East Huangshan Tourist Resort

　　East Huangshan Tourist Resort is situated at the serene and picturesque eastern entrance of the Huangshan Scenic Area, 22 km from the southern entrance of Huangshan. It lies at the intersection of National Highway 205 and Provincial Road 103.

　　　East Huangshan Tourist Resort is located at the tranquil and picturesque eastern entrance of the Huangshan Scenic Area, 22 kilometers from the southern entrance of Huangshan, at the junction of National Highway 205 and Provincial Road 103. It was invested in by Shanghai Xinzhu Industrial Corporation and is affiliated with Bright Food Group. The resort includes Xinzhu Journey Hotel, East Huangshan International Youth Hostel, East Huangshan Expansion Camp, Health Center, Ball Sports Management Center, and East Huangshan Agriculture and Forestry Park. In the 2007 Anhui Tourism Style Golden List Awards, Shanghai Huangshan Tea Farm was awarded one of Anhui’s Top Ten Tourism Investment Projects; East Huangshan Tourist Resort was honored as one of Anhui’s Top Ten Resort Bases. The resort covers an area of approximately 2.8 million square meters.
　　The resort boasts abundant natural and cultural-historical resources, focusing on the development of its tourism culture brand. It centers around three major cultural themes: Shanghai-style culture, educated youth culture, and tea culture. According to the “Decision on Approving the Release of 147 Scenic Areas Including Shichahai Scenic Spot in Xicheng District, Beijing, as National AAAA-Level Tourist Attractions” issued by the National Tourism Administration on January 23, 2009, and the “Announcement of the National Tourism Attractions Quality Rating Committee (2009 No. 1),” East Huangshan Tourist Resort, along with 146 other scenic spots nationwide, was officially rated as a National AAAA-Level Tourist Attraction. Recently, following the standards of a National AAAA-Level Tourist Area, the resort has initially developed the Zhixin Town Shanghai-Style Cultural Zone, Agrarian Culture Scenic Area, and Educated Youth Tribe Nostalgia Scenic Area. The medium- to long-term goals of the resort involve integrating domestic and international trends in sightseeing, leisure, historical, and eco-tourism, and, based on the actual development of tourism in the region, constructing an International Health and Wellness Resort, East Huangshan Leisure Resort, Outdoor Sports Development Zone, and further enhancing the Educated Youth Tribe Scenic Area, all in accordance with National AAAAA-Level Tourist Area standards.
　　Shanghai Huangshan Tea Farm (East Huangshan Tourist Resort) is now an independently operated state-owned enterprise under the leadership of Shanghai Bright Food Group. Its predecessor was a labor farm established in 1955 by the Anhui Provincial Public Security Department, initially named Anhui Local State-Owned Huangshan Tea Farm. In October 1965, it was officially handed over to Shanghai for management, becoming Shanghai Huangshan Tea Farm. In December 1965, the Shanghai Huangshan Tea Farm Party Committee was established. The tea farm currently has 4,666 mu of mountain and field land, including 498 mu of tea plantations and 1,485 mu of woodland; it employs over 180 people. Affiliated units include Xinzhu Journey Hotel, International Youth Hostel, Party-Government Office, Hospital, School, Community Residents' Committee, Police Station, Human Resources Department, Industry Department, Engineering Department, Property Management Office, as well as three agricultural teams: Dongqiao, Huanglong, and Machuan. The surrounding area hosts five sanatoriums established by Shanghai and various natural tourist attractions.

　　Geographical Location

　　　　The town of Tanjiaqiao, where East Huangshan Tourist Resort is located, lies at the foot of the eastern Huangshan Mountain in Huangshan City, Anhui Province. It spans 117°–118° east longitude and 30° north latitude, covering a total area of 136 square kilometers, and governs six villages and 49 villager groups. The town borders Jingde County and Jixi County to the east, neighbors She County and Tangkou Town to the south, leans against the world-renowned Huangshan Scenic Area to the west, and is adjacent to Sankou Town and Xinming Township to the north. It is the essential gateway to Huangshan and is known as the eastern entrance of Huangshan. It is 27 km from the urban area (Gantang) and 18 km from the southern entrance of Huangshan (Tangkou). It sits at the intersection of National Highway 205, Provincial Road 103, and the soon-to-be-completed Hefei-Tongling-Huangshan Expressway, making it one of the key towns on the “Huangshan–Taiping Lake–Jiuhua Mountain” tourist route.
　　Tanjiaqiao Town, where East Huangshan Tourist Resort is located, connects the transportation routes of the east, south, and north. The north-south Hefei-Tongling-Huangshan Expressway and the eastward National Highway 205 intersect here, making East Huangshan a hub connecting Huangshan to the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region. The mountainous region of southern Anhui belongs to the northern extension of the Wuyi Mountains, featuring ever-changing landscapes. As the highest point in the mountainous region, Huangshan naturally forms the watershed between the Yangtze River and the Xin’an River. East Huangshan Tourist Resort is situated at the eastern entrance of Huangshan, on the Yangtze River side of the watershed.

　　Geology and Landforms

　　　　Eight hundred million years of marine sedimentation, crustal movements, and marine transgression laid the foundation for the rich sedimentary rock layers in the Huangshan region. By 200 million years ago, the land of Huangshan had completely risen above sea level. In the early Cretaceous period, underground granitic magma rose and intruded the surface rock layers, solidifying into the embryo of the Huangshan rock mass. The Himalayan orogeny during the Tertiary and Quaternary periods of the Cenozoic Era caused widespread uplift and expansion of the earth's crust. The vast sedimentary cover over the granite was continuously eroded, and further sculpted by glaciers, eventually forming towering granite peak forests that rise over a thousand meters into the clouds. Alongside this dramatic geological transformation, the sedimentary rock layers around Huangshan also developed diverse and varied forms. Glacial activity from the Quaternary Period left its mark, forming the U-shaped Shimen Gorge. The strata of East Huangshan belong to the Cambrian period, with rocks consisting of black platy carbonaceous shale and limestone, with some areas rich in stone coal seams.

　　Ecological Environment

　　　　“Ecotourism” refers not only to enjoying beautiful scenery during travel but emphasizes a behavior and mindset—namely, protective tourism. Not damaging the ecology, understanding the ecology, protecting the ecology, and achieving permanent harmony represent a progressive, tiered approach. Ecotourism uses tourism to promote ecological protection, and ecological protection to promote tourism. More precisely, it involves purposefully visiting natural areas to understand environmental culture and natural history. It does not harm nature and enables local communities to gain economic benefits from conserving natural resources.
　　The Aesthetic Value of Protecting the Natural Environment and Maintaining Ecological Balance
　　To perceive beauty and experience joy in nature’s landscapes and waterscapes, one needs not only an aesthetic consciousness but also a moral consciousness—both are inseparable. Ancient Chinese thinkers never separated moral experience from aesthetic experience. Confucius once said, “The wise find joy in water; the benevolent find joy in mountains. The wise are active; the benevolent are tranquil.” While wisdom and benevolence are distinguished, with their own emphases, the wisdom referred to here is not purely intellectual knowledge unrelated to benevolence, nor is the benevolence discussed here an emotional attitude detached from wisdom. The two are closely linked. Joy is the experience of life and the appreciation of existence amid landscapes, reflecting a subtle life relationship between humans and nature—a personal experience, realization, and reflection.
　　The area where East Huangshan Tourist Resort is located enjoys a subtropical monsoon climate. It features distinct seasons, mild temperatures, and abundant rainfall. With long hours of sunshine, the annual average temperature is 16.3°C, the annual precipitation is 2,058 mm, and the frost-free period lasts about 230 days. About 70% of the precipitation is concentrated in the spring and summer rainy seasons. The prevailing wind direction is southeasterly in summer and northerly or northwesterly in autumn. In the high mountain areas south of Huangshan, the farming season is slightly later than in the plains, and deciduous trees shed their leaves earlier.
　　East Huangshan Tourist Resort enjoys an exceptionally favorable natural environment with extremely rich resources. It features numerous peaks, crisscrossing rivers, beautiful mountains and clear waters, abundant produce, and diverse landscapes. The resort encompasses three major water systems: the east-west oriented Mengjia River, the north-south oriented Nanshan River, and the area’s main river, the Machuan River.