Scenic area · Historic city · Cultural centre · Anhui
Huangshan
黄山
The Yellow Mountain and the villages of old Huizhou
Huangshan is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui, created in 1987 from most of the historic Huizhou prefecture and named after the mountain in its north. Its territory holds two World Heritage sites — Mount Huangshan and the villages of Xidi and Hongcun — and the heartland of Huizhou culture, with its merchant houses, ancestral halls, memorial archways, ink and tea.
Key facts
Overview
The mountain gives the city its name, but most of its towns and villages lie in the valleys to the south, the old Huizhou. Hemmed in by mountains, Huizhou families left to trade — in salt, tea, timber and pawnbroking — and sent their profits home to build houses with high white walls and stepped horse-head gables, carved lattice windows and courtyards open to the sky.
The mountain itself, with its granite peaks, pines growing from cracks in the rock and seas of cloud, has inspired painters and poets since the Tang dynasty and was inscribed as a mixed World Heritage site in 1990.
Names and nicknames
徽州
The historic prefecture; its name is kept by Huizhou district and by the culture of the region.
屯溪
The main urban district and the old trading town on the Xin'an River.
History
The Tang emperor Xuanzong renamed the mountain Huangshan (after the Yellow Emperor) in 747. Huizhou prefecture took its name in 1121. From the Ming dynasty, Huizhou merchants were among the most powerful in China and their villages flourished. The traveller Xu Xiake climbed the mountain in 1616 and 1618. In 1987 the new city was named after the mountain.
747
Mountain named Huangshan
Formerly called Yishan (黟山), the mountain was renamed after the Yellow Emperor, said to have made elixirs there.
1121
Huizhou prefecture named
The Song renamed Shezhou as Huizhou, a name used for the region for more than eight centuries.
1616 and 1618
Xu Xiake climbs Huangshan
The Ming traveller's diaries include vivid accounts of the peaks.
17th century
Huangshan school of painting
Painters such as Hongren and Mei Qing made the mountain a central subject of landscape painting.
1987
Huangshan City created
Replaced Huizhou prefecture (the county of Wuyuan had already been transferred to Jiangxi).
Landmarks
Nature
Mount Huangshan
黄山风景区
Granite peaks including Lotus Peak, Bright Summit and Celestial Capital Peak, the Welcoming-Guest Pine and the Xihai Grand Canyon.
Historic site
Hongcun
宏村
Village laid out around a crescent pond and channels in the shape of an ox; part of a World Heritage site.
Historic site
Xidi
西递
Village of the Hu clan with a Ming memorial archway and well-preserved Qing houses.
Historic site
Tangyue memorial archways
棠樾牌坊群
Seven stone archways in a row honouring loyalty, filial piety and chastity.
Historic site
Huizhou Ancient City
徽州古城
Old prefectural seat at Shexian with the Xuguo memorial arch, the only one of its kind with four faces.
Neighbourhoods
Tunxi Old Street
屯溪老街
Song-to-Qing shop street selling ink, inkstones and tea.
Food
Stinky mandarin fish
臭鳜鱼
Fermented and braised mandarin fish, the emblem of Huizhou cooking.
Hairy tofu
毛豆腐
Mould-fermented tofu, pan-fried.
Huangshan sesame cakes
黄山烧饼
Small crisp pastries filled with dried vegetables and pork, sometimes called crab-shell cakes.
Culture
Huizhou culture valued learning as a path to office and commerce as the means to pay for it. Its clans kept genealogies, halls and schools; its craftsmen carved wood, brick and stone; and its workshops made Hui ink and She inkstones. Huizhou scholars formed an important school of Qing textual research, and the region's painters gave landscape painting a distinctive austere style.
五岳归来不看山，黄山归来不看岳。Wǔ Yuè guīlái bù kàn shān, Huángshān guīlái bù kàn yuè.
“Back from the Five Great Mountains, one no longer looks at other mountains; back from Huangshan, one no longer looks at the Five Great Mountains.”
— Saying traditionally attributed to Xu Xiake (1587–1641)
Getting around
- Huangshan North station is on the high-speed lines to Hangzhou and Hefei; buses run to the mountain and the villages.
- Huangshan Tunxi International Airport lies near the city centre.
- The mountain is climbed by stone stairways or by cable cars on the eastern, western and northern sides.
Day trips
Chengkan
呈坎
Village laid out according to the eight trigrams, with the Ming ancestral hall of the Luo family.
Qiyunshan
齐云山
Daoist mountain of red sandstone in Xiuning county.
Wuyuan
婺源
Former Huizhou county, now in Jiangxi, known for its villages and spring rapeseed fields.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Huangshan Municipal People's Government — Huangshan Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Mount Huangshan — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Anhui
- Hefei合肥Capital · Industrial centre · Historic cityScience city on Chaohu, from Three Kingdoms fortress to electric-car hub
- Wuhu芜湖Port · Industrial centreYangtze rice market and car-making city
- Anqing安庆Historic city · Cultural centre · PortOld provincial capital on the Yangtze, home of Huangmei opera and the Tongcheng school
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