Lose yourself on “Old Street” in ancient Tunxi

If you truly want to feel like you’re a world and an epoch away from all that is familiar to you, the small and ancient town of Tunxi (屯溪) near Huangshan in Anhui Province, China has the old stone alleyways, eccentrically tiled roofs, and smoke wafting from mysterious doorways that you need.

When Masayo and I arrived in Tunxi on Day 27 of our China trip, we also proved that if you ignore the norm and follow your own instincts – “hike your own hike”, as long-term trekkers through the woods say – your discoveries will be all the more rewarding and personal.

As for diabetes? Well, it will behave as well in Tunxi as it will anywhere. So why not go?

Nearby Huangshan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site mountain range that Masayo and I climbed up a couple of days ago, is the main reason that travelers end up in Tunxi. In fact, there is no longer a real city called Tunxi; there is now a larger area called Huangshan City and Tunxi is merely the old central district. But locals still affectionately call it Tunxi and it does indeed feel like a separate place.

“Old Street” is a fascinating and inviting area full of old shops and roadside stalls. People sell a motley assortment of things – sweets here, pewter knickknacks there, and ornamented calligraphy sets on a curve at the end of the road. You stroll through as smoke rises from fires between the tottering structures around you, along a lane narrow enough that sunlight is usually kept out.

How to make a trip your own

People usually end up in Tunxi on their way to go see the Huangshan Mountain Range. But Masayo and I weren’t doing things like you’re supposed to. We’d come from another direction, going to the mountain-base town of Tangkou and then Huangshan first; now we were in Tunxi and using it as a way to transition between the mountains back to the lowlands of China.

(See our experiences in Tangkou and climbing Huangshan.)

So we were of no use to the various outfits offering tours to Huangshan, and unlike most visitors we have been able to get to know Tunxi just for its own merits. As far as the town goes, this must have been fairly unusual. Like someone wanting to visit Ellis Island in New York, but for the island itself and not the Statue of Liberty.

In all, we spent about five days lounging at the Ancient Town Youth Hostel, a really great little place near Old Street that wasn’t even in our Lonely Planet but which had a friendly staff, fine rooms including a refrigerator for my insulin, and free use of a laundry machine.

One day the two girls working there gave Masayo and I some homemade green tea cakes. These things happen when you manage to stay longer than a day or two somewhere – everyone becomes more comfortable with each other and generosity and authentic smiles gradually start to emerge from behind fixed “may I help you?” smiles.

Another day, as Masayo and I strode along the Xin’an River, some local university students approached me. They were conducting a class project that involved talking to foreigners on the street and asking them questions from a list. At first I was standoffish, thinking they were selling something – ah, the over-defensiveness of the budget traveler! – but when I realized the situation I relaxed and gave them the basic information they were asking for. Name, country, why I was in China, what I thought of their country, et cetera. Also, my email address, although I never received anything from them.

I was glad I didn’t totally brush them off. That wouldn’t have made us foreigners look so great.

Thanks for showing yourself, Tunxi

It was nice to get this special peek into a place that feels so old but is so quickly dashed through by whatever tourists do end up here. By sticking around for several days we started to pick up on nuances and some more complex aspects of Tunxi than we would otherwise have been able to.

For example, the rightly exalted mysticism of the Huangshan Mountains – which are far away enough to be a “destination” from Tunxi, but close enough to be ever-lurking in the corners of the town’s psyche – makes up a lot of the town’s feel. It has a busy and self-satisfied but humble atmosphere. With its ethereal mountain spirit mixed with a warmer lowland commerce, Tunxi has a feel as ancient and comforting as any other place we’ve visited in China.

And if it weren’t for the “backwards” way that we’re traveling, we’d never have noticed any of this.

Have you ever spent time getting to know a place that most people just pass by?

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