For hikers who want some wilderness, the Huihang Old Caravan Trail on the border of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces offers both strenuous and easy routes. 

While climbing the sacred mountains has long been a popular adventure, enjoying some of China's less accessible wilderness areas has attracted hardier travelers, especially young people who prefer enjoying the great outdoors.

For those wanting to swap packed cable car-linked tourist spots for quiet winding walking trails, Zhejiang Province offers some of the best hiking in eastern China. There are also some challenging trails.

Within striking distance of Shanghai, one such trail gaining popularity is the Huihang (Anhui-Hangzhou) Old Caravan Trail on the border of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

The ancient stone trail was used by tea traders on horseback to transport their leaves from Anhui to Zhejiang in exchange for grain.

The best-preserved section of the trail starts in Anhui at the village of Yuchuan.

Getting to the village from Shanghai involves an overnight train (12 hours) to the nearby city of Jixi.

The train arrives at 5:30am and, while the dusty city holds few attractions, it does have some tasty street food to try while waiting for the local bus to Yuchuan.

Local women fry ta gao or flat pancake that is stuffed with different vegetables or meats.

We took local advice and our pancakes came stuffed with xiang chun, a seasonal green vegetable grown nearby.

Also not to be missed is the local shui xian bao, a large dumpling either steamed or fried and typically stuffed with pumpkin, winter melon or pork.

The bus station is either a 5-yuan (75 US cents) taxi ride or a 10-minute walk from the train station.

The bus to Yuchuan actually departs from a spot opposite the ticket-selling area and is not immediately apparent for those who do not read Chinese. The entrance through an archway is next to a yellow-and-red sign in Chinese for the Jinjiang Hotel.

The first bus leaves at around 6:10am, with regular buses every 30 minutes.

On arrival at Yuchuan, the route through the maze of alleys is marked by red arrows, with the route leading through golden fields of corn and rice to the gate.

The Huihang Trail has become increasingly popular in recent years, and the signs of development are starting to show.

In the village several guesthouses are under construction, and an alternative shorter tourist walk is being built on the other side of the river that marks the beginning of the trail.

The area around Jixi is also becoming popular with tourists looking for a country escape. It has a number of unusual sites.

Nearby in Zhanzhang valley is a large boulder.

The rock on a river's edge draws thousands of visitors a year.

Those who want to hike the Huihang Trail first buy a 38-yuan ticket and then confront a steep one-hour climb out of the valley on stone steps.

After the climb, the path flattens out for about half an hour and hikers can either keep walking to the small village and traditional resting point of Xu Xue Tang or cross the Qingliang Feng Bridge and head to the hamlet of Shang Xue Tang.

There is a small guesthouse at Shang Xue Tang, which is a great place to stop. Nestled at the midway of the valley, the neat little guesthouse is run by a husband-and-wife team, Hu Guangpeng and Ye Huixian.

Stone Frog

The couple can cater for up to 40 people in their guesthouse but are also happy to feed hungry walkers looking for lunch. Hu is a deft hand at catching the stone frog, a local delicacy.

The frog lives in the river and Hu catches it at night using a torch lamp on his head. The frog is known for its big feet that it uses to grip the rocks and large, powerful legs and is considered a local delicacy.