Immortalized in countless Chinese ink paintings, the distinctive granite landscapes of the Huangshan mountain range, in Anhui Province, cast a powerful spell. Soaring above dense bamboo forest and rugged, vertical-sided canyons, are ranks of pinnacles and razor ridges capped by solitary, wind-bent pines and Buddhist temples. A network of paths wriggles around the cliffs and gullies, often enveloped with swirling mist, to reach these seemingly inaccessible monuments, to which pilgrims have ascended for centuries.

We recommend clients spend a night in one of the hilltop hotels, which will leave you perfectly placed for sunrise, when a rose-coloured sea of cloud carpets the valleys below, leaving the granite towers and peaks of the Huangshan massif standing proud in crimson sunlight.