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Voykit pocket guide · China
Hongcun
宏村
Stay one night inside the village walls, arrive before 09:00 or after 16:00 to dodge the tour buses, and pair it with Xidi the next morning.
Hongcun is a Ming and Qing village in Yixian County, Anhui, listed with nearby Xidi as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. Its ox-shaped plan, canal network and half-moon pond make it the classic Anhui white-wall, black-tile village. It is small: half a day covers the lanes, and one night is what turns it from a photo stop into a place you actually see.
- Country
- China
- Local name
- 宏村
- Best months
- Mar–May, Sep–Nov
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (heat and rain), Chinese New Year and the first week of October (Golden Week crowds)
- Stay
- 1–2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥150–250 excl. bed · Mid ¥250–450 excl. bed · High ¥450+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Preserved-vegetable flatbread from a street oven | ¥2–5 |
| Noodle bowl outside the village, near the South Bridge | ¥4–10 |
| Vegetable or meat dish with rice in a village restaurant | ¥15–30 per plate |
| Baozi (mornings) | ¥1–3 |
| Taxi Hongcun → Yixian | About ¥20 (check) |
| Taxi Huangshan North station → Hongcun | About ¥160 (check) |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- TXN · Huangshan Tunxi International Airport
- About 1.5 h by road to Hongcun; buses and taxis run from Tunxi and Huangshan North railway station.
Typical fares
- Bus Tunxi → Hongcun
- about ¥30, roughly hourly (check)
- Minibus Hongcun → Yixian
- about ¥2–3, 20 min, leaves when full (check)
- Taxi Hongcun → Xidi
- about ¥20 (check)
Get around
On foot only. The lanes are narrow, cobbled and flat, and every path loops back to Yuezhao Pond or South Lake. Wear shoes with grip: the stones are slick when wet.
See and do
Known for
- UNESCO World Heritage site (with Xidi, 2000)
- Yuezhao half-moon pond and South Lake
- Chengzhi Hall carvings
- Anhui-style whitewashed lanes
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon filming location
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Xidi | Local bus or taxi from the Hongcun gate, about 20 min | About 30–40 min |
| Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) | Bus or taxi to Tangkou, then the park shuttle to the cable cars | 1.5–2 h to Tangkou |
| Tunxi (Huangshan city) | Bus from the main entrance car park, roughly hourly | About 1–1.5 h |
| Yixian town | Green minibus from near the South Bridge, or a taxi | About 20–30 min |
Sleep
- Inside the village (guesthouses)
- Traditional courtyards and canal-side rooms; book ahead, and expect small rooms and thin walls.
- South Lake and South Bridge edge
- Closest to the entrance and the lake view; easiest with bags and for early or late walks.
- Outside the gate / Yixian town
- Cheaper and quieter, 10–20 min by taxi or local bus; loses the after-dark village atmosphere.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xiè xie |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？duō shao qián |
| Can I pay by phone? | 可以用手机支付吗？kě yǐ yòng shǒu jī zhī fù ma |
| I have a ticket | 我有门票wǒ yǒu mén piào |
| Where is the toilet? | 洗手间在哪里？xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎ lǐ |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- Keep your entry ticket: it is checked each time you leave and re-enter the village.
- Restaurants may push an off-menu 'local fish' dish at ¥100 and up — ask the price before ordering.
- Cobblestones are slippery in rain; the lanes are unlit in places after dark.
- Weekend and holiday tour groups arrive mid-morning and fill the main lanes for a few hours.
Very safe for a village of this size; the real risks are wet cobblestones, unlit lanes after dark, and restaurant bills that grow if you accept an unpriced dish.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Hongcun yet. Suggested stay: 1–2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- UNESCO World Heritage site (with Xidi, 2000)
- Yuezhao half-moon pond and South Lake
- Chengzhi Hall carvings
- Anhui-style whitewashed lanes
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon filming location
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui: Xidi and Hongcun: whc.unesco.org/en/list/1002/
- Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism: ct.ah.gov.cn/
- Wikivoyage: Hongcun, revision 4994814 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=4994814
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Hongcun宏村
请到这个地址
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Yixian County; the US, UK, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand missions are in Beijing, with consulates-general in Shanghai. Register your stay with your hotel as required.
Entry ticket is checked on every re-entry — keep it on you.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/hongcun). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.