Anshun A waterfall day with room for stone villages, intricate carving and the food of western Guizhou.
Anshun works best as more than a sleeping stop for Huangguoshu. The waterfall gives you the scale and sound of falling water; Tianlong’s stone lanes reveal a different history, shaped by communities descended from Ming-era garrisons. Back in town, the Confucian Temple rewards a close look at carved stone rather than a hurried photograph.
Choose two full days and three nights for the waterfall plus a heritage day, staying in central Anshun. If the waterfall is your only aim, stay near its visitor centre and allow one full day and two nights instead. Do not book a central Anshun hotel expecting to walk to Huangguoshu: the city, waterfall and Tianlong are separate road journeys.
Huangguoshu Waterfall in August 2017. Water volume, visibility and access vary with weather; this is not a prediction for your travel date.Photo: Robinliu · CC0 1.0 · Image credits
The main waterfall, broad cascades and a longer karst-water walk · Southwest of central Anshun; a separate scenic-area base
One full day · Buy the dated admission and scenic transport you need through 安旅通. Optional escalators and other products are separate; use the payable checkout total rather than assuming a package covers everything.
Stone lanes, defensive houses and the continuing life of a garrison-settlement community · Pingba, east of Anshun; separate from the waterfall direction
Half a day, excluding the road transfers · Choose 天龙古镇 for the village. 天台山 and transport may be different products. Confirm the selected ticket in 安旅通; this village plan does not require buying a mountain combination.
Carved dragon columns and a compact city walk with local food · Central Xixiu District
1–1½ hours at the temple; extra time for food and streets · Follow the current visitor-desk admission arrangements. A current first-party tariff was not recovered; any payable admission belongs in the budget variable, not an assumed free visit.
Choose the places before booking the rooms
Open full-size area diagram ↗. The numbered places match this guide’s choices. This editorial area diagram groups visits; box position does not encode direction, distance, paths or an entrance. ChinaMile diagram; location sources. Navigation: search the Chinese name in Amap.
Waterfall day: keep Huangguoshu to itself. Heritage day: Tianlong first, lunch there, then the Confucian Temple and central streets on your return. The heritage sites are not stops on an internal waterfall shuttle.
Spring and autumn can suit walking; wetter periods may produce stronger waterfalls but also spray, slippery steps and closures. Water volume is weather-dependent. If persistent rain makes both outings unattractive, shorten the stay and continue to Guiyang for a broader urban plan instead of forcing a scenic checklist.
Choose a base that fits this trip
Central Anshun, Xixiu District: the default for the mixed trip. Choose a vehicle-accessible hotel near the old city or Hongshan Lake, with dinner nearby. You will still need a booked road transfer for each outing.
Near Huangguoshu visitor centre: better when the waterfall is the sole focus or you want to split its walking over more than one day. Confirm which ticket centre the hotel serves and whether its advertised transfer is actually included. This base is less convenient for Tianlong and central-city meals.
Near Anshun West station: useful for an early departure, but it gives up the evening city experience. For any base, check the exact address, room and cancellation terms, and passport check-in with the hotel. The budget below assumes three nights in the same central hotel, not a hotel change.
To find a room, open Anshun hotel listings and enter your dates, two adults and three nights. Use the map to choose central Xixiu near the old city or Hongshan Lake; confirm the actual entrance, passport check-in and cancellation conditions with the property before paying. This is a booking search, not a checked room or a guaranteed rate.
Make the meals part of the day
Try 夺夺粉 duo duo fen as a shared meal: soft rice-flour pieces cooked in a sour, spicy hotpot with your chosen ingredients. Start with a small selection and add more after tasting; the soup and toppings can contain meat. Ask for 少辣 if you want less chilli, while recognising that a prepared broth may already be seasoned.
On the Tianlong day, choose a simple local lunch such as 屯堡辣子鸡, a chilli chicken dish, with rice and a vegetable. 腊肉血豆腐 includes preserved meat and blood tofu; the name is not a vegetarian recommendation. Back in Anshun, rice-sheet 裹卷 make a smaller snack when you do not want another full meal.
Eat before the waterfall excursion and carry water and a snack; choose lunch according to the signed visitor facilities rather than making the return contingent on a particular restaurant. No named restaurant, menu price or dietary preparation has been field-tested.
The places in detail
1. Huangguoshu Waterfall Scenic Area · 黄果树景区
The main waterfall is about the changing views as you descend and move along the designated paths: distant breadth, close spray and the sound in the valley. A waterproof layer and shoes with grip matter more than planning every photo angle. Some paths and the cave can close during high water; the main viewing route is worthwhile without promising passage behind the falls.
Doupotang offers a broader, lower cascade. Tianxingqiao is a different experience of water, rock and a longer walking circuit. For a relaxed first visit, the main waterfall plus Doupotang is the default; fit the more demanding Tianxingqiao section only when the day’s route and closing times leave a comfortable return. Do not combine the full waterfall circuit with Tianlong on the same day.
Hours
Use the entry slot shown on your booking. Opening and last-entry times vary by season and sub-area; a summer timetable is not a year-round rule. Start in the morning rather than at the final admission.
Tickets
Buy the dated admission and scenic transport you need through 安旅通. Optional escalators and other products are separate; use the payable checkout total rather than assuming a package covers everything.
Time
One full day
Chinese address
黄果树景区游客中心；黄果树大瀑布；陡坡塘；天星桥
Getting there
Arrange hotel → 黄果树景区游客中心 → hotel, then use the official internal transport between sub-areas. Confirm the exact ticket-centre pickup with the driver; a ticket-centre name and the waterfall itself are not interchangeable.
How to visit
Prioritise the main waterfall, then Doupotang. Add Tianxingqiao only with sufficient time and energy for its longer paths. Water Curtain Cave 水帘洞 has a separate reservation requirement when operating; a general ticket does not secure it.
2. Tianlong Tunpu · 天龙屯堡
Look at the way stone slabs, walls and narrow passages work together. Tianlong’s interest is a living settlement with a distinctive history, not a film set preserved at one moment. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Tunpu route identifies the village as a useful introduction to this regional building tradition.
Keep the village and the nearby Tiantai Mountain visit as separate decisions. The mountain adds an uphill excursion and another ticket choice; it is unnecessary on the mixed heritage day below. Visitors who mainly want architecture can spend the time examining doorways and lane junctions instead of rushing to add another summit.
Hours
Plan a morning or early-afternoon visit. Current admission hours and any performance times are those displayed by the operator; a ground-opera performance is not guaranteed every time you enter.
Tickets
Choose 天龙古镇 for the village. 天台山 and transport may be different products. Confirm the selected ticket in 安旅通; this village plan does not require buying a mountain combination.
Time
Half a day, excluding the road transfers
Chinese address
安顺市平坝区天龙屯堡文化旅游区；天龙古镇游客中心
Getting there
Book a return road transfer to 天龙屯堡游客中心. Agree a pickup at the same vehicle-accessible entrance; do not expect a driver to collect you from an interior stone lane.
How to visit
Walk the main stone streets and a few smaller lanes, then have lunch near the entrance. Treat a scheduled 地戏 ground-opera performance as an optional addition. Ask before photographing residents or entering a home.
3. Anshun Confucian Temple and the old-city streets · 安顺文庙 · 安顺古城
The temple’s carved dragon columns are the reason to stop. The stonework has depth and changing shadows, so pause on more than one side instead of treating the entrance as the whole visit. Courts and gates rise with the ground and make the building sequence part of the experience.
The surrounding city supplies the easier part of this heritage day: an unhurried meal and a short street walk. It is a useful counterweight to a waterfall day full of transfers and wet paths. The plan does not require paid shows or promise that every historic interior is open.
Hours
Visit in daylight, aiming for the middle of the afternoon rather than a late arrival. Current first-party fixed hours were not confirmed; check the gate notice when in town.
Tickets
Follow the current visitor-desk admission arrangements. A current first-party tariff was not recovered; any payable admission belongs in the budget variable, not an assumed free visit.
Time
1–1½ hours at the temple; extra time for food and streets
Chinese address
安顺市西秀区黉学坝路；安顺文庙
Getting there
From Tianlong return to central Anshun, using 安顺文庙 as the destination. Keep your hotel’s Chinese address for the final short ride or walk.
How to visit
Go through the open visitor courts and look closely at the dragon columns without touching the carvings. If the temple is shut, use the old-city street walk and meal; move the interior visit to an open arrival afternoon if your travel allows.
A workable stay, from arrival to departure
Arrival evening · night 1: settle into central Anshun, eat nearby and complete the Huangguoshu booking before committing to the next day’s transfer. Save the correct visitor-centre name and arrange the return.
First full day · night 2: breakfast early, travel to Huangguoshu for the reserved morning entry, and prioritise the main waterfall. Break for lunch, then choose Doupotang or the longer Tianxingqiao walk according to conditions and your remaining energy. Rejoin the internal shuttle in time for the agreed pickup and return to Anshun for dinner.
Second full day · night 3: take a morning return transfer to Tianlong, spend the first half of the day in the village and have lunch. Return to Anshun for the Confucian Temple while its visitor areas are open; finish with the old-city streets and dinner.
Departure morning: transfer to the exact station on your ticket. Swap the two sightseeing days if the waterfall operating notice or weather requires it. If Huangguoshu cannot accept your booking, keep the heritage day and shorten the trip; do not pay for a substitute unofficial entrance.
Book the arrival and the return
Search Anshun West 安顺西 on 12306 for your actual origin and date, especially when connecting through Guiyang. Anshun 安顺 is a different station. Neither is the Huangguoshu entrance. Keep the exact station name when arranging departure.
For the two out-of-town days, ask your hotel or a licensed transport provider for separate written round-trip quotes: central hotel → 黄果树景区游客中心 → hotel and hotel → 天龙屯堡游客中心 → 安顺文庙/hotel. Include waiting, tolls, pickup location and the return procedure. This guide does not claim a checked local-bus timetable or a fixed taxi fare.
The operator’s reservation entry is the 安旅通 mini-program; choose 黄果树景区, the actual visit date and each traveller’s real document. If the form cannot process a passport, call 400-800-9998 or ask the hotel to contact the ticket centre before paying for the drive. Domestic toll-free numbers may not connect from an overseas line. Carry the original passport and booking confirmation; do not invent a Chinese ID number.
A transparent budget for two
For two adults, one shared room, three nights and two full days, use 3R + A + H + V + T + ¥700–980. R is the actual nightly room quote; A is both station transfers for the pair; H is the Huangguoshu return road vehicle; V is the Tianlong return vehicle; T is all selected admissions and scenic transport for both adults. The remaining amount is an editorial allowance of ¥520–700 for meals, ¥80–120 for short city rides and ¥100–160 for water and contingency.
Worked planning inputs: R = ¥300, A = ¥120, H = ¥400, V = ¥300 and T = ¥550 produce ¥2,970–3,250 for the pair. All five lettered inputs are placeholders to replace with actual quotes; T is not a verified tariff. Do not add an internal shuttle twice if it is already in the admission package.
Exclude intercity transport, shopping, private guiding, Tiantai Mountain and extra nights at Huangguoshu. Optional escalators, cave access arrangements or other products must be checked in the selected order; this total does not turn an unconfirmed extra into zero.
Sources and planning conditions
Read on 17 October 2026. Operator notices establish the reservation channel and separate Water Curtain Cave requirement; their summer hours are not carried forward as current October hours. Heritage and food sources establish the places and dishes. Live tariffs, passport form handling, local transport and hotel check-in have not been field-tested; the budget therefore uses labelled quote variables. Durations, route priorities and allowances are editorial planning choices.
