PreeChina · City Guide
Xuancheng
The birthplace of Xuan paper — the most celebrated paper in Chinese cultural history, without which classical calligraphy and painting could not exist — where Li Bai visited Jingting Mountain sixty times, and where the bamboo forests that feed the papermaking tradition still cover the hills in extraordinary density.
At a Glance
Xuancheng Quick Facts
Why Xuancheng
Why Visit Xuancheng?
Xuancheng holds a place in Chinese cultural history that is both highly specific and enormously consequential: it is the birthplace of Xuan paper (宣纸) — the paper on which virtually all classical Chinese calligraphy and painting has been produced for over a thousand years. Made in Jing County (泾县) from a combination of blue sandalwood bark fiber and rice straw in a process that requires 108 separate manufacturing steps and takes two years to complete, Xuan paper is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and the material foundation of China’s entire brush-and-ink artistic tradition. Visiting a Xuan paper mill in Jing County — watching the paper lifted from vats, the sheets dried on heated walls, the entire slow process of transforming plant fiber into a surface of extraordinary cultural significance — is one of the most intellectually engaging craft experiences in Anhui Province.
Xuancheng is also where Li Bai visited Jingting Mountain (敬亭山) no fewer than sixty times over his life — a record of attachment to a single landscape that the poet himself recorded in one of his most celebrated short poems: “The birds have all flown away / the single cloud drifts off alone / we look at each other and never tire / only Jingting Mountain and I.” The mountain, modest in height but extraordinary in its forested character and literary associations, is the most specifically Li Bai-associated landscape in Anhui Province outside Ma’anshan.
The Chenghu Lake wetland, the bamboo sea forests of the surrounding hills, and the Hui ink (徽墨) tradition of Jing County — which produces the ink sticks used with Xuan paper in traditional Chinese brush painting — combine to make Xuancheng one of the most complete expressions of classical Chinese artistic material culture available in a single prefecture.
Top Attractions
Best Attractions in Xuancheng
Xuan Paper Mills — Jing County (泾县宣纸)
The most culturally significant craft in Xuancheng and one of the most historically consequential manufacturing traditions in China, Xuan paper production in Jing County has been practiced for over 1,500 years using techniques that require 108 separate steps and two years to complete a single batch. The China Xuan Paper Museum in Jing County and several operating paper mills offer guided tours that reveal the process — the soaking and beating of blue sandalwood bark fiber, the blending with rice straw, the vat-lifting technique that produces the paper’s distinctive two-layer structure, and the slow wall-drying that gives Xuan paper its unique ability to accept brush and ink with unmatched responsiveness. This is not a tourist recreation — it is the actual production facility for the paper used by China’s finest calligraphers and painters.
Jingting Mountain (敬亭山)
The mountain that Li Bai visited sixty times and immortalized in one of the most celebrated short poems in Chinese literature, Jingting Mountain rises modestly above the Xuancheng plain but possesses a forested, misty character of considerable beauty. The mountain’s trails connect pavilions named after the poem’s imagery — the “Never Tire” Pavilion (相看两不厌) where the poem’s final lines are carved — and the summit view across the flat Anhui plain reflects the same horizontal landscape the poet described. For readers of Li Bai, Jingting Mountain offers a specifically literary encounter: not the dramatic cliff above the Yangtze at Caishi Ji, but the quiet mountain of companionable attachment and repeated return.
Chenghu Lake Scenic Area (成湖风景区)
A significant freshwater wetland in eastern Xuancheng prefecture, Chenghu Lake provides habitat for important waterbird populations — particularly in spring and autumn migration — and produces freshwater fish and crab of good quality. The lake’s scenic area combines water views, reed-fringed shores, and the surrounding hills in a landscape of quiet, southeastern Anhui beauty. The lake’s proximity to the Xuan paper villages of Jing County makes it a natural complement to a craft-focused visit to the prefecture — the bamboo forests visible on the surrounding hills provide the raw material for the paper-screen molds used in traditional Xuan paper production.
Xuancheng Bamboo Forests (宣城竹海)
The hills surrounding Xuancheng and Jing County are covered in dense bamboo forests of considerable scenic beauty — the same bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla) whose culms provide the mold screens used in traditional Xuan paper production. Walking through these bamboo forests — the tall stems creating a green cathedral of filtered light, the leaves rustling in the wind with a sound unlike any other forest — is one of the most peaceful and most specifically Xuancheng natural experiences available. The bamboo forests are at their most beautiful in spring (when the new shoots emerge) and after rain (when the green deepens to an intensity that Chinese painters have been trying to capture for centuries).
Eat Like a Local
Xuancheng Food You Should Try
Xuancheng Bamboo Shoot Cuisine (宣城笋宴)
The bamboo forests of Xuancheng produce fresh shoots of exceptional quality in spring — thick, tender, and with a natural sweetness that reflects the clean mountain soil and abundant rainfall. A full bamboo shoot banquet showcases the ingredient’s versatility: fresh shoots braised with local pork belly and soy paste, shredded shoots stir-fried with dried chili and sesame oil, pickled shoots fermented in the summer heat into a tangy condiment, and dried shoots reconstituted in winter soups. The spring bamboo shoot (春笋) season — late March through April — is the finest time to eat in Xuancheng, when the shoots are at their most tender and the bamboo forest walk can precede the meal by minutes.
Chenghu Lake Crab (成湖湖蟹)
The freshwater hairy crab from Chenghu Lake is Xuancheng’s most prized autumn ingredient — raised in clean lake water with abundant aquatic vegetation and producing golden roe of considerable richness in October and November. Slightly smaller than the famous Yangcheng Lake crab but of comparable flavor quality, the Chenghu crab is eaten steamed with black vinegar and julienned ginger in the traditional manner, accompanied by warm Shaoxing rice wine. Eating Chenghu crab at a lakeside restaurant in autumn, with the lake and surrounding bamboo hills visible through the window, is the most complete seasonal dining experience Xuancheng offers.
Jing County Smoked Fish (泾县熏鱼)
A traditional preserved fish preparation unique to Jing County: freshwater fish — carp or mandarin fish — marinated in soy, sugar, and five-spice for 24 hours, then cold-smoked over pine sawdust and rice hull until the surface turns a deep mahogany color and the flesh absorbs the smoke’s sweetness. Eaten cold as an appetizer or reheated in a clay pot with fresh ginger and Shaoxing wine, the Jing County smoked fish represents the region’s preserved food culture — a consequence of the papermaking villages’ isolation in the mountain valleys, where fish needed to be preserved for long periods. Available at specialist food shops throughout Jing County as both a local meal and a distinctive souvenir.
Jingting Mountain Green Tea (敬亭绿雪)
The Jingting Mountain area produces a locally celebrated green tea — Jingting Green Snow (敬亭绿雪) — named for the white downy tips on the fresh tea buds that resemble snow on the mountain’s peak. One of Anhui’s lesser-known but genuinely fine green teas, Jingting Green Snow is produced in small quantities from gardens on the mountain’s southeastern slopes, with a flavor profile of fresh sweetness and a clean, slightly floral finish. Drinking it at a teahouse on Jingting Mountain itself — looking out over the Xuancheng plain where Li Bai once sat looking back at the same mountain — closes a circle of literary and sensory experience unique to this specific place.
Immersive Experiences
Cultural Experiences in Xuancheng
Xuan Paper Mill Tour
Watch papermakers lift sheets from the vat in the 1,500-year-old tradition — 108 steps, two years, and a craft that made Chinese calligraphy and painting possible, witnessed at its working source.
Jingting Mountain Poem Walk
Climb to the “Never Tire” Pavilion where Li Bai’s poem is carved — the mountain he visited sixty times, looking back at the same forested peak that the poet addressed as his only companion.
Bamboo Forest Walk
Walk through the bamboo forest that feeds the Xuan paper tradition — the stems creating a green cathedral, the leaves filtering the light into patterns that Chinese painters have tried to capture for centuries.
Hui Ink Workshop Visit
Watch ink stick masters mould fragrant pine soot and hide glue into the ink that Chinese painters have ground on inkstones for a thousand years — the companion craft to Xuan paper, made in the same county.
Chenghu Crab Dinner (Autumn)
Eat steamed Chenghu Lake hairy crab at a lakeside restaurant in October — the golden roe, the warm rice wine, and the bamboo-fringed lake creating Xuancheng’s most complete seasonal dining experience.
Trip Planning
Best Time to Visit Xuancheng
| Season | Highlights | Weather |
|---|---|---|
| 🌸 Spring (Mar–May) |
Fresh bamboo shoot season (March–April) — finest culinary season; Jingting Mountain forest at its freshest; Jingting Green Snow tea first harvest (April); bamboo forest most beautiful in new growth; Chenghu Lake birdlife active | 8–22 °C (46–72 °F). Mild with frequent mist and light rain. The mist that characterizes Xuancheng’s spring is exactly the atmospheric condition that inspired Li Bai’s descriptions of Jingting Mountain. |
| ☀️ Summer (Jun–Aug) |
Bamboo forest most lush; Chenghu Lake at full level; Xuan paper mill visits most comfortable indoors; mountain hiking best in early morning; tea culture most active; long days for combining all sites | 24–34 °C (75–93 °F). Hot and humid. The bamboo forest and mountain shade provide relief. Xuan paper mill tours are entirely indoors and air-conditioned — an excellent summer cultural activity. |
| 🍂 Autumn (Sep–Nov) |
Best overall season; Chenghu crab at peak (October–November); bamboo forest in autumn light; Jingting Mountain most atmospheric; Xuan paper mill most productive; smoked fish and bamboo cuisine most satisfying in cool air | 8–24 °C (46–75 °F). Crisp and clear. The finest season — hairy crab, comfortable temperatures, and the bamboo forest and mountain at their most photogenic combine perfectly. |
| ❄️ Winter (Dec–Feb) |
Jingting Mountain under snow — rarely photographed and beautiful; Xuan paper mill most quiet and most intimate to visit; bamboo forest snow-laden; smoked fish and braised bamboo shoot most warming; fewest visitors | 0–12 °C (32–54 °F). Cool to cold with occasional light snow. Medium layers. The Xuan paper mill in winter — steam rising from the vats, the cold air outside making the heated drying walls dramatic — is perhaps at its most atmospheric. |
Travel with Confidence
Why Choose PreeChina
Local Expert Guides
Our Xuancheng specialists arrange access to working Xuan paper mills (not just museum recreations), know the Jingting Mountain trail that passes the pavilion where Li Bai’s poem is carved, and source the finest first-harvest Jingting Green Snow tea directly from the garden.
Flexible Itineraries
Xuancheng works as a 2-day standalone or as part of a southern Anhui circuit combining Xuancheng, Huangshan, and the Huizhou villages — following the artistic material culture from the paper mill to the painting studio.
24/7 English Support
From first inquiry to final farewell, our English-speaking team is always available to assist, advise, and troubleshoot — before, during, and after your Xuancheng journey.
Private Transportation
Comfortable vehicles for transfers from Nanjing, Hefei, or Huangshan, and for reaching Jing County’s Xuan paper mills (60 km southwest), Jingting Mountain, Chenghu Lake, and the bamboo forest scenic areas.
Authentic Experiences
We arrange working Xuan paper mill tours with papermaker demonstrations, Hui ink workshop visits, Jingting Mountain literary walks with poem readings, bamboo forest guided walks, and Chenghu autumn crab dinners.
Plan Your Customized Trip to Xuancheng
Tell us your interests, travel dates, and preferences, and our local Xuancheng experts will design a personalized China journey into the birthplace of Chinese artistic material culture — just for you.
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