With forest coverage reaching 73%, Yuexi County  (yuè xī xiàn 岳西县), located in Anqing  (ān qìng shì 安庆市) and in the southwest of Anhui Province  (ān huī shěng 安徽省), features picturesque scenery and agreeable weather. It's regarded as a natural garden in China as well as a base of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

Overview

Covering about 20 tourist areas and more than 108 scenic spots, Yuexi County has been lied emphasis on the development of its traveling resources with a promising future due to its brilliant culture and historical sites. In the county, there is a very famous kind of butterflies called Liangzhu Butterfly  (liáng zhù dié 梁祝蝶) which is many times bigger than normal butterfly and occurring in pairs. The bigger one is green while the smaller one is yellow. Both of them have got a pair of colorful wings two times longer than their bodies. It is said that, if one is caught and put into a bottle, another will just stay with it outside; if one is dead, another will follow it.

Attractions

Baima Pond Tianxian River Drift

Baima Pond Tianxian River Drift  (bái mǎ tán tiān xiǎn hé piāo liú 白马潭天险河漂流) is located between Yuexi County and Qianshan County  (qián shān xiàn 潜山县). It is the upper reach of Wan River  (wǎn hé 皖河). All together there are 7 rapids and 6 deep pools along the upper river. Besides magnificent mountains, there are a multitude of vivid stone statues of elephant, bull and turtle on both sides of the river. Jinniu Statue  (jīn niú shí 金牛石) is said to be the place where Seventh Fairy  (qī xiān nǚ 七仙女) and her husband—Dong Yong  (dǒng yǒng 董永), meet each other every seventh night of July. While appreciating the beautiful scenery, visitors can also have the chance to listen to Huangmei Opera  (huáng méi xì 黄梅戏) which is original, by the local residents. Most of them, if not all, are familiar with such folksongs. And their performances are really professional. It is also enjoyable to join your voice in them. The process of the drifting is surprising but not dangerous, time-taking but not boring. After that, the delicious and traditional banquet will give you the most satisfaction.

Admission Fee: CNY 70
Location: Changpu Town  (chāng pú zhèn 菖蒲镇), Yuexi County, Anqing, Anhui Province

 Miaodao Mountain

Miaodao Mountain National Forest Park  (miào dào shān guó jiā sēn lín gōng yuán 妙道山国家森林公园), located in the southwest of the county, is divided into 5 scenic areas—Juyun Peak  (jù yún fēng 聚云峰), Patriarch Peak  (zǔ shī jiān 祖师尖), Red Osier Garden, Nanxiyuan  (nán xī yuán 南溪源) and Dragon Gate Canyon  (lóng mén xiá gǔ 龙门峡谷). The whole garden is filled with dense mountains, thick forests, deep ravines and crystal waters. It's really wonderful to appreciate such a spectacular forest garden in which there is a huge stone statue of lion. What's more, there is a white fungus of 1 sq.m. volume in the mouth of the "lion" like a white mouse guardian. Many adventurers have tried to get the fungus but never succeeded and even lost their lives. Besides, there are also a sea of precious plants and animals. On Juyun Peak, a stone statue of rabbit is facing to the moon. In ancient times, a rabbit from heaven visited there and missed the time to go back. Therefore it became a statue. In front of the "rabbit" is Panlong Hole  (pán lóng dòng 盘龙洞), a rest place for dragon. The name of Patriarch Peak as well as the montain derives from an eminent monk in Tang Dynasty  (táng cháo 唐朝). Nanxiyuan is the largest scenic area in the garden, which is full of waterfalls and streams and looks like a huge splashed-ink painting. Hence, it is also called "An Art Gallery of Ten Miles (shí lǐ huà láng 十里画廊) ". Red Osier Garden is well known for "3000": there are thousand trees with a history of thousand years on alpine wetlands thousand meters high. Summer is the best season for tourists for the weather there is much cooler.

Admission Fee: CNY 30
Transportation: take shuttle bus to Miaodao Mountain

Yaoluo Platuea

Located on the main peak of Dabie Mountain (dà bié shān 大别山) and covering more than 60 high peaks, Yaoluo Platuea  (yào luò píng 鹞落坪) is regarded as the gene bank for natural species. It is composed of virgin forest and secondary forest, which include many rare animals and plants such as musk deer, salamander, 5-needled pine, henry emmenoptery, and so on. In a word, it is an important and hot scenic spot for those well known mountains, ancient temples, boundless forest, limpid pools, spectacular waterfalls, unique and intriguing animals and flora. Because of its location, it was also one of the famous revolutionary bases. As a result, it has been always called "Red Yaoluo Platuea  (hóng sè yào luò píng 红色鹞落坪)"

Dry Will Garden

Dry Will Garden  (kū jǐng yuán 枯井园) has a large area of natural forests. The most famous one is red osier forest in the swamp. Anyway, there are various kinds of species in the garden including nonvascular plants, pathera pardus, viverricula malaccensis, hellbenders and so on. What's more, the natural environment is extremely charming with the harmonious combination of forest sea, cloud sea and fog sea as well as changeable weather. The water bank is bared with some bluish-white rocks on it due to the flushing of the river. Visitors will feel like appreciating those paintings of Picasso when walking in the garden.

Yufeng Canyon

Yunfeng Canyon  (yún fēng xiá gǔ 云峰峡谷) is largely composed of canyons and waterfalls of different sizes. The most spectacular one is a 240-meter drop. Another splendid sight is Rainbow Drop  (cǎi hóng pù 彩虹瀑) where there will be a 5-meter-long rainbow in a fine day. At the foot of Yufeng Drop  (yún fēng fēi pù 云峰飞瀑), there is a wide pool filled with valuable frogfishes whose sounds are like kids'. This area is also enjoying a huge primeval forest where green mosses are all over the place and old trees nealy stick into the sky. In a word it's a favorable place for tourists to feel real nature.

Location: 50 miles from the north of the county

Residence of Wang Buwen

With a floorage of 465 sq. m, the south-facing residence, surrounded by hills and pines, is also the birthplace of Wang Buwen (wáng bù wén 王步文). The whole residence is composed of two brick-wood structure houses front and back. Mr. Wang used to study in the front courtyard and house at the lintel of which there's a handwriting by himself—Book Hall  (shū yuán 书园). As soon as he joined the democratic revolution and advocated Marxism-Leninism, the residence became a place for revolutionary activities. After restoration, the environment of the whole area is much better than before. Furthermore, it is also a resort for red tourism.

Location: Zifu Village (zī fú 资福村), Wenquan Town (wēn quán zhèn 温泉镇), Yuexi County, Anqing, Anhui Province