[2025 Tongling Stay] Travel Guide for Yuanling Boutique Hotel (Updated May)

Check-in date: Feb 3, 2025 If I hadn't brought my children and family out to play, I really wouldn't have thought that Yuan Yi's duplexes could perfectly solve the needs of a family trip. The upstairs and downstairs both have 1.8-meter king-size beds, and the children were especially excited when they saw the stairs in the room. At night, my mother took the older child to sleep downstairs, and I took the younger child to sleep upstairs. There is also a bathroom, water dispenser, and small sofa upstairs. The room has super large floor-to-ceiling windows with a wide view. The room is also equipped with a drying towel rack, which is really great. You don't have to worry about the clothes you wash at night not drying. There are also small details such as a Laimo hair dryer, garment steamer, makeup mirror, and Bluetooth speaker, all of which reflect the operator's insight into consumer needs. Because the room is on a high floor, you can see Wanda Plaza not far away from the window, which is really convenient! Duplexes perfectly solve the problem of family travel! If you want to save money and enjoy a comfortable check-in experience when traveling with your family, Yuan Yi is definitely worth experiencing! It's really great value to stay in two rooms for the price of one!

Day 1: We left Shanghai around 6:00 a.m. to avoid the morning rush hour and arrived at Jiuhua Tianchi in Chizhou around noon. The scenic area wasn't crowded. After entering the main gate, we came to a square. After passing through a short street connected to the square, we found the sightseeing bus stop. We opted for the sightseeing bus, which took us to a designated location in a few minutes. Not far from where we got off, there was a small waterfall by the road. A short walk up the slope brought us to a flight of steps. There was an elevator next to the steps, but we chose to walk up the dozens of steps. Perhaps due to recent heavy rain, we saw many colorful geckos. After the steps, we came to a large expanse of water—Jiuhua Tianchi. We took a ferry to a small island across the lake to watch a performance. On the way back, we walked down the mountain path instead of taking the bus. There were several scenic spots along the way, including a cave formed by stacked giant rocks, which was quite interesting. Near the entrance to the scenic area, there was a place for rafting, which we decided to try. We stayed overnight in Chizhou. After dinner, we drove to Pingtian Lake, which was not far from the hotel. Pingtian Lake is known as Anhui's own "Sky Mirror". We drove slowly along Pinghu Road in the evening, enjoying the scenery outside... Day 2: Jiuhua Mountain. Jiuhua Mountain is divided into the front mountain core scenic area, the back mountain Tiantai scenic area, and the Huatai scenic area. Jiuhua Mountain tickets are valid for two days. Because we had only planned for one day, we didn't go to the Huatai scenic area, which is mainly for viewing scenery. We first went to the core scenic area of the front mountain and visited the Meat Body Hall, Dizang Temple, etc. We took the scenic bus from Huxingshan Station to the Tiantai scenic area in the back mountain. On the way, we even saw a monkey by the roadside. We took a cable car up to the Tiantai scenic area and then continued to climb to Tiantai Temple. We took the cable car back down to the station and returned by the same route. Day 3: We first went to Penglai Fairy Cave, about a half-hour drive from Chizhou. It was cool inside the cave, but we didn't need extra clothing. The main attractions included more than 10 spots, such as the Reception Hall, the Sea Exploration Corridor, the East China Sea Dragon Palace, the Tongming Palace, the Enchanted Palace, the Jade Cicada Palace, the Milky Way Corridor, the Yaochi Pool, the South China Sea, the Chaoyin Hall, and the Farewell Hall. Like other cave scenic areas, there were staff photographers at the best viewing points. We couldn't resist taking some photos, which weren't too expensive. After leaving the cave, we took a manually controlled slide down the mountain, which was quite fun as it picked up speed. After leaving Penglai Fairy Cave, we drove to Shitai Guniujiang, mainly to see the mountains and rivers. We didn't go too deep, but we did some hiking to exercise. Not far from the entrance to the scenic area, there was a small river where many children were fishing. We stayed at the Tongling Yuanyi Boutique Hotel. The hotel room was a duplex, relatively new, and we had a good stay. Day 4: We packed up in the morning and set off for the Twelve Scenic Spots of Recalling Jiangnan. It took more than 20 minutes to get there from the hotel. We arrived around 9:00 a.m., and parking was already getting tight. We entered the scenic area and walked up the mountain along the road. There was a scenic spot every short distance along the way, where we could take photos. There were also many lanterns and light strings for decoration. Because we walked slowly, it took us more than two hours to go up and down. Perhaps due to the many artificial elements, the scenery felt average. It might look better at night when the lights are on. We had lunch at a snack street near the scenic area. We had to exchange for copper coins to buy food. Overall, there weren't many varieties of food, and the prices were a bit high. In my opinion, using copper coins was just a gimmick. There was also a real estate sales center in the snack street. It turned out that commercial housing was also being built next to the scenic area. After lunch, we drove to Liqiao Water Town. The water town featured Huizhou-style architecture. We enjoyed the "Da Tie Hua" (iron flower) performance in the evening. There were also many kinds of snacks, and we had dinner there. Day 5: We drove to East Lake in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. We hadn't been there for several years. There weren't many changes. It was still a familiar place with familiar Wupeng boats. After leaving, we headed back to Shanghai.

I would like to recommend a hotel to you all. It is truly "hidden merit and fame". I did not expect that in a city like Tongling where I don't know how high its ranking is, I could stay in such a satisfying and surprising hotel - Tongling Yuanyi Boutique Hotel. First, I want to praise its decoration. Maybe I prefer the neo-Chinese style! It is rare to come across a hotel on the top floor. Later I found out that it was the owner's own property, and the owner and his wife are architectural designers, so the layout is ingenious and novel, with thoughtfulness everywhere and a surprise at every step. The restaurant is particularly spacious, which is a change from the cramped feeling of hotels in the past that tried to save space. Secondly, the breakfast is extremely rich, and the food is very fresh, organic and healthy. The sesame balls and whole grains are particularly impressive. I haven't eaten such grainy sesame fillings with the aroma of freshly ground sesame seeds and not greasy or sweet for a long time (maybe it is also related to the local sesame seeds). I stayed for two days and the breakfast was changed every day. After dinner, there is a small courtyard outside, which is also carefully planned. In addition, if you are interested in calligraphy, you can also leave a "calligraphy treasure" on the table next to the long table. The boss is really tasteful and sympathetic. He collects a lot of old items (you can pay more attention to this when you walk around, it really feels like visiting a museum). He probably loves calligraphy too. He seems to cut and preserve the good calligraphy works, and he uses high-end gold-sprinkled paper. Third, let me talk about their service. It is really warm and detailed. You will know when you experience it. The loft room style is also quite novel, the hygiene is absolutely up to standard, and there are toilets on the upper and lower floors, which is very convenient. Fourthly, I have to mention the atrium on their residents' floor, which provides black tea, yogurt and coffee 24 hours a day. The tea is honey-scented Keemun black tea, and the coffee beans are also very good. The ground coffee has oil rings, so I drink two cups every day. The snacks in the room and atrium seem to be homemade, all handmade and without additives.