Morning — the Tangyue arches
A few kilometres west of Shexian, on the edge of the old Huizhou prefecture, a line of seven memorial arches stands along a raised stone path with fields on both sides. They were put up over several centuries by the Bao family - the sequence runs loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness, the standard virtues of the imperial order - and the carving on the Ming and Qing stone is among the best surviving work in the region. The walk from one end to the other is flat, shaded in parts, and takes about an hour at a gentle pace; a garden and the family's ancestral hall adjoin the path. Your guide will explain who paid for each arch and what a merchant family bought with its money in this part of China.
Late morning — a Huizhou village
Huizhou architecture is easy to recognise once you know it: whitewashed walls, black tile roofs, high horse-head gables to stop fire spreading between houses, a narrow lane plan, and an ancestral hall at the centre. Many villages in this prefecture are still lived in, and your guide will choose one on the day according to the crowds, taking you through at a slow pace with a stop for tea. The interior courtyards are cool and dim, built for a humid climate, and the carved beams over the main rooms are the reason Huizhou woodwork has its reputation. Ask to see the ancestral hall if it is open; the family registers and the altars inside explain how these villages were governed long before there was any local administration in the modern sense.
Lunch — Huizhou cooking
Huizhou food is heavier than Hangzhou's and famous for its fermented flavours: braised pork with dried bamboo shoot, smoked and dried tofu, wild vegetables, and the region's notorious fermented mandarin fish, which smells strong and tastes mild. Ask for the fish to be left off the table if you would rather not; the rest of the meal is excellent, with plenty of steamed dishes and local rice. The kitchen will keep the oil and salt low if you ask, and there is almost always a clear chicken soup on the menu, which is the safest choice before an afternoon in warm pools.
Afternoon — the hot spring
The hot spring at the southern foot of the Yellow Mountains has been used for a very long time - it is counted, alongside the pines, the rocks and the sea of cloud, among the four traditional attractions of the mountain - and the water comes out of the ground warm and clear from the fault line above it. The modern spa has a series of outdoor pools at different temperatures, herbal soaking pools, and quieter indoor baths. You have between ninety minutes and two hours here, which is enough for a slow circuit of the pools and a foot bath. Take it gently: drink water, do not stay in the hottest pool longer than ten minutes at a time, and follow your own physician's advice if you have heart or blood-pressure conditions, or are pregnant.
Evening — herbal cuisine and rest
Dinner at the hotel or at one of the small restaurants on the mountain's edge, with a menu built around the region's herbs and mountain vegetables: bamboo shoot braised with pork, Chinese yam, black-bone chicken soup, wild fern, wood ear fungus and mountain rice. It is a mild, warming menu, and it is what the villages here have always eaten in the wet season. An early night; tomorrow is the mountain itself, with the cable car doing the climbing. The hotel at the foot of the mountain keeps a short menu of these dishes all year and can serve dinner early, and if you would rather eat in your room after the hot springs that is straightforward to arrange.
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation
In Huangshan (at the foot of the mountain).
