Huangshan and Huizhou,
the sea of clouds

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Arrival in Tunxi (Huangshan)

   130 m

   Land near Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain, and transfer to Tunxi. A free evening on the old street, with its Huizhou architecture, ink shops and tea merchants.

2. Hongcun and Xidi

   200 m

   The two UNESCO villages of Huizhou: Hongcun, with its half-moon pond and the lanes used in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the quieter Xidi.

3. Climb Huangshan

   1,600 m

   Cable car up, then the carved steps between the granite peaks, past pines clinging to bare rock. Sleep on the summit so that the sunrise is the first thing you see.

4. Sunrise and the classic peaks

   1,840 m

   Dawn at the Dawn Pavilion, when the sea of clouds fills the valleys, then Bright Summit and the Cloud-Dispelling Pavilion. Descend in the afternoon.

5. Down to Tunxi

   130 m

   A gentler day: the hot springs at the foot of the mountain and the old town of Tunxi, with a free afternoon for the ink and tea workshops.

6. Shexian and the Xu Guo archway

   130 m

   Shexian, the old Huizhou capital, with its Ming-dynasty Xu Guo memorial archway — the largest of its kind — and the Tangyue archways nearby.

7. Departure

   130 m

   Transfer to Huangshan North for the high-speed train, or to the airport for your flight home, with time before you leave to buy ink, brushes and tea in Tunxi.