安徽省

Why this place

Anhui contains the most painted mountain in China — Huangshan — and the white-walled Huizhou villages at its foot, both UNESCO sites. It is also where the scholar's toolkit came from: xuan paper, Hui ink and She inkstones, still made by hand in the same towns.

What to see

• Huangshan — the granite peaks, the pines and the sunrise sea of cloud
• Hongcun and Xidi, the best-preserved Huizhou villages
• Jiuhua Mountain and the Buddhist temples of the south
• The xuan paper workshops at Jingxian and the ink works at Shexian
• The Zuiweng Pavilion at Chuzhou, and the old towns of the Huai plain

What to eat

• Huizhou cuisine — braised and steamed, with preserved vegetables and the 'stinky mandarin fish'
• Bamboo shoots and wild herbs from the southern mountains; tofu from Huainan
• Lu'an Guapian and Huangshan Maofeng teas

How to plan

Five days: Huangshan two (one night on the mountain), Hongcun two, plus Jingxian for the paper.

Best time

April–May and October–November; Huangshan is beautiful under snow in winter and empty

Practical tips

• Huangshan's sunrise needs an overnight on the summit — book the mountain hotels well ahead

Cities 16

合肥市 Hefei芜湖市 Wuhu蚌埠市 Bengbu淮南市 Huainan马鞍山市 Ma'anshan淮北市 Huaibei铜陵市 Tongling安庆市 Anqing黄山市 Huangshan滁州市 Chuzhou阜阳市 Fuyang宿州市 Suzhou六安市 Lu'an亳州市 Bozhou池州市 Chizhou宣城市 Xuancheng