Xin An River

Quick Facts

Features: natural landscape and old villages, hiking and photography
Location: Xiuning County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province
Hiking Length: 10 kilometers (6 miles)
Hiking Duration: 4 hours

• Recommended Tour: The Yellow Mountains Trekking With Xin An River Hiking

Introduction

Xin An River rises in Xiuning County at the foot of the Yellow Mountains (Huangshan) in Anhui Province. It winds its way to the east and joins the Qiantang River at Jiande City in Zhejiang Province and finally into the Pacific Ocean.

The upstream section of the Xin An River is clean and the ancient villages and fields along the riverside make the scenery beautiful and charming. Tourists are attracted by the natural landscape and hiking there has been become popular in recent years.

The most beautiful part of this hiking trail starts from Nanyuankou Village to Kengkou Village, where hikers can take a car to Huangshan City. The hike is about 10 kilometers long and hikers will pass through a number of ancient villages on the way to the destination. This is an easy level hiking route.

China Highlights Team went hiking along Xin An River and made a video after return.  We departed Huangshan City in the morning for the 40 minute drive to Nanyuankou Village. There we took a ferry boat cross the river to the opposite side and began our hike.

The Rape flowers bloom in spring, which makes it the best time to hike the area. After about 10 minutes of hiking, we reached the first village – Yuelingxia Village. The road lead us to mountains behind the village and as we reached the top we saw the beautiful Xin An River below.

Another hour found us at Yuelingwu Village, which is surrounded by mountains and a stream below crosses the village. Just like other villages in China, the young people are all out working, only the old people and children stay to watch their old houses.

We said goodbye to Yuelingwu Village and continued our hike. We walked along the ridge where the air is fresh; the stream is flowing along fields to accompany us. 30 minutes later, we arrived at Hongling Village.

Hongling village is also called Maihuayu Village, which translates to “selling flower fishing village”. However, this village has nothing to do with fishing, and the main produce of the village is bonsai. The villagers grow the bonsai and sell them to make a living. The bonsai business brings treasure to this remote village, and many families have been able to build new houses.

Departing from Hongling Village, we hiked to our next destination over a small mountain. Rape flowers and tea plantations cover the mountain. Resting at top of mountain, we can see Hongling Village behind us at the foot of the mountains.

Looking forward the fields are full of Rape flowers. The golden color shines under the sun. We are impatient to get there. Walking beside the Rape flower fields is amazing. Before reaching the river, we passed through two ancient villages beside the road. It is interesting to walk into the old settlements to catch a glimpse of the villager’s life. These villages are far from city, and it seems that modern conveniences also have passed them by.

After stroll around in the village, we returned to main road and continued hiking. 15 minutes later, we saw Xin An River again and walked along the path beside the river, where we met some other hikers.

Clear water, green fields and golden flowers provide great opportunities for photography. At 13:30, we arrived at Kengkou Village where our hiking trip ended. The ferry took us cross the river and we drove back to Huangshan City, which took about 1 hour.

Travel with China Highlights, and see the beauty of Xin An River in spring time.