction". And some rocks have different names under different weather conditions. So the "Monkey by the Sea" is also called the "Monkey Watching Land of Peace".

4.

Cloud Sea of Yellow Mountain

Sea of clouds can be seen on other famous mountains of China, but none can be equal to that of Huangshan in terms of magnificence. That's why the Yellow Mountain is also called the Yellow Sea. Pan Zhihuan, a well-known historian in the Ming Dynasty, lived on Mt.Huangshan for several decades to finish the Yellow Sea, a historical masterpiece about the Yellow Mountain which contains 60 volumes. Several scenic spots, hotels' names are connected with "sea" in Chinese character. Some sceneries are more spectacular if tourists watch them through the cloud sea.

5.

Different scenery in each season makes Huangshan a place to visit again and again

The four seasons on the Yellow Mountain are distinct. Wild flowers blossom and peaks turn green in spring; flourish plants and waterfalls bring cool in summer; tree leaves turn red in autumn; and the mountains decorated with snow and ice are like a fairyland in winter. The Yellow Mountain is really a good place for tourism, summering, and watching snow.

Famous scenic spots on Mt.Huangshan:

Bright Summit

West Sea Gully

Greeting Pine

Lotus Peak

NorthSea Scenic Area

Cloud Valley Temple

Hot Spring Scenic Area

Jade Screen Scenic Area

Beginning-to-believe Peak

6.

Tunxi Ancient Street

Located in the center of Huangshan City, the ancient street was built 700 years ago in Song Dynasty. Its total length is about 1,200 meters. Deep and narrow, Tunxi Ancient Street is paved with maroon flagstones. The buildings here are in typical Hui-style. Most of them are only three stories high, stone-based and brick-laid, decorated with gray tiles, exquisite wood carvings, white walls, and horse-head double eaves on the roofs. Tunxi Ancient Street is lined up with antique shops, medicine shops, steelyard stores, teahouses, restaurants and galleries. Many of these shops carry more than a hundred years of history. Nearly all the shops here sell traditional Chinese painting stationeries including the famous "Four Treasures of the Study", curios and handicrafts, brush calligraphy, ink painting and woodcarving. The shops, workshops and residences have continued to maintain the characteristics and operational layout of ancient stores such as "shop in the front and workshop or house in the back". Surround by many beautiful and elegant arts, the Tunxi Ancient Street is like a simple and unadorned gallery. It is a paradise for tourists to buy souvenirs rich in Chinese culture with comparatively lower price and is a must-see before or after hiking to Mt.Huangshan.

7.

Hongcun Village

Hongcun is a village in Yi County, near the southwest slope of Mount Huangshan. The village is arranged in the shape of an ox with the nearby hill (Leigang Hill) interpreted as the head, and two trees standing on it as the horns. Four bridges across the Jiyin stream can be seen as the legs whilst the houses of the village form the body. Inside the “body”, the Jiyin stream represents the intestines and various lakes such as the “South Lake” (Nanhu) form the other internal organs. As an ancient village over 800 years old, the architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China. The famous film "Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon" directed by Li An was made here. Surrounded by a picturesque moat with bridges to the village and a half-moon shaped pond in the center, it is a favorite haunt of artists and students who often stay with local families to paint here. Various halls, dwellings and an old school are open to visitors.

8.

Xidi Village

Located at the foot of Mt. Huangshan, Xidi is 54 kilometers away from Huangshan City. Firstly built 900 years ago in Song Dynasty, Xidi's traditional architecture is well preserved. The rise of the village was closely tied to the fortunes of the Hu family. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Hufamily members had started in business as merchants, leading to construction of major private buildings and a public infrastructure. By the middle of the 17th century, the influence wielded by members of the Hu family expanded from commerce into politics. The prosperity of Xidi peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, in which time the village comprised about 600 residences. The street pattern of Xidi is dominated by a main road which runs in an east-west direction and is flanked by two parallel streets. These major streets are joint by many narrow alleyways. Small open spaces are confined to areas immediately in front of the main public buildings, such as the "Hall of Respect", the "Hall of Reminiscence", and the "Memorial Archway of the Governor". Today, 124 wooden residences from the Ming and Qing Dynasties with beautiful carvings form the major attractions.

9.

Mount Jiuhua

Mount Jiuhua, literally the "Nine Glorious Mountains", is one of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism. It is located in Qingyang County, which is about 100 km away from Mt.Huangshan. Famous for its rich landscape and ancient temples, Jiuhua Mountain is a popular pilgrimage destination with a large number of whole Buddhist relics. The gross area of Mt.Jiuhua reaches 120 square kilometers, where there are 99 peaks including Shiwang Peak, Lotus Peak and others. A legend says that the great poet Li Bai of Tang Dynasty travelled here and wrote down "Magic is divided to two branches, sacred mountain generates nine glories." Thus it was named Mount Jiuhua. Many of the mountain's shrines and temples are dedicated to Ksitigarbha, who is a Bodhisattva and protector of beings in hell realms according to Mahayana Buddhist tradition.

10.

Shexian Tangyue Memorial Arches

known as the "Town of Arches", Shexian County is a must-see place for fine examples of residential architecture and memorial arches from Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Chinese name “Paifang” is given to an arch usually made of fine wood or stone, as memorial and decoration. Shexian County has thousands of arches, making it a great place to explore the social culture of China's feudal society. Bao Family Garden, which is near the Tangyue Memorial Arch Group, should not be missed once came to Shexian. This private garden originally owned by successful businessman Mr.Bao, was as famous as the Humble Administrators Garden in Suzhou. Built as a bonsai garden, it showcases the best works of bonsai from different schools of this art. It blends perfectly with the Tangyue Memorial Arch Group, and is a fascinating way to spend a few hours.

11.

Xuan Paper, or Chinese rice paper

Jing County is located about 160 km away from Huangshan City. It is the hometown of Chinese rice paper, the Xuan Paper. Xuan paper, or Shuen paper, rice paper is a type of handmade paper. It was originally produced during ancient China's Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Jingxian County. At that time as the county was under the control of Xuanzhou Prefecture in the Tang Dynasty, Xuan paper was named after Xuanzhou. Xuan paper is white, soft and smooth. Thanks to its fine texture, Xuan paper is hard to be creased and corroded. It has been widely used for Chinese calligraphy and painting for many years. The procedure of making Xuan paper consists of over 100 steps, which was listed as a world intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO in 2009. However, with the impact of modern production and lifestyle, the inheritance of the handmade Xuan paper craftsmanship in Jingxian County faces challenges such as shrinking markets, little output as well as lack of inheritors. In 2006, "rice paper making art" has been approved by the government as national intangible cultural heritage protection list.

12.

Hui Inkstick

In China, there are four treasures in the study, which are pen, ink, paper and inkstone. In ancient times, ink was specially used by emperors and nobles. In order to improve the "appearance level" of ink, intelligent Huizhou people painted various exquisite patterns on ink bars, allowing people to enjoy beauty while using them. Why can Huizhou inkstick be passed down from generation to generation as one of the representatives of Hui culture? Why can Hui inkstick make Huizhou people so proud and lovers so obsessed? Because it can not only help people to write civilization and record history, but also it is history and culture itself. It inherits the wisdom of Huizhou people, carries the culture of Huizhou, and leads generations of Huizhou people to a more writable future.