My Ancestral home

Tourist Attractions: Hongcun & Xidi, Mount Huangshan
City: Huangshan City
Province: Anhui
Local Food: Stinky Madarin Fish & Mao Tofu
(This is a brief summary, details are explained later in this chapter)

The first place that I would like to introduce is Xidi and Hongcun. They are located in Huangshan City, Anhui Province. Huangshan City is known to the world for the famous mountain, Mount Huangshan. However, even Chinese people sometimes don't know there are beautiful counties right at the foot of the mountain. Xidi and Hongcun are two of the most famous counties in China, even in the world. Both of them are awarded with World Heritage Cite.

Luckily, those two famous counties are neighbours with the county that my grandparents as well as my father used to live in. When my grand parents were younger than my age, there's neither schools nor roads in Yi County. Everyday they need to

walk along mountians for several hours to go to school. There's a saying that students 'leave home before the sunrise and arrive after the moon is hanging high in the dark sky'. After making up their mind to change the growing environment for my father, my grand parents moved to Wuhu to seek a better life, the city that I was born in later.

Ironically, although Yi County is my ancestral home, I'm labeled as a tourist every time I go back. I cannot speak the local dialect though I do understand. The photos are taken in 2014. I went back together with my parents right before I took the Chinese College

Entrance Examination.

Another tourist attraction that I need to mention is Mount Huangshan. It’s one of the Four Big Mountains in China (sounds like accounting Big Four hah). It is definitely worth visiting. However, the mountain can very crowded during Chinese holiday seasons. Thus, if you plan to visit Mount Huangshan, summer season except the period between May 1st and May 10th can be a good time. Climing the mountain is a real challenge. If you are physically capable of spending four hours climing the mountain, then it can be a great workout. The other option is to take the cableway. Personally I suggest that you purchase the one-way cableway ticket just to go up the mountain and then walk down. By doing this, it takes approximately one day. Since the sunrise at Mount Huangshan is considered as a great scenery. What tourists do is that they find a

small hotel to take a nice shower then go to bed and wake up early for the sunrise.

China has a really diaversified cuisine styles. One of my purposes of travelling in China is to taste local decicacies. Food in Huangshan has its own style. Several dishes are definitely worth trying: Stinky Madarin Fish and Mao Tofu (shown in the picture).