Anhui is an inland province in eastern China, best known for the granite peaks of Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), the UNESCO-listed Huizhou villages of Hongcun and Xidi, and the Buddhist mountain of Jiuhua Shan. Its capital and largest city is Hefei. Anhui is the home of Hui cuisine, Xuan paper and Hui ink, and some of China's most famous teas. It has no sea coast, but the Yangtze River, Chaohu Lake and Taiping Lake give it plenty of waterfront.
Anhui is a low-risk destination for tourists. Realistic problems are mountain weather and crowding on Huangshan and Jiuhua Shan, occasional overcharging at tourist sites, and the practical friction of China's payment, internet and identity-registration systems. Standard precautions and advance app setup cover almost all of it.
Current safety advisory
Low
Essential safety tips
Practical advice that applies everywhere.
Anhui is a very safe province; violent crime against visitors is rare and the usual issues are petty theft in crowds and a few overcharging tricks around scenic areas
Huangshan mountain weather changes fast; slippery stone steps, fog and ice (Dec-Mar) cause most injuries. Wear shoes with grip, carry a rain layer, and follow closures posted at the scenic-area gates
Cable cars and trails on Huangshan can close in storms, and queues of 2-3 hours are common in Golden Week. Book tickets in advance through the official Huangshan Scenic Area channel
Tea-tasting and souvenir touts near Tunxi Old Street, Hongcun and Xidi sometimes quote inflated prices; confirm weight, quality and price before tasting or buying
Carry the passport at all times; hotels register foreign guests with police, and ID is required for museum entry and rail tickets
Emergency numbers are 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire, 122 traffic accident; English-speaking operators are not guaranteed, so use a translation app or have a hotel place the call
Summer (Jun-Aug) brings heat and heavy Meiyu rain; typhoon remnants occasionally reach southern Anhui from July to September, causing landslides and closures on mountain roads
Foreign websites and apps (Google, WhatsApp, Instagram) are blocked without a VPN; arrange an eSIM or VPN before arrival and download offline maps
Common scams to avoid
Recognise and sidestep tourist-targeted scams.
Tea-tasting overcharging
Visitors near Tunxi Old Street or tea-growing villages (Taiping Houkui, Huangshan Maofeng) are invited to a tasting and then pressured to buy small quantities at inflated prices, sometimes paying several hundred to several thousand yuan
How to avoid: Ask the price per 50g before any tasting; buy from stores with posted prices or at a tea market; refuse invitations from strangers
Inflated Huangshan day-tour and transfer fees
Touts at Tunxi and Huangshan North stations sell tours or private-car transfers at two to three times the normal price and may add shopping stops
How to avoid: Use the official shuttle buses and the station bus counter; book via reviewed platforms such as Trip.com or the official Huangshan Scenic Area app
Taxi overcharging and refused meters
A minority of unlicensed drivers at Hefei South, Hefei Xinqiao Airport, Tunxi and Huangshan North stations refuse the meter
How to avoid: Use the official taxi queue or Didi, which shows the fare in advance
Counterfeit banknotes in change
Rarely, cash change contains fake CNY 50 or 100 notes
How to avoid: Pay by Alipay or WeChat Pay where possible; check the security thread and watermark on notes
Fake Four Treasures of the Study souvenirs
Tourists buying She inkstones, Hui ink or Xuan paper at tourist prices can receive imitations
How to avoid: Buy from established shops with receipts; request authenticity certificates for high-value pieces
Health considerations
Staying healthy on your trip.
- Vaccinations
- No vaccinations are required for entry from most countries. Routine vaccines plus hepatitis A and typhoid are commonly recommended for China; check current guidance with a travel clinic.
- Water
- Do not drink tap water. Bottled or boiled water is standard in hotels, restaurants and on mountains; refill stations on Huangshan sell boiled water.
- Food
- Food hygiene is good in busy restaurants. Hui dishes such as stinky mandarin fish and Mao tofu are safe when served hot; avoid raw river products and slow-turnover street stalls.
- Facilities
- Hefei has large tertiary hospitals; Huangshan City and Wuhu have good general hospitals; mountain medical posts on Huangshan handle first aid and evacuation but not major care.
Safety for specific travellers
Tailored advice for different groups.
Emergency contacts
Numbers to know before you go.
- Police
- 110
- Medical
- 120 (ambulance)
- Fire
- 119
- General Emergency
- China has no single 112-style number; use 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire and 122 traffic accident. Operators may not speak English, so give a hotel address in Chinese or share an Amap or Baidu map pin; the tourist complaint hotline is 12301.
- Traffic Accident
- 122
- Main Hospital
- The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC (Anhui Provincial Hospital), 17 Lujiang Rd, Hefei; The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei; Huangshan City People's Hospital, Tunxi District (nearest for Hongcun, Xidi and Huangshan)
- Embassy Us
- US Embassy Beijing: +86 10 8531 3000; US Consulate General Shanghai: +86 21 8011 2400 (nearest US consular post to Anhui)
- Embassy Uk
- British Embassy Beijing: +86 10 8529 6600; British Consulate-General Shanghai: +86 21 3279 2000 (nearest British consular post to Anhui)