Mountain views, tigers and village charm await in Anhui

Bishan Bookstore in Bishan village, Yixian county, was once an ancestral temple in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It houses 20,000 books about history, culture, rural construction and Hui-style architecture.

The ubiquitous old furniture and ornaments, such as lamps, electric fans, sewing machines and radios, make a visit feel like a journey through time.

Guests can play guitar on an old sofa in the sitting room, beneath 1960s banners reading: "Workers of all lands, unite!". There's an intricately carved antique wooden bed.

Bishan Bookstore in the village was actually a 600-square-meter ancestral temple in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It claims to be the first bookstore in the countryside. It has more than 20,000 books about history, culture, rural construction and Hui-style architecture.

Lotus and Jade valleys are at the foot of the Huangshan Mountains. They're filled with green bamboo, bridges and ponds of various sizes reflecting different colors.

Jade Valley is where Chow Yun-fat and Zhang Ziyi fight in a bamboo forest in Ang Lee's award-winning movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Five kilometers from the northern entry gate to the Huangshan Mountains is the Tiger Garden, where more than 70 Manchurian tigers prowl.

Visitors board a bus protected by safety nets and watch tigers jump on top of jeeps, whose drivers feed the creatures. Some will rest atop the vehicles after meals, as the automobiles drive along.

Chery Automobile Co, Ltd's Recreational Vehicle Campsite is only 1 km from the mountains' western gate and offers fantastic views of the peaks bathed in vast clouds.

There are more than 160 caravans, and you can also drive your own RV and enjoy water and electricity supplies as well as barbecue facilities.

If you go

The high-speed rail between Beijing and Huangshan city, Anhui province, was opened on July 1. Visitors can enjoy picturesque scenery outside the train windows during their journey of five and a half hours. Yixian county in the city is about an hour's drive from North Huangshan Railway Station.