Overview
A 4-day private journey through old Huizhou: the cliff-clinging village of Huangling, a hand-painted fish-lantern parade at Chengkan, the legendary peaks of Huangshan and film-set ancient villages.
About This Tour
The old Huizhou region of southern Anhui pairs two of China's most beloved sights, the World Heritage peaks of Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and the immaculate white-walled, black-tiled villages of the Hui style, and this 4-day private tour for your group only weaves them together with an English-speaking guide and private vehicle. You begin amid the photogenic lanes of Xixinan and the cliff-hung village of Huangling, famous for its 'sun-drying autumn' harvest displays, and join an 800-year-old fish-lantern tradition at the bagua village of Chengkan, painting your own lantern and carrying it in a night parade through ancient bridges and lantern-lit streets. A full day on Huangshan brings you to the scenes every Chinese schoolchild knows, the Stone Monkey, the Beginning-to-Believe Peak and the iconic Greeting Pine that appears on banknotes and paintings, beneath skies of sculpted granite and drifting cloud. You finish in the film-set villages of Nanping and the artsy hamlet of Bishan, with a traditional Huizhou banquet in a centuries-old courtyard home. Family-friendly and culturally rich, it suits travelers of all ages who want China's classic landscapes plus living folk traditions. Best in spring and autumn. Itinerary may adjust based on weather, road and local regulations. Good to know: • Best season: Mar-May and Sep-Nov; the Huangling 'sun-drying autumn' displays are best in autumn • Fitness level: moderate; Huangshan involves cableway plus several hours of stair climbing • Huangshan weather changes fast and the summit is cool; bring layers and rain gear • Comfortable walking shoes essential for villages and mountain steps • The Chengkan fish-lantern parade follows local festival scheduling and may vary • High-speed trains to Huangshan North station link Hangzhou, Shanghai and beyond
Itinerary
1
Day 1: Xixinan & Chengkan | Paint & Parade Fish Lanterns
Meet your guide around 07:45 in Hangzhou (or join later directly in Huangshan) and drive to Xixinan, a 'real-life enchanted forest' of willow-shaded waterways and white-walled Hui houses, where you have a free lunch and soak up the Anhui countryside. In the afternoon you visit a fish-lantern workshop to hand-paint your own lantern, part of a Huizhou 'fish-frolic lantern' tradition over 800 years old that symbolizes abundance and good fortune. Around 15:30 you continue to the bagua (eight-trigram) village of Chengkan, joining costumed locals to carry small fish lanterns in a flowing night parade across old bridges and beside the lake, passing the Fish-Transformation Bridge and the climbing bridge to the square as fireworks and lanterns light the sky. Around 20:00 you transfer to a hotel in Huangshan city. Drive: about 4 hours total. Meals: not included. Overnight: 4-star hotel in Huangshan city.
2
Day 2: Wuyuan Huangling | Village in the Clouds
After breakfast you set out at 08:30 and drive about 1.5 hours to Huangling. This 580-year-old Hui village clings to a steep hillside, its white walls and black tiles stacked layer upon layer and earning it the name 'the village hanging on the cliff.' You ride a cable car from the foot of the hill straight to the top and wander the maze of old lanes, where in season the 'sun-drying autumn' display fills bamboo trays with fiery red chillies, golden chrysanthemums and orange corn against the monochrome architecture, a flowing, ever-changing tableau. You stop for a free lunch, then try your hand at the local craft of making a Hui writing brush, a Song-dynasty tradition demanding up to 72 steps for a single brush head. In the late afternoon you return to Huangshan city, where you are free to explore Tunxi Old Street, a 'flowing Qingming scroll' of Song, Ming and Qing shop-fronts, and sample local snacks. Meals: breakfast included. Overnight: 4-star hotel in Huangshan city.
3
Day 3: Huangshan | Stone Monkey & Greeting Pine
After breakfast you drive about 1 hour to Huangshan and around 09:00 begin the ascent of the Yellow Mountain, the peak that inspired the saying 'having seen Huangshan, you need see no other mountain.' Following easy, gentle walkways you reach the Beginning-to-Believe Peak area to find the famous Stone Monkey that seems to crouch motionless on a summit, then continue to pay respects to the Greeting Pine, the 'star tree' seen on banknotes, paintings and textbooks, finally standing before you in the flesh. Throughout the day you wander among Huangshan's celebrated granite pillars, twisted pines and seas of cloud. Around 15:00 you take the cableway down and drive roughly 1.2 hours back to the city to rest. Meals: breakfast included; lunch and dinner self-arranged. Overnight: 4-star hotel in Huangshan city.
4
Day 4: Nanping & Bishan | Courtyard Banquet & Departure
After breakfast you set out at 09:00 and drive about 30 minutes to Nanping, an ancient village that served as a film location for Zhang Yimou's 'Ju Dou' and Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' where a guide leads you through the Yang family dye works, the Ye ancestral hall and the lanes that recreated old Huizhou on screen. Around 11:00 you are welcomed into a centuries-old courtyard home for a traditional Huizhou banquet under the open skylight, with tea, sweets and ceremonial hospitality offering a genuine window into local life rather than a staged show. After lunch you continue to Bishan, one of China's most artistic old villages, quiet and little-commercialized, to visit the Bishan Bookstore set inside a century-old ancestral hall, now called one of the country's most beautiful rural bookshops, along with the old supply-and-marketing cooperative turned design studio and a scatter of charming cafes and bars. Around 14:00 you begin the drive back, reaching Hangzhou about 19:00 where the tour concludes (book return trains after 20:00); travelers ending in Huangshan can taxi to Huangshan North station. Meals: breakfast and Huizhou banquet lunch included. Overnight: not included (tour ends in Hangzhou).
What's Included
✓ Included
English-speaking guide Private vehicle & transfers 3 nights hotel in Huangshan city (twin share) Huangshan entrance and cableway, Huangling and listed village tickets Fish-lantern painting workshop and Chengkan parade Daily breakfast and one Huizhou courtyard banquet lunch
✕ Not included
International & domestic flights and high-speed rail tickets China visa Travel insurance Most lunches and dinners Personal expenses Tips for guide and driver
Cancellation Policy
Free cancellation is available on most tours up to 24 hours before the start time. The exact cancellation terms for this tour are shown during booking.
Traveler Reviews
4.6★★★★★Based on 179 reviews
Marco J.🇧🇷 Brazil★★★★★2025-11
Honestly, I had seen plenty of photos of Huangshan. Being there was quieter and more absorbing than I expected, and I stopped checking my phone for a while.
Liam S.🇮🇳 India★★★★☆2024-08
We had enough information to understand Huangshan and Guangzhou, but it never turned into a classroom. The balance felt natural.
Elena X.🇲🇾 Malaysia★★★★★2026-05
A practical note: there was more walking than I guessed from the title. Nothing difficult, just enough that I was glad I wore trainers. The time around Huangshan was not the part I would cut.