HawaiiO

1. There is a nearby city called Tunxi, near Huangshan, about 30mins away.
Most tour groups start from Tunxi.
There is an "old section" of town in Tunxi which is interesting to visit with old buildings/architecture etc.
Train station would be in Tunxi.

3. I would recommend staying one night in Tunxi, go to Huangshan early the next day and stay one night on the mountain, in one of the hotels up there.
Leave the next day, after some walking.
There are cable cars that take you up and down.
Tour-wise, depends on how travel-savvy u are.
If u want a tour group, u should book in advance, especially if u want an English tour group.

4. There is an old village nearby which was featured in "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon".
Also, there is a bamboo forest around there also in that movie.
I've not been there but looks amazing.

Be prepared for lots of climbing up and down stairs!!
Tons of stairs there.
The scenery is spectacular though, with "sea of clouds" especially in the evenings/mornings. The fog is burnt away during the day.

Oh, the hotels on the mountain itself, require lots of climbing up stairs to get to them. Sooo, do not bring any rollerboard luggage or heavy luggage.
Most tourists, when staying at one of the hotels there, would just bring a day pack for 1 night.

You can leave your luggage back at the hotel in Tunxi(since u will be going back there anyway).

Taxis might be in cahoots with the local Huangshan transport and leave u stranded at a bus station, with the only option of taking the bus to Huangshan itself.

roverkt

Hope to get some suggestions for a trip to Huangshan with the parents.

Should I book a tour on Ctrip (guided or free-and-easy), or would going independently be doable too? Does anyone know of companies which provide custom-made tours?

I'm able to speak Chinese and am tempted to do it myself, but from trips to other tourist hot spots in China am also wary of arriving at a place I'm unfamiliar with and being overwhelmed by people keen on cheating you.

And the last thing I want is to be left stranded somewhere without transportation to the hotel. I'd like to think I'm more savvy than that, but am also thinking I'll be preoccupied with making sure my parents are all right.

If I choose to go independently, where would I be able to get the bus tickets from, and which hotels are recommended? I'm looking to be there just for two days so any suggested itinerary would be helpful too. Thanks!

jiejie

Huangshan is not hard to do independently, and especially since you speak Chinese. First, make sure your parents can climb stairs--lots of them, even if they use cable car support up and down. Huangshan Mountain is a nonstarter for those with bad hearts, lungs, knees, and backs. If all pass that physical screen, then decide whether you want to spend the night on the mountain summit or not. Pros to spending the night up there are a) less rushed hiking; b) day crowds dissipate in late afternoon, allowing for a more peaceful evening and first morning hours; and c) only practical way to see a sunset and sunrise on the mountain. Cons are a) expense and poor value for money on accomm and food and b) risk that weather (fog, rain, mist, overcast, etc) will scuttle the views.

Alternative is a daytrip but it means you need to time it to use the full extent of the day. With either an overnight or a daytrip, it makes the most sense to cable car up one way and take a different one down. Huangshan mountain doesn't require a guide, just do a little internet research ahead of time and look for a hiking map that has times and distances on it.

The following suggestions assume a Shanghai start/finish (based on your profile location) and transport options per current timings. Note that there is supposed to be a fast train option coming on line this summer that will add an option to get from Shanghai to Huangshan. Timetables not yet available on that.

A. Summit stay: Structure the trip to leave Shanghai first of morning on Day 1, go by high speed rail to Hangzhou (or Tunxi if operational for your visit timing). Have a prearranged private car to take you from either Hangzhou station (allow 3.5 hours) or Tunxi station (allow 1 hour) to Huangshan Mountain/Tangkou Village. I'd have a quick lunch in Tangkou then proceed to the Visitor Center (shuttle buses take you to the cable cars) and head up midday. Spend afternoon, overnight (prebook accommodation), and next morning of Day 2. Cable car back down midday of Day 2 to Tangkou, negotiate with a car/taxi to take you to Hongcun village (about 1 hour away). This is not difficult if you speak Chinese. Spend afternoon at Hongcun then return to Tunxi for dinner and flight back to Shanghai....it is a late night flight.

B. Daytrip: Structure differently and on Day 1, get transport from rail station to Tunxi (Huangshan City) prebooked hotel. Check into hotel, have lunch, and have a taxi or car do an afternoon round trip to Hongcun then back. Day 2, leave about 07:00 for Tangkou/Mt. Huangshan...can do this by taxi. Up by cable car, spend day, down about 16:00, taxi back to Tunxi and have dinner and look around Tunxi's small Old Town, then taxi to airport (which is very close to city) for night flight back. You may want to arrange an extra half-day (up to 18:00-ish) on the hotel room for shower/cleanup and quick rest after returning from the mountain.

It is also possible to do a daytrip and spend the night at a hotel or guesthouse in Tangkou village at base of mountain, which leaves you better positioned for the next morning. For this, either prearrange a driver or negotiate upon arrival with a taxi to take you and luggage to Hongcun, where driver will wait while you tour for the rest of the afternoon, then take you on to Tangkou village where you check in to your hotel. Advantage of this is that you can get to the cable car queues early before they start backing up. I personally would choose this option, but the hotels/guesthouses available in Tangkou will be simpler and lackluster compared to the options available in Tunxi. If you can trade comfort for convenience and efficiency, this would be the way to do it.

Try hard to avoid weekends/holidays. Middle of work week is best. Don't worry about cheats, just avoid any of the tea and Chinese medicine shops, etc. that snare the bus group tours. You will find that prices of stuff on the mountain itself are very high (like RMB 5-10 for bottles of water that cost 1-2 in a supermarket). That's because everything on the mountain has to be hand-portered in. The biggest threat to wallet is the high cost of entry for Huangshan itself, and the cable car fees. Also, do not take large luggage, only daypacks, up the mountain. If they are not returning to Shanghai but will be traveling onward to another destination and must bring full luggage into the area with them, then place it for a small fee at Left Luggage at Tangkou bus station or Tunxi Rail Station (option A) or for no cost at your Tunxi or Tangkou hotel (option B).

roverkt

Xiexie, jiejie!

qpr

You can also take a long distance bus early in the morning at the south long distance busstation, to arrive near noon at Tunxi or Tangkou.

sinoflyer

I agree with jiejie, Huangshan is definitely doable independently if you plan ahead. I actually recommend doing it independently, because you can see things on your own pace. jiejie has provided good logistical details, and I encourage anyone wanting to do this themselves to take heed of them and do some additional research online.

Some synopsis of my own:

1. Tangkou is a small village at the base of Huangshan. It's where the buses to the entrances/hiking routes leave from.

2. Tunxi is a bigger town with a nice (albeit small) airport. It has a charming old town and is worth an overnight stay if time permits. Get your provisions in Tunxi if you can--water, salty snacks, candy, etc. Things not to overlook are the vacuum-packed cooked eggs and chicken legs. You'll need to eat every 30 minutes or so during the hike, and if you need to buy stuff from vendors, you will find that they become progressively more expensive the higher up elevation you get.

3. It's easiest to hike up and down via the eastern trail; however, the western trail is far more BREATHTAKING in more ways than one. I recommend going up on the eastern trail and coming down on the western trail.

4. Get a good hiking stick. You will find vendors selling basic wood sticks all over the mountain, but they don't compare to the lightweight, shock-absorbing sticks you can get from outdoors outfitters.

My own experience:
I climbed Huangshan by myself two years ago, a week before Chinese New Year. There was light snow and ice on the steps, and very few people on the mountain. They told me that during the rest of the year the mountain would be packed with people. I stayed at one of the summit hotels called Paiyunlou. I carried up 30 pounds in my backpack, including all of my food, plus photography gear and laptop. Limit as much weight as you can, which means, depending on how you travel to Tunxi/Tangkou, leave as much as you can in your hotel.

roverkt

I did a bit of searching after reading some of the tips above and the main thing that has made getting to Huangshan from Shanghai by either coach or HSR+car is that coach may be cheap but takes 6+ hours (is the journey breathtaking too by any chance?) and that booking a driver from Hangzhou to Huangshan costs about a thousand yuan via Ctrip (if anyone knows a better deal please let me know, but no huangnius).

So flying to Tunxi (250 yuan/person) seems the cheapest and fastest. Only catch is that the flight arrives at 3:30 pm, which means it'll probably be too late for us to catch the cable car to spend the night up in the summit.

So current plan is, as per jiejie's last suggestion:
- fly to Tunxi, arriving 3:30pm
- get driver to send us to Hongcun for look see and then to Tangkou
- spend night in Tangkou
- early morning cable car up eastern route, walk around
- come down via western route in afternoon
- head to Tunxi for walkaround then off to airport for late flight back to Dream life in Shanghai

What do you guys think?

qpr

If you catch an early bus who´s using the new highway, you´ll be in Tunxi at about noon.
2 years ago I left at around 07.00 am and arrived in Tunxi a little bit later than 12.00

Stay in Tunxi overnight and leave early in the morning to reach Tangkou and Huangshan, if you are not in hurry.

You never know how´s the weather in Huangshan and if the condition is not very good you can do daytrips from Tunxi to other destinations before you enter the mountain.

In Tangkou there´s not much to do.

eethan

I'm doing the summit stay itinerary jiejie mentions above. 1st night, I arrive ~22:00 from Lushan (via Nanchang and Shangrao). Drop off my big pack at the station (hopefully luggage center is still open at that hour). Since there're no buses running then, I'll grab a taxi straight to Tangkou. That way, I'll get an early start, and avoid the cable car lines going up the eastern steps.

On the mountain, I'll head straight to Xihai canyon, dropping rest of my provisions at Paiyunlou hotel, which appears to be along the way. By now, it should be around noon. Then make a circle around Xihai, avoiding the monorail back up from the bottom of Xihai. Apparently most Chinese tourists take the monorail, so you can actually get some peace & quiet by hiking the route back. Finally, I'll get back to Paiyunlou for some rest late-afternoon, before catching a sunset.

Next morning, catch a sunrise, walk around, and hike down the Western steps. Should be down in Tangkou again by noon. At this point, I'll catch a bus to Hongcun, spend a couple hours there, and catch the last bus to the high speed station (departing at 16:30 according to Ctrip - thanks jiejie for the tip on where to check bus schedules!). For Shanghai, the last high speed train departs at 19:08. - You have to piece together Huangshan North-Shangrao and Shangrao-Shanghai. - I still haven't found a site that pieces together train segments automatically (like what the Swiss railway system is able to do.)

As far as tours ago, I think it's better to avoid them if you can.

eethan

Tip #1 - There is a lot of fog, which obscures the majesty of the West canyon. Better if you can base in a nearby city for 1 - 2 weeks and plan a trip only if the weather is at least partly sunny. According to a porter I talked to, cloudy forecasts mean the whole place will be enveloped with fog. (There's a 7p train back to Shanghai that connects in Shangrao.)

Tip #2 - Starting out in the West canyon, there are endless throngs of tourist groups. But everyone - and I mean everyone! - takes the cable car from the bottom back up. So pass that and you get utter peace and quiet. You do have to climb 3km of stairs nearly nonstop to get back up (making a roundtrip back to Baiyun). Also, Chinese tourists will take every opportunity to ride a cable car. Thus, climbing down the Western steps was also very quiet. (But be sure to take the cable car up the Eastern steps.)

#3 - The best hotel - Xihai hotel - is 40 min away from the sunrise viewing platform - Guangming (Bright top). I booked Xihai since it was along the way and I could drop off my bags coming up from the Eastern steps. In retrospect, I should have booked Baiyun hotel, which is next to Guangming. Also, you can just buy water on the mountain for 5 kuai, and lighten loads a bit.