Tachuan Village 塔川

Tachuan Village, also called Tashang, is a mountain settlement in Hongcun Town, Yi County, Huangshan. It sits on the route between Hongcun and Mukeng Bamboo Sea, about two kilometres from Hongcun. Ming and Qing houses follow the slope beside water, and streams wind past the fronts of homes. The village has a bat-like plan, a form associated with wishes for good fortune and long life.

Its history reaches back to the Northern Song period, when it grew as a Wu family settlement. More than fifty old dwellings remain, including Jiyu Hall, built in the Qianlong era about 250 years ago and noted for fine woodcarving. Tachuan is best known for autumn colour, with Chinese tallow, maple and ginkgo trees around the houses and across the village. It was named a national rural tourism key village in 2020, and its red-leaf autumn landscape was listed as a weather and climate landscape viewing place in 2022.

At the village mouth, old camphor, torreya and maple trees form the "Five Trees Reaching Sky." A path leads through the grove and down stone steps beside the clear stream into the village. Within, look for the stream wrapping the front rooms, bamboo-covered hills with birdsong, and the Tachuan cave-heaven scenery.

Don't miss

• Ancient "Five Trees Reaching Sky" at the village entrance
• Stream winding past the front rooms of old houses
• Jiyu Hall woodcarving from the Qianlong era
• Autumn colour from Chinese tallow, maple and ginkgo
• Bamboo hills and the Tachuan cave-heaven view

Visiting tips

Autumn is the draw: October and early November are named for colour, with early November singled out. Allow one to three hours. Tachuan is about two kilometres from Hongcun, and self-driving visitors can navigate to Tachuan Scenic Area.