Yellow Mountains & Ancient Villages Photography

A private photographic trip of landscapes and ancient culture.

5 Days, 4 Nights

Best of Huangshan

$1,160 ^USD Per Person (based on 2 pax)

Private and flexible itinerary, guided by local experienced photo guides.

Best Time

All year around

Inquiry

This 5 days Huangshan tour itinerary includes almost all the best Huangshan photography locations; rocky mountains, ancient villages and birds, sunrise and sunset.

Itinerary Details

Huangshan arrival.

Huangshan is close to Shanghai, easy to reach from Shanghai or Hangzhou. Of course, there are direct flights and high speed trains from many other cities.

After driving an hour from downtown, we are going to visit the two ancient villages Hongcun and Xidi, both listed among UNESCO'S World Cultural Heritage Sites.

Hongcun has been nicknamed "the village in the Chinese painting", with 800 years of history. It is one of the locations featured in the Oscar-winning movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". At any time, it is a perfect place for shooting traditional houses or reflections.

Xidi is an ideal place for seeing typical Anhui-style houses, where people have lived for centuries. It gives visitors a rare opportunity to explore China's ancient culture and architecture. Photograph the unique roofs.

Hongcun Ancient Village

Drive to the Yellow Mountains from your hotel downtown: 70 minutes to the parking lot, 20 minutes by shuttle bus, and 20 minutes by cable car. The cable car provides a good opportunity to enjoy the scenery and pine trees from above.

Your guide will first take you to Shixin Peak, with many other photography spots along the way, where you can shoot amazing rocks and pine trees.

After lunch in a hotel, you proceed to Lion Peak, one of the best locations for rocky mountain and valley photography. Expect to shoot a sunset, or mist in the valley.

Lion Peak, Yellow Mountains

Starting at 5 am, climb Lion Peak to shoot the rocky mountains in the sunrise.

After breakfast, move on to the next big photography location: West Sea Grand Canyon. This is a great place for photography of the mountains, seas of cloud, pine trees, canyons, and birds.

Take some amazing shots in Cloud-Dispelling Pavilion, an ideal spot for shooting the stone forest and U-shaped valley. Then walk down in an hour to the bottom of the canyon, and shoot spectacular rocks close up.

After a short break at the next hotel, walk to a cliff-side to shoot the mountains and stone forest at sunset. This is the most likely place from which to obtain good photographs of the sea of clouds.

Yellow Mountains

Starting from town, travel to an ancient village hidden on top of a mountain. The village still preserves houses built in the traditional Anhui-style. After walking 30 minutes to the viewpoint, shoot the traditional village in a bamboo forest, with a sea of clouds as backdrop.

Move on in the afternoon to Xixinan village next to a stream. This is a good place for photography of birds and squirrels. You may be able to see red-billed blue magpie, gray-headed woodpeckers, kingfishers, light-vented bulbuls, lonchura striata, etc.

Muligong Ancient Village

Seasonal Options

Tachuan village is beautified by a forest of Chinese tallow trees, whose leaves become crimson when autumn arrives. The autumn scenery of Tachuan is said to be amongst the best four in China. The elegant white-wall-and-black-roof village houses, together with the vibrant background of Chinese tallow trees, presents a highly photogenic view.

1. Best time of day to shoot: 2:30-4:30 pm. The light before 2:30 pm is too strong to give you fine results, and after 4:30 pm it is often too dim.
2. Best time of year to go: the middle of November.

Fall Foliage Tachuan Ancient Village

After breakfast, drive 80 km to Wuyuan County, regarded as having some of the most beautiful countryside in China. See the highlights of Wuyuan by visiting its Eastern Route: Likeng - Wangkou - Xiaoqi - Jiangwan.

Likeng: Likeng is an ancient village inhabited mainly by families with the surname Li. It was famous as a birthplace of many government ministers. Between the Song dynasty (960-1279) and the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), more than 100 ministers came from there.

Wangkou: Visit Yushi Ancestral Hall, christened by architects "the Architectural Gallery" for its magnificence. Also walk on the thousand-year-old ancient streets in Wangkou and enjoy the sights of the old houses.

Xiaoqi: This is a village built up during the Song dynasty with magnificent, precisely-crafted, buildings. Xiaoqi’s beautiful landscape depicts the symbiosis of people and nature.

Jiangwan: See many ancient buildings such as "Sanxing Hall", "Dunchong Hall" and "Peixin Hall".

Wuyuan Ancient Village

Trip Notes

What's included?

Photography guide
Transportation in private van
All entrance fees to photography locations
Airport/railway station pick up and transfer

What's not included?

Flight/train to Huangshan
Travel insurance
Accommodation
Meals
Tips for guide and driver if satisfied

How many people in my group?

It's a private photo tour. You are the only leading role.

What's the accommodation situation?

There are 9 hotels on mountain top, price is around $150-$300 per room/night from 3 star to 5 star.

Food and water are also expensive. Around $20 per person/meal. Breakfast is normally included.

How can I customize this itinerary?

Telling us your requirements, such as adding one more day or making it shorter, or focus on landscapes more. We can easily design a new itinerary by your interests.

What gears should I bring?

Two cameras will be very helpful, it will save your time to change the lenses. Better to have one full frame body with regular lens, and one half frame for zoom lens.

For sunrise, 24-70 and 70-200 are needed; at sunset, 70-200 is more useful.

Besides, if would be great if you have a primary lens with big aperture (1.4 or 1.8) for low light indoor photography.

Tripod is very necessary of course. We prepare at least 2 tripods for backup, you can bring your ball head only and use it on our tripod if concerning about the weight of your luggages.

Booking Policy

Deposit: a USD 300 non refundable deposit is required to reserve your spot.
Full Payment: is required 40 days prior to the tour starts and is accepted by PayPal, Alipay and Wechat.
Refund Policy:
- a full refund if you could find a replacement.
- there will be a 50% refund of balance payment on cancellations made less than 30 days prior to the scheduled date of departure
- a 25% refund between 30 and 15 days prior date of departure
- a 10% refund on cancellations made less than 15 days of departure
- Initial deposit will be retained.

Instructor: Mercier Zeng

Mercier Zeng designed the itinerary based on years experience, he will guide the workshop by himself.

Mercier guided 300+ photographers from all over the world, and got over 100 excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. Some photographers traveled with him 3 even 5 times in Guilin. He helped beginners and pros to get the portfolio shots since 2014.

Mercier traveled many photography destinations overseas, like Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand to get to know more about photographers' needs.

We have no office staff, Mercier Zeng will reply you directly!

Yellow Mountains & Ancient Villages Photography

Itinerary Details

Huangshan Arrival 1

Xidi & Hongcun Ancient Villages 2

Yellow Mountains 3

Yellow Mountains 4

Ancient Villages & Birds Photography 5

Seasonal Options

Autumn Options: Tachuan Red Leaves & Wuyuan 1

Spring Options: Rape Flowers & Wuyuan 2

Trip Notes