Sapore di Cina

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Traveling to Anhui: Province of the Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan)

- Written by Armando Turturici Leave a Comment

Traveling to Anhui

Traveling to Anhui – Index

  1. A little history
  2. Location and climate
  3. The prefecture city of Huang Shan
  4. Hongcun and around
  5. Tunxi and around
  6. Hefei
  7. Huang Shan
  8. Jiuhuashan

A little history

The province of Anhui 安徽 – abbreviated as Wǎn 皖 (a character used on car license plates for example) – located in eastern China halfway between the Yellow and Huai Rivers, is one of the three most prosperous provinces of the Chinese coast along with Jiangsu and Zhejiang, though it’s the poorest of the three.

The abbreviation Wǎn 皖 comes from the historic state in this province with the name, the State of Wan, actually; in fact, in Anhui there’s still the Wan River 皖江 and Mount Wan 皖山. [Read more…]

Huang Shan: World Heritage and Sacred Mountain

- Written by Rita Andreetti Leave a Comment

Huang ShanSunrise at Huang Shan

The Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan, 黄山) is among the most visited sites in China for those looking for a unique natural landscape. It’s not for nothing that the site is protected by UNESCO and tourists swarm at all times of the year.

There is therefore a rightful premise about it: if you’re a tourist habitué in China, it’s no longer the crowds that scare you, you know that Huang Shan is capable of dazing even the most prepared, above all during the holidays.

If instead you landed in the Middle Kingdom and have half an idea of beginning with this stop, I recommend that you start with other places so that you can gradually get used to the immensity of Chinese numbers (for example, a stop in Shanghai, Hangzhou or Nanjing).

In fact, the attraction of the Yellow Mountain is such that I saw a kilometer-long line at the entrance to the cable car, with desperate Chinese women in tears and families packed like sardines; but I have also seen young men fighting over what seemed to be the last hotel room left on all mountain peaks, when the darkness was already thick and the only alternative solution was to sleep on the hotel carpet (because the couches were already occupied).

Therefore, it’s better to prepare for the trip by reading this guide. [Read more…]