Luoyang Departure: Wuyuan Huangling, Hongcun and Xidi, 5 Days 4 Nights

Leave Luoyang Longmen in the morning, change at Shangrao or Huangshan North, and reach Wuyuan by mid-afternoon. Drop the bags at the county hotel and walk along the Xingjiang River instead of rushing into a scenic area. The bridge-head stalls sell steamed rice cakes made to order with dried shrimp and bean sprouts. Turn in early; tomorrow starts before eight.

Attraction introduction: Wuyuan sits in the northeast of Jiangxi and was one of the six counties of ancient Huizhou. Whitewashed walls and dark tile roofs dominate the villages, and the many ancestral halls and merchant houses date from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Tips: The first day is mostly transport, so allow at least forty minutes for the rail change. Guests generally find that taxis from Wuyuan station to the county town take about twenty minutes and need no pre-booking. In practice, keep the evening free, because Huangling involves a lot of walking tomorrow.

Reach the visitor centre at half past eight and take cable car A up to the old village. As the car rises the terraces open out below, so save the camera for the top. Walk through Tianjie, the old commercial lane, to the Shai Gong Fang and climb to the third floor. From the window the drying racks are laid out in blocks of red chilli, yellow corn and white beans rather than scattered at random. Lunch on a bowl of rice noodles on Tianjie, then visit Wugui Hall, a Ming-era house where the upstairs window frames the courtyard and the carved lintel at once. Around four, walk out to the Leixin suspension bridge above the terraces and wait for the sun to drop. Stay after dark for the Luminous Forest, when the woods behind the village light up.

Attraction introduction: Huangling is a hillside village at about 500 metres in Jiangwan township, named for the bamboo grove behind it. Houses step down the slope, drying racks hang outside the windows, and the result is the autumn drying landscape the village is known for.

Tips: There are many stone steps and they are slippery after rain, so wear shoes with grip. Guests generally find the light best after three in the afternoon and the crowds heaviest at midday. In practice, going up on cable car A and down on B is the smoothest route, though B occasionally closes for maintenance, which we check before departure.

Leave Wuyuan in the morning and reach Yixian in about two hours. Enter Hongcun at the South Lake, where the stone bridge crosses the water and the reflection of the white walls breaks and closes again in the wind. Follow the water lanes inland; every house has running water at the door, a design laid out six centuries ago that still works today. Moon Pond sits at the centre, a semicircular pool ringed by ancestral halls and old residences, and in the evening people wash vegetables at its edge. Do go into Chengzhi Hall, where the woodcarving is layered several deep and the beams carry scenes from opera.

Attraction introduction: Hongcun lies in Yixian county, Huangshan, and was founded in the Southern Song by the Wang family. The village is laid out in the shape of an ox, with the water lanes as intestines, Moon Pond as the stomach and South Lake as the belly; that living water system is a main reason for its World Heritage listing. Chengzhi Hall was built in the Xianfeng era of the Qing and is the largest residence in the village.

Tips: The ticket is valid for three days and entry is by ID card, so keep the stub. Guests generally find the South Lake almost empty between half past six and half past seven in the morning, when a narrow aperture captures the full reflection. In practice, staying inside the village lets you start early; from Tangkou you need half an hour more.

Xidi is twenty minutes from Hongcun. The Hu Wenguang archway at the entrance was raised in the Wanli era of the Ming, three bays and four columns with five roofs, carved with lions and embroidered balls. Follow the flagstones in; the lanes are narrow, the sky a single strip overhead, and every brick-carved doorway along the walls is different. Jingai Hall, the Hu ancestral hall, has a large courtyard and sunlight that falls on the character for filial piety. In the afternoon go to Tachuan, where the village sits on a slope beside the road and the Chinese tallow trees are half red and half yellow. From the viewing platform the white walls and dark roofs are scattered through the coloured woods.

Attraction introduction: Xidi lies east of Yixian and was settled by the Hu family in the Huangyou era of the Northern Song. It prospered through Huizhou merchants in the Ming and Qing, and more than three hundred residences from those dynasties survive. The Hu Wenguang archway commemorates the official of that name. Tachuan, two kilometres northeast of Hongcun, is known for its autumn tallow trees.

Tips: The lanes in Xidi are too narrow for umbrellas, so a rain jacket is more practical. Guests generally find parking at the Tachuan platform limited and the light backlit after four. In practice, keep Xidi for the morning and Tachuan for the afternoon so the light falls the right way.

No wake-up call. If you stayed in Hongcun, sit by the South Lake once more; the water is calmer in the morning than at any other hour. Leave at half past nine for Huangshan North, about an hour away, and take a midday train back to Luoyang, arriving in the evening.

Attraction introduction: Huangshan North is the junction of the Hefei-Fuzhou and Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed lines. It is about fifty minutes by road from Yixian, and shuttle buses to Hongcun and Xidi leave from the square in front.

Tips: Book a departure after one in the afternoon to leave room for traffic. Guests generally find security queues at Huangshan North longer on public holidays. In practice, the expressway from Hongcun to the station is more reliable than the provincial road.