Huangshan: Feel the thousand-year-old Huiyun in the sea of ​​clouds

Attraction Information Huangshan is located in Huangshan City, Anhui Province. It is famous for its "four wonders" of peculiar pines, strange rocks, sea of ​​clouds and hot springs. The main peak, Lotus Peak, is 1,864 meters above sea level. It was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scenic Spots in China" in 1985 and was listed as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO in 1990. The scenic area is open all year round (off-season December to February, peak season March to November), the ticket price is 190 yuan per person, the Yungu/Yuping cableway is 80-90 yuan one way, and it is recommended to visit for 2-3 days. Game guide Route Recommendation One-day quick tour route: Take the Yungu Temple cableway up the mountain → Shixin Peak (Qisong observation point) → Black Tiger Pine → Beihai Scenic Area → Xihai Grand Canyon (ground rail cable car) → Guangmingding (sunset observation) → Overnight at the top of the mountain In-depth hiking route: hiking from Ciguang Pavilion on the front mountain → Tiandu Peak (steep wonder) → Welcoming Pine → Hundred-step Cloud Ladder → Aoyu Peak → Xihai Grand Canyon loop (trekking poles are recommended) Must-visit spots Shixin Peak: Xu Xiake praised it as "the wonder of Huangshan Mountain that makes one believe in it". From the top of the peak, one can overlook the "Eighteen Arhats Facing the South China Sea" rock group. Xihai Grand Canyon: Walk along the thousand-meter plank road in the mist and feel the three-dimensional picture of the "magical world". Flying Stone: The prototype of the magical stone at the beginning of A Dream of Red Mansions, a 12-meter-high granite wonder standing on the top of a solitary peak. Sightseeing Tips 🌄Sunrise sea of ​​clouds: Guangmingding, Shizi Peak and Paiyun Pavilion are the best observation points, and you need to reserve a spot 1 hour in advance. 📷Photography time: It is easy to see sea of ​​clouds when the sun clears up after rain. The colorful autumn forests and morning mist look like a long scroll of ink painting. Experience evaluation Accommodation Reviews The average price of a standard room in a mountaintop hotel is 800-1500 yuan (such as Baiyun Hotel and Xihai Hotel). It is recommended to book 2 weeks in advance. A bed in a multi-person room is 200-300 yuan per person, with shared bathrooms but convenient for stargazing. It is recommended to stay overnight at a Paiyun-type hotel, where you can enjoy the canyon starry sky from the terrace. Catering test The simple meal at the top of the mountain costs 50-80 yuan per person (the buffet is more cost-effective). We recommend trying Huizhou Mao Tofu (crispy on the outside and soft on the inside) and Stinky Mandarin Fish (with a unique fermented aroma). Self-heating rice needs to be purchased in advance in Tangkou Town. The braised pork with dried bamboo shoots at the "Laojiefang" Anhui cuisine restaurant at the foot of the mountain is a must-try. Precautions You need to hold on to the iron chain tightly when the steps are steep, and non-slip hiking shoes are essential. It rains a lot from April to June, so prepare a raincoat. The temperature difference is large during the red leaf season from the end of October to the beginning of November, so a jacket + fleece liner combination is the best. Millennium Huiyun: A symphony of culture and nature The Millennium Code of the Taoist Holy Mountain Huangshan was originally named "Yishan". Because of the legend that Emperor Huangdi achieved enlightenment by refining elixirs here, the name was changed to its current name in the sixth year of the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty (747). The ruins of temples and monasteries built in successive dynasties are scattered among the mountains. The "Huangdi Alchemy Platform" under the Zhusha Peak is still visited by many people today. The cliff inscription "Standing on a horse, I look out to the East China Sea; climbing to a high place, I look out to the Taiping Sea" fully demonstrates its heroic spirit. The poetic residence of scholars and writers Li Bai once wrote "Mount Huangshan is four thousand feet high, with thirty-two lotus peaks" here. Xu Xiake climbed the mountain twice and exclaimed "There is no mountain in the world better than Mount Huangshan". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, masters of the "Huangshan School" such as Jianjiang and Shitao used mountains as the subject of their paintings, creating a new realm for Chinese landscape painting. The ruins of Wenshu Monastery in front of Yuping Tower have witnessed countless gatherings of scholars boiling snow and brewing tea. The landscape philosophy of Huizhou architecture At the foot of the mountain, the ancient villages of Hongcun and Xidi, with their horse-head walls and reflections, form a "rural village in a Chinese painting". The Huizhou merchants brought the "Four Waters Converging into the Hall" patio design to the mountains. The Beihai Hotel's architectural complex cleverly uses black, white and grey tones to achieve a state of harmony between man and nature with the mountains, rocks, pines and clouds. 📝Travel state of mind: Dialogue with history in the cloud A climber's awakening moment At 4 a.m., I climbed the Hundred-Step Cloud Ladder with a flashlight. The stone steps extended infinitely in the beam of the headlamp, and the panting sounds and the pine waves intertwined into a unique rhythm. When the first ray of golden light pierced through the sea of ​​clouds, the crowd on Guangmingding suddenly fell silent - it was a natural shock beyond words, and everyone instantly understood the ancients' lament of "the ultimate stupidity of a lifetime". Zen enlightenment in the mountain mist Sitting quietly and watching the clouds in Sanhuawu, the mist sometimes engulfs the Bijia Peak and sometimes reveals a corner of the pine branches, like a dynamic ink scroll. I remembered what the Tang Dynasty poet monk Dao Yun wrote when he was practicing here: "Peaks are lined up in the cold, with lotus flowers clustered together. I quietly think about whether this scene can be painted." Suddenly I realized the true meaning of leaving blank space in Chinese landscape painting. Thousand-year echo on the stone steps Touch the cracked bark of the "Putuan Pine". This 1,300-year-old ancient pine has witnessed Li Bai sleeping drunk, Xu Xiake measuring, and Zhang Daqian sketching. At this moment, the pine needles rustled, as if the footsteps of generations of climbers could be heard echoing among the granite walls, and history and reality overlapped quietly in the clouds. ✏️Conclusion The beauty of Huangshan lies in the resonance of natural wonders and cultural heritage. When you overlook the abyss from the suspended plank road in the Xihai Grand Canyon, gaze at the thousand-year-old pines on the cliffs of Shixin Peak, and touch the texture of the pink walls and black tiles in the Huizhou ancient village, you will realize that this mountain has long surpassed the geographical concept and become the spiritual totem of Chinese civilization. As the Ming Dynasty geographer Pan Zhiheng said: "After returning to Huangshan, all the mountains and rivers in the world can be abandoned."