Live Your Best Lives
Wuhu is truly Wuhu! It greeted me with a gentle drizzle, then a downpour as I was about to head out. Luckily, I was soaked to the skin on my first day! But on my last day, the city gifted me with a stunning sunset over the Yangtze River, a scene I still remember.
▪️Why did you choose Wuhu?
First of all, it’s because I have a treasure travel partner named “Dawang”, who can always find those niche travel destinations on the map, and I will get unexpected feelings after going there, such as the last trip to Ordos was so outstanding!
Secondly, our spontaneous flights both shared a common destination: Wuhu. When he said, "Go for it! Spend the weekend there," I neither agreed nor refused. Instead, I internally struggled: Is this city worth a special flight? But when he handed me his excellent travel guide, my worries instantly vanished, and I said, "Let's go!" without a second thought.
I came to Wuhu accompanied by endless drizzle. As the saying goes, "water brings prosperity", but unfortunately for us, water brings decline.
First, the hotel we booked was surprisingly bad. It said it opened in 2023, but upon entering, the room was not only shabby but also full of mold and a foul odor. It seemed like a rebranding, not a rebrand. Upon arrival, we were scrambling to sort out hotel matters. The first scenic spot we visited after our new hotel was drenched in rain. The combined wind and rain wrecked my umbrella. Feeling melancholy, I returned to the hotel and ate takeout, wondering if I'd just be eating takeout and watching the rain for the next two days.
Fortunately, the rain stopped and the sky was overcast on the second day, so we were able to walk out of the hotel. In the evening, we were also able to feel the warm sunset over the Yangtze River.
The day we left Wuhu, I completely let loose. The sky was clear and the heat was scorching, but I was thankful for the two rainy days. From that day on, the rain disrupted our plans, and this trip became about finding street food and taking in the sights. No matter what, as long as I have friends by my side, this trip will be a wonderful memory! I was drawn to Wuhu because of the food, and I'll definitely be back for it again!
Jiuhe Ancient Town? What was I going to do? This needs some reminiscing! After finishing some chores, I watched the rain gradually subside outside the window. Not wanting to let negative things dampen my mood, we seized the opportunity and took a taxi to Jiuhe Ancient Town.
Perhaps the brief pause in the rain was simply because the rain had tired us out. From the moment we entered the ancient town, the rain gradually intensified, and by the time we finally left, the rain had formed a thin mist on the ground. I vaguely remember the driver saying, "Why is it so hard to get a taxi here on this day?" We figured we'd probably just come here and take a look!
I understand this is a themed tourist destination meant to celebrate the culture of the Huizhou merchants, but the overall feeling is that it's closed. Some of the buildings are still unfinished or overgrown with weeds, making it clearly commercial. However, most of the businesses feel quite low-end and completely out of place in this ancient town. So, I don't think it's necessary to go. Perhaps catching an event there might give you a different experience?
But there are actually some good things. For example, I really like the Hui-style buildings built here. Although the scenic area alone is not very interesting, these buildings themselves are worth seeing and taking pictures. Of course, the premise is that you don’t go to other places in the province, that is, those Hui-style buildings with historical heritage.
I took one last photo of the ancient town in the heavy rain. This is the most iconic check-in spot in the entire scenic area. We wandered around looking for this tower, otherwise we would have left long ago. We didn't get soaked to the skin when we left, and our umbrella was blown away by the wind. We looked a little disheveled at the beginning of our journey.
After yesterday's heavy rain, today's main focus is to do whatever you want. A city walk + city cycling will start a whole day of fun.
Our hotel was near the park, so we chose to walk there. Along the way, we saw locals drinking tea and chatting in front of the park. Although we wanted to blend in with them, drinking a cup of hot tea on such a hot day was like adding fuel to the fire when we were sweating profusely.
Zheshan is composed of two peaks, one large and one small. It's named Zheshan because of the deep red color of the soil and rocks. From the top, you can overlook the city of Wuhu. However, since we were there in summer, there were a lot of mosquitoes in the mountains. I got bitten five times during the walk, and my only thought at the time was to get off the mountain as soon as possible!
The park has a high forest coverage rate. We entered from the northeast gate, and as soon as I walked in, I said, "It feels like walking into a tropical rainforest." If it weren't for the mosquitoes, I really want to explore the interior. This is a forest park in the city, with fresh air and suitable for a stroll to digest food.
As I was still immersed in the mosquito scene just now, I did not go in to visit, but sat at the door waiting for the king to come back. According to his feedback later, the inside was quite good, with the temple built on the mountainside, the yellow walls and the ancient architecture. It was quiet and beautiful. I will definitely go in and take a look next time I come!
Later, I found out that Guangji Temple is one of the four famous temples in Anhui Province, along with Puji Temple, Nengren Temple, and Jixiang Temple, with Guangji Temple being the most famous. In the old days, anyone who went to Jiuhua Mountain would first come here to receive the "Golden Seal of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" before going to Jiuhua Mountain. Therefore, it is also known as "Little Jiuhua" and is a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimage, with a long history of incense burning.
There is a church next to the campus, built in the modern Gothic style. When we went there, there was still a worship service inside, so we didn't disturb it too much. It is not very large, so it is not recommended to go there specifically. If you are passing by like us, you can take a look.
A fusion of historical relics and modernity, Wuhu Old Town retains its original streetscapes and alleyways, while incorporating modern architecture to create four core scenic areas. It's now Wuhu's most interesting cultural and creative district. The district is full of activities and features numerous colorful lights and paintings, so a visit at night is recommended.
This was probably the highlight of the day, as the sun finally came out at sunset, and we were able to experience the romance of the Yangtze River. It was worth our bike ride here. After touring the ancient city, we took a taxi back to the hotel to rest, but we both wanted to visit the Yangtze River again, so we quickly checked the sunset time and transportation options and finally decided to ride there.
This was the most surprising spot. We were walking north from Jihe Square at the southern end of Binjiang Park, and just as we were approaching, we saw this building from afar. This was the church we wanted to see. The full name of the Wuhu St. Joseph's Cathedral is a large Romanesque Catholic church. Designed and supervised by the French in 1887, it is a mixed brick, wood and stone structure.
Located within Binjiang Park, this building, dating from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period, has witnessed many historical events and urban development. The Old Wuhu Customs, one of the forty customs offices in ancient China, began its construction in 1876, in accordance with the Sino-British Treaty of Yantai. The Wuhu Customs was officially established on February 18, 1877, as a third-class customs office.
You can also go directly to the pier and take a boat tour
This was my first meal in Wuhu. Of course, I ordered takeout and ate it in the hotel. I saw the shop and took the picture while strolling around in the evening.
I ordered the classic chicken rice noodles. The broth was rich and there was a lot of diced chicken in it. It was a little spicy, so if you can't handle spicy food, please choose with caution. I went to eat at this rice noodle shop before leaving. I was really drooling just looking at the pictures. There are many stores, and I think it tastes better in person.
I highly recommend this! When I open the mini-program, it says "Waiting for you to come back and enjoy the same Anhui style." It's a bit melancholic, as I really miss the happy days of having two cups a day in Wuhu. My friends and I compared the service here to "Haidilao on Milk Tea Festival." You really can't get that without Anhui!
Not only does this place have a fixed menu, but it also offers limited-time new items, often combining seasonal fruits to create special drinks. Instead of rushing to order, you're invited to try a variety of new items, which really made me, a person with a difficult decision, struggle. This was also the first time I'd seen a milk tea shop decorated like a cafe.
When I saw the fried noodles, I thought they were something like fried vermicelli. When I got closer, I saw that they were flat noodles, which came in flakes and blocks. I saw that she had flakes in her pot, so I ordered that.
The colors are quite nice, with yellow and red, and it tastes sour and spicy, which is quite appetizing.
This dessert shop is tucked away in an alley, making it difficult to find unless you're a local. We initially followed the navigation to find it in the back, but it's actually on the street ahead. They offer a variety of homemade desserts, focusing on tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), as well as ice jelly and qingbuliang (clear ice jelly). Because it's right next to a hot pot restaurant, everyone ordered their desserts while enjoying their hot pot.
Does Happy Malatang really make you happy? Malatang is no stranger to people in Northeast China, but before arriving in Wuhu, I found numerous recommendations for its sweet and spicy flavor. As someone used to sticky malatang, this made me curious about the flavors here.
So we just found a random restaurant on the street. Their dishes were all bundled and dressed, and the price was charged by the number.
When it arrived, the color was quite enticing. The owner asked how spicy we wanted it, and we said mild. It was so spicy that we both questioned our lives. Looking at the people eating next to us, we thought it was normal. I even heard a young woman ask for more spice. When the owner learned I was from Northeast China, he said, "You should be able to handle spicier food." I thought you misunderstood! Wuhu Malatang is pure spicy, without any sweetness. Or maybe it was because we were too spicy to notice the sweetness? But we were definitely very happy after finishing it!
Their specialty is red bean syrup, a great summertime cooler, but upon arriving, I discovered their most famous dish seems to be their mixed noodles. Everyone ordered a plate of cold noodles and a cup of syrup, and many takeout orders also included cold noodles. Since I was already full, I only had the red bean and fermented rice wine shuizi (a traditional Chinese drink made with fermented rice). Actually, every restaurant sells this shuizi, a Wuhu specialty drink, so you don't have to stick to just one!
For breakfast on the second day, we chose Gengji, a restaurant that is a century-old one as you can tell from the sign. Many locals come here to eat, and they take tickets to get their meals at the food counter.
We ordered a bowl of shrimp noodles and boiled dried bean curd, plus a serving of steamed dumplings. I highly recommend the shrimp noodles as they are extremely delicious. The boiled dried bean curd is the most ordered by many locals. The steamed dumplings are delicious, but northerners really don't like sweet ones.
A plum blossom cake shop that has been on TV is located in the snack city on the ground floor of the shopping mall. When I went there, they were just baking. They were delicious while hot. The red bean paste was also dense and sweet, with a strong bean aroma. You can tell at a glance that the red bean paste is homemade.
This was the farthest I've come to eat in Wuhu, just to try this local delicacy. But when it arrived, my friend said, "Isn't this the steamed pork with rice flour that I had in Wenzhou?" I don't know what steamed pork with rice flour tastes like, but I think it's similar but different.
I happened to catch the store making scrap meat. The neatly arranged meat looked a bit greasy to me.
A bowl of steamed rice with pork scraps contains pork scraps, bean curd skin and glutinous rice. It tastes okay, but since I don’t like glutinous rice, most of it was eaten by my friends.
This was our only proper meal, and since we were in Anhui, how could we not try the stinky mandarin fish? So we chose an Anhui restaurant near the hotel. Of course, the star of the show was the stinky mandarin fish, so I’ll mainly talk about its taste.
It didn't smell bad when it was served, but it gradually began to smell bad after I started eating. It felt like eating rotten fish and shrimp in our area, because there is a kind of fish in my hometown that tastes good only when it smells bad, so I can accept this smell.
My friend was a bit surprised. It tasted different from what he usually ate in Beijing, and it was even smellier. So I said, "Maybe the one in Beijing isn't authentic, hahahahahaha."
We had originally planned to try the famous Lan Yixing, but it's not always open until it sells out, and it might even be closed that day. So, on the way back to the hotel, we grabbed some roast duck from a random place. After all, you'll always want to try it until you get your hands on it. It tasted very similar to Nanjing roast duck, with a sweet marinade that matched my typical roast duck flavor!
These two are street snacks in Wuhu. We saw an old man selling them on the way to the ancient city, so we went up to him and bought a few. Because locals buy in batches, when we asked for one, the old man said, "How can I make one?" So we bought ten yuan each.
Stinky tofu is actually stinky tofu, and kidney cake is shredded radish cake. The only drawback is that the sauce is too salty!
This weekend in Wuhu was a great one, but after visiting, I think I wouldn't recommend coming here specifically, as there aren't many attractions to visit. If you're planning to visit Nanjing, Hefei, or any of the surrounding cities, I highly recommend taking a day or two to visit Wuhu for some food and drinks! My itinerary was as follows:
DAY1: Arrival - Jiuyu Ancient Town - Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street
DAY 2: Zheshan Park – Guangji Temple – St. James Church – Wuhu Ancient City – Catholic Church – Riverside Park
DAY3: I went to the next city, and my friend spent half a day there.
If you ask me if I still want to go to Wuhu, I will answer decisively: Yes!
Because we ate at twelve restaurants in the two days here, and there are still so many street foods waiting for me to explore. Wuhu is definitely a treasure trove of food in my heart!
Although it rained heavily when we first met here, it did not affect my favorable impression of this city at all. There are delicious foods here that I can’t forget, and I can go there again just for the food!
