Wuyuan, Huangshan, and Hangzhou are three separate and distinct areas - an old village area, a holy mountain, and a mega city with a picturesque lake, respectively. I've included these destinations together because each makes for a great side-trip add-on to a China trip starting or ending in Shanghai. Each of these destinations are a calm and wonderful contrast to the Shanghai's craziness. My multi-day trip through these areas was one of the most impressive stretches of my China visit.
WUYUAN
Wuyuan is a city/county about a six-hour bus ride west from Shanghai (as of 2015 there's a high-speed rail line to the area). Wuyuan feels like it's both a world and different time period away. The area is known for its cluster of idyllic villages with well preserved buildings that date back to the Tang Dynasty in the 700s. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
What's amazing about visitors to China, is that I think just about everybody comes to China hoping to see villages like those in the Wuyuan area but because this area is slightly tricky to reach, few visitors make it to Wuyuan. I was here for two days and did not see any other Westerners. I'm not sure if high-speed rail access has increased the visitor volume. There were also relatively few China tour buses navigating this area. It was remarkable. I'd enter a village, was the only visitor, and had free reign to walk where ever.
I made my hotel reservation at the Brook Hotel in Little Likeng. The hotel arranged motorcycle transportation for me from the Wuyuan bus station to Little Likeng, about a twenty minute ride away. Little Likeng and several other villages in the area are managed by the Wuyuan Jiangxi Tourism Department which charges a 210Y admission fee to enter Little Likeng and the other villages. The admission fee is well worth the experience and hopefully helps to maintain the villages in a well-preserved state. Here is a link to a village map.
What's amazing about visitors to China, is that I think just about everybody comes to China hoping to see villages like those in the Wuyuan area but because this area is slightly tricky to reach, few visitors make it to Wuyuan. I was here for two days and did not see any other Westerners. I'm not sure if high-speed rail access has increased the visitor volume. There were also relatively few China tour buses navigating this area. It was remarkable. I'd enter a village, was the only visitor, and had free reign to walk where ever.
I made my hotel reservation at the Brook Hotel in Little Likeng. The hotel arranged motorcycle transportation for me from the Wuyuan bus station to Little Likeng, about a twenty minute ride away. Little Likeng and several other villages in the area are managed by the Wuyuan Jiangxi Tourism Department which charges a 210Y admission fee to enter Little Likeng and the other villages. The admission fee is well worth the experience and hopefully helps to maintain the villages in a well-preserved state. Here is a link to a village map.
I arrived in Little Likeng in the early afternoon. The village has two streams that merge to form one at the village entrance. I walked along one stream to the end of the village where community gardens and rice terraces were kept. There's a couple of restaurants and tea houses in Little Likeng, just enough commercial activity to sit around and enjoy watching village life.
The next day I arranged a motorcycle tour to the surrounding villages through the Brook Hotel. I believe I made all these local travel arrangements in advance - that I contacted the hotel, asked for the bus station pickup and also reserved the motorcycle tour. The villages are fairly scattered and you will need some form of local transportation to take you from point to point. I assume that groups of more than one can hire a car. Each village had a parking area where my motorcycle chauffeur would wait while I explored the village.
It was nearly an hour motorcycle ride from Little Likeng to the first village - Rainbow Bridge. The highlight of this stop wasn’t the namesake bridge but instead a series of rice terraces at the far end of the village. There wasn’t a well defined path but it was a still an easy walk to follow through the terraces.
It was nearly an hour motorcycle ride from Little Likeng to the first village - Rainbow Bridge. The highlight of this stop wasn’t the namesake bridge but instead a series of rice terraces at the far end of the village. There wasn’t a well defined path but it was a still an easy walk to follow through the terraces.
The next stop was Sixi Yancun. This village had a few more buildings but a slightly commercial feel. All of the villages had stores that sold similar handicraft items - combs, wooden block frogs, this chicken string thing my mom has in our kitchen that when you rotate a ball under the paddle, it pulls the chicken heads so it looks like they are feeding on grain. That sort of stuff.
Still a great village and you could just pop into people's homes and take photos. I wish I knew a little bit more about Chinese architecture and house design. There were several homes that I walked through and upon reaching an open courtyard I saw a giant pot. This is certainly some sort of a Confucian or Feng Shui design, I just wish I need the design purpose and house layout.
We stopped for lunch (I don't recall where or what we ate - I think the hotel may have given me a packed lunch) then went to Xiao Qi . This village had a row of commercial stalls I needed to pass through before crossing a bridge to the village. These commercial stalls do nothing to attract from the local experience or the beauty of the village. The village had a similar residential feel as Sixi Yancun but was larger in size and had several historical mansions that I was able to walk through.
The final village stop was Wang Kou and I liked this village the best after Little Likeng. The village ran for about a mile along a river and I walked the entire footpath and popped my head into a few homes and older mansions. One of the homes had a huge poster of Mao and a couple in their 80s watching TV. Most of the other homes had a Taoist or Confucian god in the center of the main room.
At the far end of the village from the entrance was a courthouse style building. The building was very open and followed a similar construction pattern to the mansions - stone walls but with a wooden facade creating a decorative effect on the inside. The courthouse had carvings of the town along the corner of the ceiling.
At the far end of the village from the entrance was a courthouse style building. The building was very open and followed a similar construction pattern to the mansions - stone walls but with a wooden facade creating a decorative effect on the inside. The courthouse had carvings of the town along the corner of the ceiling.
If it wasn't obvious from the photos, it rained most of the day. I had a rain coat that worked well but my shoes were soaked after riding on the motorcycle. I was excited to return to Little Likeng. While the clouds didn't dissipate at least the rain stopped in the afternoon. The little streams and the bridges that connect a houses front door to the village's walking path make for great photos.
If you look carefully at the top of the photo on the left, where the treeline meets the skyline, you can see a highway. The villages also have internet, cell phone use, electrical wires and other modern trappings, but it still feels like you've stepped back in time.
I think everyone is aware or has heard of China's one-child policy. One of the unintended (yet predictable) outcomes of this policy was that parents would spoil their children, particularly the males, with lavish gifts, the best education, and all-around pampering. The spoiling has given birth to a concept called The Little Emperors. When you travel through China, observing these Little Emperors becomes as much of the landscape and cultural experience as The Great Wall and Peking Duck. Relaxed child birth policies in the villages allowed the owners of the Brook Hotel to have two children - a boy and a girl - both under the age of five when I visited. It was interesting to see people fawn over the boy, make sure the boy had his toys to play with, while the little girl seemed to be a bit of an after thought, much to the dismay of the mother. If you are a Chinese woman, you've grown up watching the boys get spoiled their entire life and even though I couldn't understand the spoken language, you can tell based upon a woman's reaction to a conversation that she's a bit tired of the Little Emperor phenomenon.
Next stop: Huangshan. To save time on the bus ride to Huangshan, instead of trekking back to Wuyuan's bus station, I decided to catch a bus from Little Likeng. Easier said than done because from Little Likeng I would need to transfer buses at some point. I had the hotel write instructions for me in Chinese that I could present to the bus drivers. Huangshan is the next major town over, albeit about an hour from Little Likeng. I exited the first bus at what I hoped was the transfer point then proceed to flag down several buses, none of which were going to Huangshan. I looked at a map later and I'm not sure where else those buses could have been heading.
Fortunately, a Chinese family saw me waiting for the bus. I showed them my instructions and we were able to determine we were both heading to Huangshan. They motioned that they'd be able to give me a ride and I was on my way. When we reached Haungshan, I offered $10 for the ride and the family refused. Gotta love the Chinese.
Fortunately, a Chinese family saw me waiting for the bus. I showed them my instructions and we were able to determine we were both heading to Huangshan. They motioned that they'd be able to give me a ride and I was on my way. When we reached Haungshan, I offered $10 for the ride and the family refused. Gotta love the Chinese.
HUANGSHAN
Huangshan Mountain is considered one of the holiest mountains in China - it's beauty has inspired Chinese poets and artists for hundreds of years. I arrived mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day in Huangshan City. Huangshan City has a main commercial street, "Old Street", offering the common Chinese tourist staples - candy, meat on sticks, etc. - but this street has a proliferation of tea shops selling the "famous" local tea. I assume the tea has some sort of spiritual, life sustaining quality. A thriving tourist-centric industry capitalizing on the holy mountain.
Huangshan City is about an hour away from its namesake mountain but the mountain is still reachable via a day trip from this small town. To reach Huangshan I caught a 6:30 am mini bus for about an hour ride to Tangkou, a small village at the base of Mt. Huangshan. From there I needed to transfer to another bus that continued for the final twenty minutes to the park entrance - this bus ride is a bit of a cartel as it’s the only way you can reach the park entrance - the final twenty minute ride costed more than the one hour minibus ride. It was a little confusing too - I thought I could skip this bus ride and wandered around a little thinking I could walk to the mountain but after seeing everyone else going to the bus ride route, I got in line for the bus.
The skies were a bit overcast so rather than walk to the top of the mountain in a drizzle, I opted for the Chinese approach and took a cable car (even if it wasn't raining I'd still take the cable car, the rain kept me from making stupid choice). When I arrived at the top the rain was falling a steadier and the first few viewpoints - one of which claimed to be the best viewpoint for Mt. Huangshan - were covered in clouds. Through the fog I could catch a glimpse of what may be behind the thicker clouds and the mountain appeared similar to Zhangjiajie only instead of the spires rising from a canyon below it was a limestone mountain with a few trees on the side. |
After reaching the summit, where the rain and wind were the fiercest, I started the walk back down. The maps of the mountain don't include all the side trails and it's difficult to get your body pointed in the correct direction when the sun is not available to be used as a guide. The map did not come with English instructions and I was left to carefully match up Chinese letters to determine if I was walking in the right direction. At one point I walked a half mile in the wrong direction. The walk down was pretty intense. Along the top and the summit area you’d briefly walk through an open area and the wind would come racing up and over the mountain bringing with it a stream of water. There was about a 100 foot walk down the mountain that was completely exposed - if you think Asian tour groups are bad try being stuck behind several tour groups, in pouring rain and typhoon like winds, walking down an exposed side of a mountain with a steep drop below and a 70 year old is leading the way. I eventually made it to a protected area and looked back up and even in the pouring rain and fog you can clearly see the beauty of the mountain.
The rest of the hike down went pretty smooth. Once I reached a lower level I was no longer walking in the clouds and the rain stopped. I took off the poncho and while all my belongings were dry my shirt was soaked with sweat. At the base of the mountain I caught a bus back to the bus station and transferred to another bus heading to Huangshan City. It was raining when I arrived at the hostel so I stayed in and practiced some Chinese.
HANGZHOU
Hangzhou is considered one of the most beautiful cities in China. Even Marco Polo commented on it's beauty when he supposedly visited the city during his Chinese travels. The City's beauty can easily be seen during a walk around the West Lake. Along the lake promenade dancers and musicians gathered to enjoy the nice weekend weather.
Around the park were groups of people playing music and dancing. Most, if not all of the activity, is on the city side/east side of the lake.
Chinese and squirrels. I don't understand the attraction but the Chinese love taking photos of squirrels.
It takes about four hours to walk around the lake - I stopped at Liefang Pagoda but otherwise walked straight through with my stops focused on the people watching activities.
There were a few places to stop on the far side of the lake but most of the cafes and restaurants are situated along the eastern side near the city center. One of the best restaurants is The Grandma’s - a Hangzhou institution that has grown from a single restaurant to a chain of twenty. The concept is that the food is what your Grandma would cook - but if this is what Chinese Grandmas can cook I don’t know why everyone isn’t heading to her house every night. I ordered Hangzhou Soup, Rice Cakes, and Garlic Shrimp. The food was good and had a very sophisticated presentation.
There were a few places to stop on the far side of the lake but most of the cafes and restaurants are situated along the eastern side near the city center. One of the best restaurants is The Grandma’s - a Hangzhou institution that has grown from a single restaurant to a chain of twenty. The concept is that the food is what your Grandma would cook - but if this is what Chinese Grandmas can cook I don’t know why everyone isn’t heading to her house every night. I ordered Hangzhou Soup, Rice Cakes, and Garlic Shrimp. The food was good and had a very sophisticated presentation.
The area I stayed in was part of an imperial Song Dynasty historical area that had been yuppified (or whatever the Chinese equivalent of turning an old neighborhood into a hipster paradise is). Despite the thirty minute walk to the West Lake area it was an interesting area to stay. There were pedestrian streets with cafes, restaurants, and shops. One cross street had the same set of tourist shops I’d seen in Fenghuang and Huangshan. The best street food is in the Song Imperial Dynasty area so I picked up a stick of three deep fried crabs. From what I could see the Chinese were biting into the crab and eating it shell and all. I took one bit and decided that wasn’t going to work for me so sat down and a table and pulled out the meat.
A few more photos of the Song Imperial area and also a photo of Hangzhou's train station. I did not take many photos of China's infrastructure but it's impressive - the Hangzhou train station is more of the rule (massive, new, and modern) than the exception.
For additional Wuyuan photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Huangshan photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Hangzhou photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Huangshan photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Hangzhou photos see FLICKR ALBUM.