What to Eat and Where to Eat in Huangshan (on Yellow Mountain)

Originated in ancient Huizhou (now Huangshan City, Jixi of Anhui Province and Wuyuan in Jiangxi Province) from South Song Dynasty, Huizhou Cuisine has developed more than 1,000 years. With the rising and spread by Huizhou merchants during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it gradually became noted in Shanghai, Suzhou, Zhejiang and other major cities in ancient China. In 1790, the period of Qianlong Emperor of Qing Dynasty, Huizhou Cuisine was bought to the capital areas in northern China together with Anhui Opera and then got unprecedented blossom. Later, Tunxi grew into a distribution center of tea, Huizhou Inkstick and Inkstone and a main center of Huizhou Cuisine.

Useful Links:

>> Huizhou Culture / Huizhou Architecture

Folk Story of Hairy Tofu: According to legends, Zhu Yuanzhang, founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) once was defeated in Huizhou and escaped to Xiuning County. His soldiers found the barmy Tofu hidden in the mow and offered to him to overcome his hungry tummy. Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised by its smell and odd appearance but it tasted good, afterwards, he lead success in the following battles and rewarded the army with the kind of Tofu.

● Using Original Ingredients

Huizhou is rich in delicacies of every kind of food materials from the land and the sea, including game, fishes, poultry, wide herbs and so on. People using the local resources to stress the regional feature and guarantee the fresh palate. Bamboo shoot, Tofu, Stone Frog, fish and tea are the most common ingredients.

● Cooking Techniques of Braising & Stewing

To make the food with the best odour and look, the locals love to stew and braise the dishes via the local sauces to lock the original flavor and nutrition. Frying and Steaming is less used in Huizhou Cuisine.

● Heavy Flavor, Deep Color, A Little Salty

For the steep terrain and moist climate in Southern Anhui, the local residents prefer a salty and dietary with strong taste. They like to put lots of salt to pickle materials, and use plenty of soybean sauce to cook the fermented food, which makes the meals tasty with thick red oil sauces.

● Great Inclusiveness of Different Cuisines

Anhui is located in the lower reach of the Yangtze River, happen to be the center of food culture and junction of 8 cuisines of China. That affects Huizhou Cuisine and lets it learn from other cuisines and improve a favored character.

There are many popular local dishes and snacks you can taste in Huangshan, such as the Braised Salted Mandarin Fish (Chou Guiyu 臭鳜鱼), Hariy Tofu, Assorted Dishes in One Pot (一品锅), Wenzheng Brewed Mountain Bamboo Shoots (问政山笋). The former two are the most famous but with strange smells. So, travelers may need courage to challenge your tongue. Still, you have plenty of choices of snacks, e.g. Huangshan baked roll (黄山烧饼), Hui style fried noodle (炒面) and more else.

If you are interested in the Huangshan food, you can join in our featured Huangshan local culture and life experience to taste and learn to make snacks.

Address: Near the Memorial Archway, No.247 Tunxi Old Street, Huangshan City, Anhui Province（安徽省黄山市屯溪老街247号，老街口牌坊旁

Meals: Lunch, Dinner, Vegetarian Friendly

Opening Hours: 11:30~13:30 & 17:00~21:00

Recommended Dishes: Hui-style Mandarin fish, Hairy Tofu, Stone Frog & Fungus Soup, Braises Chicken in A Pot

Laojie Diyi Lou is the top valuated restaurant in Tunxi with good reputation on Trip Advisor. The restaurant is highly recommended by a large number of travelers who visited several times. It has good location in Tunxi Old Street and offers enormous choices of fresh and delicious Huizhou dishes, huge portion with reasonable price, good fast service, spacious and clean environment and nice ambience. Vegetarians can order variety of fresh local vegetables. Enjoying meal around the delicate stone carvings and ancient Qing Dynasty decorations, traditional dressed workers in the two-storeyed building brings you back to a real dining scene in the old Huizhou.

Guests need to order on your own. After staff give you the table number, you will get a paper and pen to write down the dish numbers while seeing the displayed samples, and then give it to waitress . Dishes will be served to your table one by one. After the meal, it’s quite convenient to tour around Tunxi Old Street or back to your hotel.

Warm Tips:

1.The restaurant is very famous and opens only before lunch and dinner time, so it would be a little busy during dining time.

2.The staff do not speak English, but they supply an translated English menu, which lists most of their dishes.

3.If you get used to western tableware like fork and knife, remember to pack your own, because normally they will not prepare those, unless you are travelers coming in a group tour with notification ahead.

Address: Next to Laojie Diyi Lou, No.245, Tunxi Old Street, Huangshan City, Anhui Province (安徽省黄山市屯溪区老街245号，老街第一楼旁)

Meals: Lunch, Dinner, Vegetarian Friendly

Opening Hours: 11:30~13:30 & 17:00~22:00

Recommended Dishes: Braised Mandarin Fish, Braised Chicken, Charpati, Whose Rice Cake, Bamboo Tube Cooked Rice, Chinese Dumpling Soup, Steamed Stuffed Bun, Arrowroot Ball

If you want to try many types of local snacks in one meal, Meishi Renjia is a good place to go. The restaurant is just located close to Laojie Diyi Lou, in Tunxi Old Street. The interior is very clean and tidy. Same like the neighboring restaurant, dishes and ingredients are exhibited with authentic models, all labeled with name, price and number. You have huge section to choose from. The ordering is easy, don’t need to worry about communication because gestures will help a lot. The serving is fast and food are all praised by the good taste, large size and good value. Food are surprisingly cheap as you expected. Average cost is a bit lower than Laojie Diyi Lou. Service is also great.

Certainly, you can eat various snacks here, and try local specialties like Fermented Mandarin Fish. For vegetarians, there are wide range of delicious vegetables and dishes in the restaurant. Take-out service is also available.

Warm Tips: During the dining peak period, it would be kind of noisy for the locals or tourists usually like to visit this restaurant.

Recommended Huangshan Tours including Tunxi Old Street：

>> 3 Days Huangshan Highlights Leisure Tour with Tunxi Ancient Street

>> 4 Days Best Huangshan Tour with Tunxi, Hongcun & Xidi Villages

>> 4 Days Huangshan Tour to Huizhou Culture Exploration

Dining is considered one of the priorities as packing and accommodation for a (Huangshan Mountain Hiking Tours. The most useful tip is to prepare some snacks (and water) before starting your trekking trip. Because there are lots of stairs up and down, you need energy supplement to continue and finish the whole journey, another reason is the food on the mountain areas are much more expensive than ordinary places, and they don’t taste good neither. So, strongly recommended to take some light and high-calorie snacks.

If you plan to stay overnight in the hotel at the top, you can have seat meal, noodle and hot dishes in the restaurant. And you can also buy water, corn, fruit, instant noodles, and other snacks from the stores or vendors around major spots.

>> What to Pack for Huangshan Mountain Tour

>> Why Huangshan Mountain is Expensive