We were lucky enough to go on a tour with Alvin (four of us, a family) to the Hongcun and Xidi villages and Huangshan, but the true highlight of the tour was Huangshan. The weather can be fickle and unpredictable, and we experienced dense fog interspersed with occasional light rain, but when the fog lifted - it was like being given a gift of tremendous beauty, even more precious for how quickly the views changed. One minute all you see is a sheet of white ahead of you, the next minute, faraway clouds seeping over mountains, and the next, the whole city of Huangshan in the valley spread out below you. Although our parents were older and unaccustomed to strenuous hiking, they were still able to choose shorter hikes to go on and get their fair share of the mountain's beauty. The hot spring at the end of our trip, after two days of hiking of seemingly endless numbers of stairs, was also a surprisingly indulgent and peaceful experience. Alvin was exactly on point when he took us to the hot springs - even though it was clearly a huge (and famous) destination, with more than a dozen different kinds of hot spring baths, we were able to have the hot springs to ourselves for nearly an hour before more people started filing in. Finally, we thoroughly enjoyed having Alvin as our tour guide - he was always prompt, spoke great English (in fact, he juggled speaking both Chinese and English since our group has people who speak both languages with varying proficiency), and was very flexible regarding our requests. An unforgettable trip.

Reviewed to: Relaxing Winter Retreat: 3-Day Huangshan Hot Spring Experience Tour