China Guide
The Yangzi basin
Tunxi
The most obvious reason to stop in Tunxi (aka Huang Shan Shi) is because of the town's transport connections to Huang Shan, 50km off to the northwest, and for the classical seventeenth-century Chinese architecture both in the town and around Yixian, 60km west.
If you've time to spare, try tracking down two Ming-dynasty houses in Tunxi's eastern backstreets. The more easterly house – that of the mathematician Cheng Dawei – is in a sorry state of repair, but both it and the Cheng family house are classic examples of the indigenous Huizhou style: two floors of galleried rooms based around a courtyard. Down on historic, flagstoned Lao Jie, 500m of Ming shops have been nicely restored, selling local teas, medicinal herbs and all manner of artistic materials – inkstones, brushes, advertising posters from the 1930s, and carved wooden panels prised off old buildings. A few genuine businesses stand out, notably an apothecary sporting 1920s timber decor, and several small dumpling houses.
Practicalities
Huang Shan airport is 10km west of town, ¥15 by taxi. The train station has connections to Hefei, Nanchang, Shanghai, Xiamen, Beijing and Jingdezhen and is served by frequent minibuses to Huang Shan's main gateway at Tangkou. The bus station runs frequent services to Yixian, Tangkou and Taiping, and long-distance departures to Jiuhua Shan, Wuhu, Hefei, Shanghai, Jiujiang, Nanchang and even Guangzhou.
A knot of places to stay surrounds the train station, the best of which are the smart Jingwei Jiudian ( 
0559/2345188, 
2345098; Price: ¥300-449), which out of season offers fifty-percent discounts; and the nearby Zengtong Binguan ( 0559/2112968; Price: ¥300-449) with comfortable, modern rooms. The Huochezhan Tielu Zhaodaisuo ( 0559/2113699; Price: ¥140-199) is immediately to the right out of the train station and has acceptable, tidy rooms. Near the old town and next to the bridge on Yanan Lu is the smart Huashan Binguan ( 0559/2328888; Price: ¥600-800); on the opposite side of the river the Huaxi Fandian is quiet and pleasant ( 0559/2328000, 2514990; Price: ¥450-599).
For permits for Yixian, try the riverside CTS at 1 Binjiang Xi Lu ( 0559/2522649, 2522635) or the Huizhou Huangshan International Travel Service Yanan Lu ( 0559/3384556). The latter has day-tours to Yixian.