By rail
Huangshan North, high-speed rail from Shanghai, ~3 h
East Asia · China
Huangshan, China
Granite peaks and a sea of clouds
Getting there
By air
Huangshan Tunxi (TXN), ~1 h to the mountain
Best time to visit
April to November; winter brings rime ice
Don't miss
Lotus Peak
Guangming Peak
The Welcoming Guest Pine
Hongcun village
Things to do
Sunrise at Guangming Peak
A night on the mountain
The villages of Hongcun and Xidi
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Chi King · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Hiking shoes, warm layers, a poncho
A quieter corner
The West Sea Grand Canyon's cliffside paths
Questions travellers ask
When should I go to Huangshan?
April to November, or come in winter for the rime ice. Pack hiking shoes, warm layers and a poncho.
Is it worth staying overnight on Huangshan?
Yes — a night on the mountain lets you catch sunrise at Guangming Peak.
How do I get to Huangshan from Shanghai?
High-speed rail runs from Shanghai to Huangshan North in about 3 hours. By air, Huangshan Tunxi (TXN) is roughly 1 hour from the mountain.
What else should I see around Huangshan?
Walk the West Sea Grand Canyon's cliffside paths, and visit the villages of Hongcun and Xidi.
About Huangshan
- Mountains
Where it is
Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain, is a granite range in the south of Anhui Province in eastern China; its highest peak, Lotus Peak, rises to about 1,860 m, and the old villages of Hongcun and Xidi lie to the south-west.
History
The mountain was named Huangshan in the 8th century in honour of the legendary Yellow Emperor, and in the Ming and Qing eras it inspired a school of landscape painting. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990, and the nearby villages of Xidi and Hongcun followed in 2000.
People
The villages around Huangshan belong to old Huizhou, whose merchants grew rich in the Ming and Qing eras and built white-walled houses with carved wood and stone. Local people speak Mandarin and Hui dialects, grow tea and bamboo, and many work on the mountain as guides, cooks and porters.
Known for
- The sea of clouds and sunrise at Guangming Peak
- The Welcoming Guest Pine
- Granite peaks and cliffside stairways
- The villages of Hongcun and Xidi
- Huangshan Maofeng green tea
Did you know?
Porters still carry supplies for Huangshan's mountain-top hotels on shoulder poles, climbing the stone stairways cut into the granite.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.