Atlas of China
Anhui 安徽Ānhuī
Granite peaks of Huangshan and white-walled Huizhou villages in the mist
- Type
- Province
- Capital
- Hefei
- Featured places
- 4
- Cities and prefectures
- 16
- Listed sites
- 31110 rated 5A · 210 rated 4A · 131 national heritage
About Anhui
Southern Anhui is the land of Huangshan, whose granite spires and wind-bent pines above seas of cloud have inspired Chinese painters for centuries. In the valleys below, merchant villages such as Xidi and Hongcun preserve whitewashed houses with stepped horse-head gables, carved wooden halls and ponds that mirror the rooftops. Add the Buddhist mountain of Jiuhua Shan and the green tea gardens on the surrounding slopes, and it is an easy place to slow down.
Anhui at a glance
- Area
- 139,000 km²
- Population
- 61.0 million 2020
- Highest point
- Lianhua Peak 莲花峰1,864 m
Area, population and highest point from Wikidata; the population is the latest census or official estimate there.
What to eat in Anhui
- Fermented mandarin fish (臭鳜鱼)
- Hairy tofu (毛豆腐)
- Huangshan Maofeng tea (黄山毛峰)
Places to visit in Anhui
-
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) 黄山
Granite spires, wind-bent pines and a sea of clouds straight out of an ink painting
-
Mount Jiuhua 九华山
A Buddhist sacred mountain where 99 temples cling to granite peaks and mist
-
Hongcun Village 宏村
A merchant village planned in the shape of an ox, mirrored in its own pond
-
Xidi 西递村
A quieter UNESCO twin of Hongcun: flagstone lanes, merchant houses and a Ming archway
Listed sites in Anhui
311 sites in Anhui are on the official lists, 10 of them rated 5A and 131 protected as national heritage. They are listed by city, with what each is and how to get there.
All 311 listed sites in AnhuiCities and prefectures of Anhui
- Anqing 安庆 City
Opera on a river bend, and the granite peak that gave Anhui its short name - Bengbu 蚌埠 City
A railway town on the Huai with signs scratched on pottery over 7,000 years ago - Bozhou 亳州 City
Cao Cao's home town and a great market for China's medicinal herbs - Chizhou 池州 City
Jiuhua's pilgrim temples, Li Bai's river and masked village theatre - Chuzhou 滁州 City
The Old Toper's Pavilion and the home county of the first Ming emperor - Fuyang 阜阳 City
Gelatiao noodles, flower-drum dances and a West Lake that Su Shi praised - Hefei 合肥 City
A fast-growing science city that still honours the incorruptible Judge Bao - Huaibei 淮北 City
Coal-town teahouses and an excavated stretch of the Sui–Tang Grand Canal - Huainan 淮南 City
The legendary birthplace of tofu and the last capital of the state of Chu - Huangshan 黄山 City · Tunxi
Merchant villages, carved ancestral halls and stone archways of old Huizhou - Lu'an 六安 City
Tea slopes, big reservoirs and the wooded peaks of the Dabie Mountains - Ma'anshan 马鞍山 City
Li Bai's moonlit river cliff, his grave and Neolithic jade across the Yangtze - Suzhou 宿州 City
Ringing stones, pear blossom and a Sui-dynasty canal that still holds water - Tongling 铜陵 City
Three thousand years of copper and a ghost port on a Yangtze sandbank - Wuhu 芜湖 City
Hammered-iron pictures, shrimp-roe noodles and a treaty-port riverfront - Xuancheng 宣城 City
Xuan paper, Li Bai's poetry mountain and the Huizhou villages of Jixi
Before you go
- Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
- Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
- Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
- Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
- Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
- When to go When is the best time to visit China?
On the map
Open Anhui on the illustrated map to see where its places sit, how far apart they are, and to add them to a trip.
Open Anhui on the map