When visiting Huangshan I managed the incredible feat of being completely penniless twice in a time span of roughly 2.5h.

It was a rainy day in January and I had come by bus from Hongcun. My clothes were already miserably wet when I arrived in Tongkou as it had been incessantly raining all day. I had known (and forgotten) to pick up cash for my trip, but figured it should be an easy thing as Tongkou is really touristy. My first mistake. There were no (international) ATMs anywhere near and my stress level was already high (never good), as I felt short on time and wanted to finally ascend.

Eventually, a Chinese drove me to the closest (international) ATM and I got the much needed money. Or so I thought as 10min later I had lost my wallet with the money and my credit cards. The pessimists will say that the guy stole it. I don't think this is what happened as he stuck around and even helped me talk to the police; I doubt your regular thief would do that.

My personal opinion on the matter is that my clothes were all wet and sticky and it was still raining heavily. When I put back my wallet in my trouser, I didn't notice that I had missed my pocket and just dropped it. And then someone else picked it up. There were also no attempts to spy on my PIN or use my credit card in other fashion.

So, I found myself completely broke in a remote corner of China. What to do? Turns out, all it took was contact my Chinese colleague via VPN and Whatsapp and he wired the money nearly instantaneous via AliPay to a shop owner who handed me much needed cash. All easy, I thought.

At that point, I was reviewing on how to proceed. Should I go back to the hotel and call it a day? Nope, still needed to get the Huangshan tick. So instead I used my freshly received cash to buy myself a shuttle bus ticket. Plan had been to go up to the cable car station and then return. But then I saw the prices for the cable car and saw it fit my budget. I figured, wtf, let's go up the mountain by cable car, hoping that the clouds would clear higher up.

They didn't, so while the exercise took me to the core zone, there was very little to appreciate apart from "It rains a lot." and some rock formations.

It was then that I was broke the second time. I wanted to go down by cable car when I was told my ticket wasn't valid as it was a single ticket, nto a return ticket. I still don't understand why they would sell these types of tickets in the later afternoon, but well.

It was getting dark and I needed to get back to my bus and hotel and I was really worried being stuck in the rain on the mountain at night. Eventually, google translate and some loud sounds, resulted in me paying the kiddie rate for going down where I then had just enough money to the pay the return trip on the shuttle bus to Tangkou.

In Tangkou, I had planned to get money the previous way via the shop owner and then to take the bus back to Huangshanbei, but... I was too late. The station had closed at 17:00h, so no shop owner and no bus.

Only way back was by cab and I had to somehow pay for it. Some whatsapping and my Chinese colleague again came to the rescue (thanks again). He must have thought what an idiot am I dealing with, how can he be broke again. And I am wondering that myself.

Interestingly, I learnt, you can send the barcode as an image and he managed to send money to the cab driver. The cab driver gave me a fair rate and at the hotel I got yet another (huge) cash infusion which lasted for the remainder of the trip.

In sum, the day was the worst and the best of my trip. For the all the stress it caused me, everyone was really helpful and it all worked out. Amazing what technology properly used can do for you. I should have stayed calm from the beginning and that's a life/travel lesson. And I should never store my fallback travel credit card with my normal credit card.

Getting There

It gets a bit confusing, so stay with me a little.

Huangshan, the site, refers to the mountain. The gateway to the mountain is in a town named Tangkou where you can catch a shuttle bus to the cable car station.

Huangshan, the town, is roughly one hour on the brand new highway South of Huangshan, the mountain. North of the city, a new bullet train station was built which is named Huangshanbei (Huangshan North, as in North of the town, which is still way to the South of the mountain). Around the bullet train station, hotels and some tourist infrastructure have sprung up. Most hotels you find on booking for Huangshan are located here.

To get from Huangshanbei (the train station) to Tangkou you can take a bus. To the right, when you exit the railway building is the regional bus station. They have plenty of connections. In off season, the first bus runs around 8:30, the last bus runs at 17:00h sharp.

If you find yourself stranded in Tangkou, a cab will officially cost you 200 RMB plus the highway fee.

Getting In

Before you go, pick up plenty of cash. In total, going up and down the mountain with entry, bus and cable car, will cost you at least 500 RMB and you haven't eaten anything yet. So I think you should bring 1000 RMB.

Keep in mind, that there is no ATM anywhere near the shuttle bus station. While there is a nearby bank, they do not accept international credit cards. The next bank with an international ATM is at least a 20min walk from the bus station.

From Tangkou, you can take a shuttle to multiple cable car station. The bus station and the facilities for queuing are huge. Coming in off season with heavy rain, I had a hard time fathoming why those would be needed as everything was empty. But pretty sure they aren't in high season.

Keep in mind that all tickets are single trip tickets, so you need the same amount to go down again.

While You Are There

A visit to the villages of Xidi and Hongcun is a must. Every day, there are a few direct buses from Tangkou to Hongcun, the road being quite scenic.