My last trip to China via a tour package was before the pandemic. With my father progressing into his mid 70s, he proposed checking out Huangshan (a UNESCO world heritage site), said to be China's most beautiful mountain yet one of the most tiresome to climb.
Booking was via CTC Travel Agency, instead of my usual Chan Brothers, as it didn't offer the tour package to Huangshan when we had the intention to book last year. As usual, this package doesn't come with the numerous "commissioned shopping stops" that I detest very much.
Days One and Two
- Huangshan UNESCO World Heritage Site
Day Three
- Lakeside Village of Ancient Houses
- Xin'an River Cruise
- Cultural Show
Day Four
- Shopping on the Coach
- Xiangao Ancient City
- Shuimo Shanghe Scenic Spot
- Huizhou Museum
- Tunxi Old Street
Day Five
- Walk Outside Guanyun Hotel
- Hongcun Village
- Mount Qiyun
- Jog towards Nankeng
- Qiyunshan Resort
Day Six
- Morning Jog at Qiyun
- Thousand Island Lake
Day Seven
- Morning Jog at Thousand Island Lake
- Chenghuang Pavilion
- Hefang Street
Day Eight
- God of the Wealth Temple
- Cruise along the Grand Canal
- Xiangji Temple
- Cruise at West Lake
- Visit to Xiaoyingzhou Isle
- Dinner at 苏小蟹
Day One (01 April 2026)
Singapore - Hangzhou
Congregate timing was at 1.30pm, with the flight departing from our beloved Changi International Airport at 4.30pm and arriving in Hangzhou (China) only at 9.35 pm! It's as good as one day lost since there's nothing else we can do on day one, except sleep!
Met up with the tour guide, the driver, our eight other tour mates, and boarded the big coach that shall be our vehicular companion for the next one week.
Accommodation on day one; SSAW Boutique Hotel (成均君廷大酒店). It's a mixed tower building with Hangzhou City University taking up the premises at the bottom floors. The hotel opened only in 2024 and flushed with technology like smart toilet, smart room and equipped with USB-C ports!
Day Two (02 April 2026)
Hangzhou - Huangshan
After buffet breakfast at the hotel, it's time to meet up, fresh and full, with our tour guide, Xiao Xu, driver, Hu Shifu, and the rest of our tour mates; literally our temporary family until 9 April! Given that there were only twelve of us on the tour, we had many seats to choose from within the coach!
Four hours later; we arrived at the world famous Huangshan. But food shall come first; lunch to fill up the tummies before the climb up Huangshan, agreed by many to be extremely tiring for visitors! Well, we shall see!
I brought hiking sticks from Singapore (purchased from Decathlon) although we were also given free hiking sticks, made from natural wood, to aid us in our climb.
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For mountain-starved Singaporeans, it was without a doubt that the scenery was breathtaking! Huangshan is famous for a few things; peculiar pine trees, strange rocks, sea of clouds, hot springs and winter snow.
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Since it was already spring time, we could only hope to be able to experience at least four of the five famous things. Thankfully, weather was good and despite the "rumours", the hike was actually pretty manageable for us. Hiking sticks help a lot, of course.
Day two accomodation at Huangshan Shilin Hotel (黄山狮林大酒店). Following a buffet dinner, the night activities provided at this built in 1998 (renovated at 2014) hotel included lion dance, music performance etc. More appealing for the kids I feel. p.s. no gym and pool.
Day Three (03 April 2026)
Huangshan - Tunxi
Waking up earlier at 5am, hoping to catch the sunrise and the supposedly sea of clouds that I am always not fortunate enough to see. And misfortune still followed me as it was drizzling! I went back to sleep but the rest proceeded in darkness to catch the above view! So brave, adventurous and lucky of them.
By the time we had our breakfast and started our journey back to the foot of Huangshan, the weather was slightly better, with a glimpse of the blue sky amidst the thick fog and mist.
Started drizzling again and the lower visibility made it much harder for us to check out and enjoy the breathtaking surroundings! Because it was also public holiday in China due to the Qing Ming Festival, what we saw most were the speckles of humans in colorful raincoats.
800-year old black tiger pine tree; nothing about it symbolizes a tiger but its name came about because a monk saw a black tiger on top of the pine tree but it disappeared, leaving only the majestic pine tree in front of him.
Lunchtime after we arrived at the foot of the mountain. The thing about tour packages is that we never have to worry much about food since meals are always factored in, and typical of Chinese meals, it shall be communal dining with dishes comprising of vegetables, meat, fish, soup and fruits!
Visiting the Lakeside Village of Ancient Houses, which was more a replica than an actual village. The rain was relentless and that made exploring a lot more difficult. It didn't help that the"village" didn't have that many visitors, making the atmosphere pretty boring.
Cruise along the Xin'an River, a major commercial waterway that's 373-kilometer long! Please be assured that our cruise was just a few kilometers long and I would suggest not staying put in the sheltered space as shown in the picture above; guarantee you would doze off.
Step outside to enjoy the cool, crisp breeze, the scenic views surrounding us, including cruising past the Lakeside Village of Ancient Houses which we had visited earlier.
Impressed was an understatement; I was literally taken aback at the theatrical technology, from the massive use of LED walls instead of stage sets, to a stage that changes from dry to wet (and vice versa)! Where did the gushes of water go to?!
Day Four (04 April 2026)
Tunxi - Wuyuan - Yixian
Simple hotel buffet breakfast, with the meetup time with our tour mates scheduled at 8.00am. With all four of us past 40 years old, sleeping-in is a luxury and we were usually the first few to have breakfast.
It also meant ample time for us take some photographs at the hotel. Opened in 1995, Huangshan International Hotel appeared dated with vines enveloping its exterior, making it super eerie at night, although it's a different kind of charm in the daytime.
On the bus ride towards Wuyuan, said to be the county with some of China's "best-preserved ancient architectures. Given the hour-long ride, our tour guide (Xiaoxu) took the opportunity to introduce some products that we could buy through her. Please be assured this shopping on the coach is not a forced sale, and plenty of samples were given for you to make a focused decision.
Upon arrival at Wuyuan, we were brought over like chicks to the Xiangao Ancient City (弦高古城). While it was said to be more than 1,200 years old, what we heard from Xiaoxu was that this was a rebuilt. Nevertheless, so darn beautiful one that the one hour allocated to us was sorely insufficient!
Lunchtime!
Visiting the Huizhou Museum for more insight of a historical area split across two provinces, yet commanding a unique culture, dialect and cuisine. What surprised me more was that the end of the museum visit was followed by a "shopping stop" for wooden carvings! p.s. no photo allowed.
Tunxi Old Street was an attraction I was looking forward to exploring and once again; not enough time! Flushed with shops and buildings bearing the huizhou architecture, I bet I can spend more than three hours here!
I did manage to try the hairy tofu that was occasionally pushed to my social media feed. It was quite daunting to see all cotton-like fluff on the beancurd but I was so curious to know how it tasted like!
Sumptuous dinner with fish, prawns, chicken and pork!
Day Five (05 April 2026)
Yixian - Mount Qiyun
Rise and shine; couldn't sleep much as I kept hearing booming noises from 4am! Anyway, this should be virgin stay at a car motel, where those who drive can safely park their car next to their room. Quite cool!
With ample time to spend, we stepped out of the hotel to explore the farmland for a short while, in a considerate way without creating any inconvenience to others. And we got an answer for the booming noise; the villages were celebrating qing ming festival with firecrackers!
Another highlight for the tour package - Hongcun Village; one of the recognizable film sets for the award winning movie; "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (臥虎藏龍)". The picturesque village with many small lanes was just filled with too many visitors and everywhere was people, people and more people.
Lunch!
A pilgrimage to Mount Qiyun; "one of four sacred mountains" in Taoism! A cable car brought us to the upper levels of this mountain that was only 585 meters high at its tallest, where we continued the hike to the numerous Taoist temples and marvelled at the red cliffs signature of the danxia landforms.
Due to limited time, we didn't manage to proceed towards the sky village. I did manage to purchase a local snack, for which the taste wasn't quite my liking.
Taking the cable car down! As with most attractions, you do have the option of walking up Mount Qiyun, and I was then wishing for good weather the next morning so that I can jog up!
Accommodation on day five would be within Qiyunshan Resort; at Sun Forest Resort Hotel 齐云山祥富瑞度假酒店! For all the hotels so far, this shall be the first one where we would have things to do at night!
With about 90 minutes to go before dinner, I took the opportunity to jog at the great outdoors! A word of advice for those who jog; if you are overseas, don't jog in the gym. The outside can bring a lot of nice surprises. In this case, I chanced upon the nankeng area, where a sea of blooming canola flowers greeted me, with so many desirable photo spots.
Dinner time; by day five, one of the things we noticed for meals was the constant, never-ending serving of dishes containing pork belly! I love pork belly but even then; a pork belly dish every lunch and dinner can make me feel so sick of it!
Walking around the Qiyunshan Resort; essentially a theme park with beautifully sculpted gardens, restaurants and accommodations. There were also performances at certain areas at specific timings for visitors and hotel guests.
Dazzled it indeed was but nothing prepared us for the multiple-colored fireworks that sustained for more than five long minutes right in front of us! It's a pity that my elder sister missed them as she decided to return back to the hotel to do laundry!
Ended the night with a hot bowl of peach gum with poached pear.
Soothing for the tummy on a cool spring night.
Day Six (06 April 2026)
Mount Qiyun - Thousand-Island Lake
Insomnia forced me up at almost 6.00am and since it was still too early for hotel breakfast, I donned my jogging gear and eagerly went out for a run! With trees and mountains shrouded in clouds, the whole place felt so mystical.
Breakfast was alright; however, I had my first experience eating kumquat and didn't know it was so tasty! Sweet with a light tinge of sourness, I had like 15-20 of them! p.s. you are supposed to eat them with the skin!
I am glad we had an early breakfast as lunch took place at 11.15 am! Needless to say, many of our tour mates were still stuffed, and even I didn't have that much appetite, especially when I had literally stuffed myself with kumquats earlier.
Ferry ride to explore the man-made thousand-island lake (there were 1,078 islands), including a climb to the 290-meter tall summit of Meifeng Island. In summary, this kind of reminded me of Halong Bay, without the caves. Which was more spectacular? The natural Halong Bay for sure.
Yes you are right; we shall be eating again.
Accommodation on day six shall be Holiday Inn Qiandao Lake! An international hotel brand; it didn't disappoint and came equipped with a gym! While I could have exercised more with weights, I decided to better spend my time elsewhere.
Where was elsewhere? Outside the hotel where there were shops, including a good-sized supermarket where we even found durians! Of course we didn't buy as prices were comparable or even more expensive than Xiao Hei! Alex also took the opportunity for a haircut!
Day Seven (07 April 2026)
Thousand-Island Lake - Hangzhou
Again, a morning jog around thousand-island lake where I happened to bump into Alex who was taking a walk like an old uncle! Had to take advantage of him as a model in front of these stunning flowers.
Three-hour coach ride back to Hangzhou City and the first thing we took upon arrival was lunch at a restaurant in a shopping mall that had a Freshippo; "an Alibaba-owned supermarket chain in China, focusing on fresh food".
We had free lotus starch, a local delicacy on one of the higher levels of the pavilion, which was blessed with a panoramic view of West Lake, including the Leifeng Pagoda on the left. For those into Chinese legends, this is the same pagoda (rebuilt on original site) said to trap the main star of the Legend of the White Snake.
Hefang Street - a place where we went crazy with the shopping! So many things to sample before buying! Only problem; we had only 20-kilogram check-in luggage per person and this limit was bad news for shopaholics like my sister and I!
We had authentic mutton skewer at Hefang Street and even struck up a hearty conversation with the stall operator, who came from inner mongolia; the land of mutton skewers!
For someone who typically doesn't have breakfast, and am on carbohydrate-restricted diet, it's of concern that I am having so many meals a day across a week! Guess how much weight I gained after returning to Singapore?!
Hotel on day seven was the same as day one; SSAW Boutique Hotel (成均君廷大酒店)! As it was still early, we opted to have a walk-walk outside the hotel and since we couldn't get Didi to work; we tried our luck by taking the MRT to a shopping centre.
Nothing much about the mall; Dad had a haircut whereas I was so tempted to buy this super adorable feline and export it back to Singapore!
Day Eight (08 April 2026)
Hangzhou - Singapore
Woke up for a run at the hotel gym!
After which was a religious visit to Xiangji Temple (香积寺); similar to Chenghuang Pavilion, it has a long history of over a thousand years but was only restored in recent time.
Start of our free and easy day near West Lake! Xiaoxu, our tour guide, gave us a very recognisable landmark for us to meet up six hours later. Nope, not the above long stretch of LED screen. It's the Apple store! Everyone recognizes an Apple, even in China!
Cruise included a stopover at Xiaoyingzhou Isle; the largest island on the lake that could be only reached via a boat. I am glad I paid extra for it as the environment had that ancient China feel and it also didn't feel as crowded.
Ladies in traditional Chinese garb also lent some cultural beauty to the place. Also known as Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, this island is definitely worth a visit at West Lake.
Grabbing some oden as snacks!
Many of the cruise ships at West Lake came in the form of a traditional Chinese house, albeit on water. My primary worry was safety even though I had to admit they elevated the charm of West Lake.
While my sister continued her shopping, Alex, my dad and I decided to have dinner at 苏小蟹, which had quite a good review score on Dianping app. Well, I think our chilli crab gravy in Singapore would be more palatable than their crab roe gravy.
After seeing this countless time on Facebook reels, I finally got to try the Plum Blossom Cake (梅花糕)! A pity it was a bit cold as a piping hot cake would have been way better tasting.
Unlike Hefang Street, the area we were at was more a shopping district similar to Orchard Road with many branded outlets, which we didn't have not much interest in. There was a pop-up market but it wasn't at a scale similar to night markets in Taiwan.
Boarded our coach at 7.00 pm, and onwards to the airport where we bade our goodbyes to Xiao Xu, Hu Shifu and also our coach. Praying hard that we didn't breach the luggage limit!
A red-eyed flight with us touching down at Changi International Airport at about 4.00 am! Gosh, I sure hope this would be my last time going on a red-eyed flight; the lack of sleep plus insomnia is the worst combination ever!
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Tour Agency
Pricing
Tour Package (Twin-Sharing) - S$1,340.50
Mandatory Tours - RMB 700 (about S$130) per person
Minimum Tipping - RMB 35-40 a day
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