Huang Shan Day 1 - 10.17
We woke up relatively refreshed and ready for the day of hiking ahead. The mid bunk beside us had a stuffy-nose-snorer who came on board sometime in the wee hours. I had to move to the top bunk above him to get some peace and quiet. Morning slowly burnt off the fog and streamed through the train curtains, revealing rough patches of fields in brown and green and gold, dotted with ancient farm houses with their blue-gray roof tiles and weathered concrete walls attesting to their age. Stony graves were set into low dirt mounts facing the rail way with their white tomb stones. Here and there, a new-looking farm house would stand out among the others, invariably one story higher, and pink in color. Sinyee was much excited by the sighting of water buffalos amongst other farm animals. And a farmer with a hoe.
Huang Shan station looked as antiquated and sleepy as the miles we passed before. Barren, utilitarian, free of any glits. Outside, sinyee got a round of practice at ignoring peddlers, a skill she will certainly call upon again on this trip. I arranged a bus to shuttle us to the mountain from the train station, for 10yuan each. We picked up some distinctly un-delicious breakfast items and got herded off to a different bus than the one we promised. As usual they packed the minibus to the gills before taking off. The fare-collector girl had to shut the curtain and duck when we apparently passed an inspection point or police check.
Like so many other backpackers blogs we read, our bus driver turned out to be the craziest one on the road. Given three lanes, he would choose to pass a lone vehicle on the left by swerving into the oncoming lane. Many a times we would be squeezed between two cars going opposite directions with mere inches to spare. I was kind of used to that now, but I did catch sinyee's grimace once in a while. In truth the T-H (Tunxi-HuangShan) road was spacious and not terribly twisty, and Mr. driver did refrain from overtaking cars around blind corners. Not to mention we arrived in Tong Kou (town at the foot of HS) in just over an hour.
We had to switch to a state run bus system to go into HuangShan area (10y), and it didn't even drop us off at the cable car - we had to walk up around 1km, with our packs. Alas, then, the day was yet young and us full of energy. The mountain side sported lots of bamboo trees. Their leaves crispy green swaying in the breeze, stalks of gray and green and yellowy white flexing this way and that. Very pleasant drive.
Entrance fee to HS, 200y. Cable car lift up, 65y. It certainly wasn't cheap getting into this world heritage area. Everywhere, mid age and old chinese folks thronged the walkway, sitting on stairs blocking the entire row, chatting away, their vocal loudness matched only by the colors of their tour group hats.
Off the Ci Guang Ge (Merciful light temple) cable car, the road winds up to Tian Hai (Sky Sea) on the back, and past Hao Han Pou (Heroic Slope) to Yu Ping Lou (Jake screen hotel) on the front. Sinyee was ready to call it quits after the Heroic Slope, a hundred odd steps lined moderately steeply upwards. Granted, we were carrying hefty packs, mine at least 30 pound for all the water I filled into the reservoir last night (by later test we believe it was more around 25lb). But surely we could not be beaten by the middle age pudgy tour-group herds. So we trekked on.
A stone's throw away from the top of Heroic Slope perched the fancy Yu Ping Lou and its restaurant. The small mountain top plateau was teeming with people crowding around the calligraphy wall, the vista point looking upon Tian Du Feng (Heaven Capital Peak), and the famous Ying Ke Song (Welcoming Pine) drew its own twisting lines of tourists eager to plant themselves in the exact same pose with the gnarly old tree.
I checked out the room rates at Yu Ping. 1280y for standard doubles, 240 for a bed in a multi-dorm with attached shower, and 120 for a bed in one without. Syl wasn't going to take another step with the pack on so we checked it at the hotel for 10y each and planned our day. 2hrs round trip up Heaven Capital and another 3-4hrs to Bei Hai (North Sea area) should put us squarely at sunset time. We enjoyed a good fast food lunch with a slice of heavenly watermelon, snapped some shots at the impressive Heaven Capital Peak for posterity, and then hit the trail.
When I say trail, I really mean stone-paved steps and walkways. See the chinese believe in conquering Nature, not living in harmony with it. So they built km's and km's of good paved path all over the mountain. Which was nice looking, and certainly made it possible to reach some places that otherwise would have been impossible for any without mountaineering credentials.
So we head down, down and down from Yu Ping we go, around a sharp bend under the Welcoming Pine, dipping into a cave under a giant rock, past countless flights of stairs, a named site at every turn. Yi Xian Tian (One-line sky), Du Xian Qiao (Deity crossing bridge), Wo Long Jian (Prowling Dragon Gully), Pu Tuan Shi (Mattress Rock) etc. On this way, we got our first glimpse of the HuangShan porters in their airy yellow uniform.
The porters carry a lot if not all of the supplies needed on the mountain, food, produce, water, construction parts, laundry, etc. Upon the ends of a halved stick of bamboo hangs their load. That stick sits across their one shoulder, and is then counterbalanced by a shorter stick across the other shoulder. Quite ingeniously, when they are tired, the porters would plant the shorter stick on the ground and the main stick fits perfectly into the curved grove on the top end of the short stick, thus resting the packs without having to have both loads on the ground. Anyway, more to come on the story of these guys.
The back side (west side) of Huang Shan was broad sweeps of peaks stacked one upon another in staggering heights. Of these the HC stood highest in its own lonesome; its steepness made even more pronounced by the opposing viewing angle from Yu Ping Lou. Standing at the bottom of the Yu Ping Lou descend, stairs edged straight up the nearly vertical face of Heaven Capital, we seemed to be tackling the near-impossible. With camera in one hand and metal chain railing in the other, I lumbered up the (in)famous peak. It was only the 3rd highest peak in HS, but well known for being most diffcult and dangerous to summit.
The stairs were steep and shallow, at points divided into three sections of separate height giving each step a tiny square of standing room. Looking up, the dazzling afternoon sun filtered through cheerful yellow leaves. At one particularly narrow and steep part on the face of a dagger-life cliff, we thought we were done, only to climb the last steps and discover a whole other section behind the bend. A very "Grand Canyon moment".
Past the well-known Carp's Back and a few cave tunnels, we reached the top at 1810 meters. The return trip was made with a quicker pace. We met a chinese guy with a brazilian cowboy hat that was traveling by himself. He spoke good american english, and was doing a self-guided 2-day tour of HS just like us.
By the time we picked up our bags again from Yu Ping Lou, it was already nearing 4pm. We hurried on towards the front of the mountain, towards Bei Hai (north sea). The way was filled with immovable stairs stretching in vast long rises that tested our resolve. We paved each step with sweat and burning lactic acid. Around the highest mountain Lotus Peak, bypassing the Lotus Stamen Peak, down the Hundred Step Cloud Ladder, around one beautiful autumn colored bends after another. Faced with a fork in the road, we chose the path to Turtle Cave instead of One Line Sky, a literally breath-taking mountain pass in the sky, which syl was in no mood to assail. However as it turned out Turtle Cave wasn't a very cave like feature either. It was likely every bit as high as the One Line Sky path.
After topping the hill behind Turtle Cave, we turned around briefly for a victory view of the Lotus Peak in the setting sun. Once we passed the Fish Carrying Turtle hill, it was obvious we weren't going to make it to Bei Hai before sunset today, so we took up an offer for a dingy backroom dorm in White Cloud Hotel. Bargained from 300 to 250 for exclusive use of the 6-person room. By the time we settled in, the sun had disappeared behind a thick wall of dark clouds. No Huang Shan sunset memory for us.
The accommodation was extremely basic, damp and freezing cold. But no other rooms were available in that area - I stubbornly commanded my rubbery legs to take me to all three hotels in the area for verification, much to the lament of the guy trying to sell us the backroom for he had to follow me everywhere. Already my right knee started to throb painfully going up down each staircase. Today we must have mounted nearly three thousand stairs. I was hoping it will recover by tomorrow.
In the tiny room, we each had a turn at taking an acrobatic bath in a pair of flimsy plastic facewash basins. Following that with a warm but very mediocre meal at least chased away some of the mountain chills. By 9 we were both tucked into bed with three layers of bedding above and below. We were not to miss the famed sunrise tomorrow morning.
minibus to mountain 10Y. breakfast 5Y. State bus up mountain 10. Cable car 65. HS entrance 200. Bag storage 10. Fast food lunch tray 25. Watermelon slice 5. Zhong 4. 500ml water 10. 500ml grape drink 12. 6-bed room no shower 300. Massage chair 1Y/min. 2 dish 1 soup dinner 120.
 |  |
 |  |
 Me acting like a chinese train rider |
Huang Shan station looked as antiquated and sleepy as the miles we passed before. Barren, utilitarian, free of any glits. Outside, sinyee got a round of practice at ignoring peddlers, a skill she will certainly call upon again on this trip. I arranged a bus to shuttle us to the mountain from the train station, for 10yuan each. We picked up some distinctly un-delicious breakfast items and got herded off to a different bus than the one we promised. As usual they packed the minibus to the gills before taking off. The fare-collector girl had to shut the curtain and duck when we apparently passed an inspection point or police check.
Like so many other backpackers blogs we read, our bus driver turned out to be the craziest one on the road. Given three lanes, he would choose to pass a lone vehicle on the left by swerving into the oncoming lane. Many a times we would be squeezed between two cars going opposite directions with mere inches to spare. I was kind of used to that now, but I did catch sinyee's grimace once in a while. In truth the T-H (Tunxi-HuangShan) road was spacious and not terribly twisty, and Mr. driver did refrain from overtaking cars around blind corners. Not to mention we arrived in Tong Kou (town at the foot of HS) in just over an hour.
We had to switch to a state run bus system to go into HuangShan area (10y), and it didn't even drop us off at the cable car - we had to walk up around 1km, with our packs. Alas, then, the day was yet young and us full of energy. The mountain side sported lots of bamboo trees. Their leaves crispy green swaying in the breeze, stalks of gray and green and yellowy white flexing this way and that. Very pleasant drive.
 |  |
 |
Entrance fee to HS, 200y. Cable car lift up, 65y. It certainly wasn't cheap getting into this world heritage area. Everywhere, mid age and old chinese folks thronged the walkway, sitting on stairs blocking the entire row, chatting away, their vocal loudness matched only by the colors of their tour group hats.
Off the Ci Guang Ge (Merciful light temple) cable car, the road winds up to Tian Hai (Sky Sea) on the back, and past Hao Han Pou (Heroic Slope) to Yu Ping Lou (Jake screen hotel) on the front. Sinyee was ready to call it quits after the Heroic Slope, a hundred odd steps lined moderately steeply upwards. Granted, we were carrying hefty packs, mine at least 30 pound for all the water I filled into the reservoir last night (by later test we believe it was more around 25lb). But surely we could not be beaten by the middle age pudgy tour-group herds. So we trekked on.
 A tourist porter |  |
 |  Heroic Slope |
A stone's throw away from the top of Heroic Slope perched the fancy Yu Ping Lou and its restaurant. The small mountain top plateau was teeming with people crowding around the calligraphy wall, the vista point looking upon Tian Du Feng (Heaven Capital Peak), and the famous Ying Ke Song (Welcoming Pine) drew its own twisting lines of tourists eager to plant themselves in the exact same pose with the gnarly old tree.
I checked out the room rates at Yu Ping. 1280y for standard doubles, 240 for a bed in a multi-dorm with attached shower, and 120 for a bed in one without. Syl wasn't going to take another step with the pack on so we checked it at the hotel for 10y each and planned our day. 2hrs round trip up Heaven Capital and another 3-4hrs to Bei Hai (North Sea area) should put us squarely at sunset time. We enjoyed a good fast food lunch with a slice of heavenly watermelon, snapped some shots at the impressive Heaven Capital Peak for posterity, and then hit the trail.
 |  Pine welcoming sinyee |
 You can barely make out the stairs up Heavenly Capital behind me |  Tourists lined up for a pose with Welcoming Pine |
When I say trail, I really mean stone-paved steps and walkways. See the chinese believe in conquering Nature, not living in harmony with it. So they built km's and km's of good paved path all over the mountain. Which was nice looking, and certainly made it possible to reach some places that otherwise would have been impossible for any without mountaineering credentials.
So we head down, down and down from Yu Ping we go, around a sharp bend under the Welcoming Pine, dipping into a cave under a giant rock, past countless flights of stairs, a named site at every turn. Yi Xian Tian (One-line sky), Du Xian Qiao (Deity crossing bridge), Wo Long Jian (Prowling Dragon Gully), Pu Tuan Shi (Mattress Rock) etc. On this way, we got our first glimpse of the HuangShan porters in their airy yellow uniform.
 |  One Line Sky |
 |  |
The porters carry a lot if not all of the supplies needed on the mountain, food, produce, water, construction parts, laundry, etc. Upon the ends of a halved stick of bamboo hangs their load. That stick sits across their one shoulder, and is then counterbalanced by a shorter stick across the other shoulder. Quite ingeniously, when they are tired, the porters would plant the shorter stick on the ground and the main stick fits perfectly into the curved grove on the top end of the short stick, thus resting the packs without having to have both loads on the ground. Anyway, more to come on the story of these guys.
The back side (west side) of Huang Shan was broad sweeps of peaks stacked one upon another in staggering heights. Of these the HC stood highest in its own lonesome; its steepness made even more pronounced by the opposing viewing angle from Yu Ping Lou. Standing at the bottom of the Yu Ping Lou descend, stairs edged straight up the nearly vertical face of Heaven Capital, we seemed to be tackling the near-impossible. With camera in one hand and metal chain railing in the other, I lumbered up the (in)famous peak. It was only the 3rd highest peak in HS, but well known for being most diffcult and dangerous to summit.
The stairs were steep and shallow, at points divided into three sections of separate height giving each step a tiny square of standing room. Looking up, the dazzling afternoon sun filtered through cheerful yellow leaves. At one particularly narrow and steep part on the face of a dagger-life cliff, we thought we were done, only to climb the last steps and discover a whole other section behind the bend. A very "Grand Canyon moment".
 |  |
 |  |
 |
Past the well-known Carp's Back and a few cave tunnels, we reached the top at 1810 meters. The return trip was made with a quicker pace. We met a chinese guy with a brazilian cowboy hat that was traveling by himself. He spoke good american english, and was doing a self-guided 2-day tour of HS just like us.
 |  Carp's Back & Yu Ping Lou |
 Way back up to Yu Ping Lou |  Way we came down Heaven Capital |
By the time we picked up our bags again from Yu Ping Lou, it was already nearing 4pm. We hurried on towards the front of the mountain, towards Bei Hai (north sea). The way was filled with immovable stairs stretching in vast long rises that tested our resolve. We paved each step with sweat and burning lactic acid. Around the highest mountain Lotus Peak, bypassing the Lotus Stamen Peak, down the Hundred Step Cloud Ladder, around one beautiful autumn colored bends after another. Faced with a fork in the road, we chose the path to Turtle Cave instead of One Line Sky, a literally breath-taking mountain pass in the sky, which syl was in no mood to assail. However as it turned out Turtle Cave wasn't a very cave like feature either. It was likely every bit as high as the One Line Sky path.
After topping the hill behind Turtle Cave, we turned around briefly for a victory view of the Lotus Peak in the setting sun. Once we passed the Fish Carrying Turtle hill, it was obvious we weren't going to make it to Bei Hai before sunset today, so we took up an offer for a dingy backroom dorm in White Cloud Hotel. Bargained from 300 to 250 for exclusive use of the 6-person room. By the time we settled in, the sun had disappeared behind a thick wall of dark clouds. No Huang Shan sunset memory for us.
 |  |
 |  Hundred Step Cloud Ladder - Down |
 |  |
The accommodation was extremely basic, damp and freezing cold. But no other rooms were available in that area - I stubbornly commanded my rubbery legs to take me to all three hotels in the area for verification, much to the lament of the guy trying to sell us the backroom for he had to follow me everywhere. Already my right knee started to throb painfully going up down each staircase. Today we must have mounted nearly three thousand stairs. I was hoping it will recover by tomorrow.
In the tiny room, we each had a turn at taking an acrobatic bath in a pair of flimsy plastic facewash basins. Following that with a warm but very mediocre meal at least chased away some of the mountain chills. By 9 we were both tucked into bed with three layers of bedding above and below. We were not to miss the famed sunrise tomorrow morning.
 3 bunk beds |  Bath tub |
 Only source of hot water |  Hallway |
minibus to mountain 10Y. breakfast 5Y. State bus up mountain 10. Cable car 65. HS entrance 200. Bag storage 10. Fast food lunch tray 25. Watermelon slice 5. Zhong 4. 500ml water 10. 500ml grape drink 12. 6-bed room no shower 300. Massage chair 1Y/min. 2 dish 1 soup dinner 120.
posted by Billy at
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3 comments:
omg... Heaven Capital (that's a dumb english name, btw) looks so scary!!! i think i would've cried... good thing u didn't take me along! ur self-guided tour thing seems so much better than the craziness that was my trip to HS with the hated ugly-bitch. and it didn't help that the day we descended the mountain, past YingKeSong and ALL *pause* ALLLLL (!!!) of other cool sites, it was raining cats and dogs, and she cable car-ed down, while i walked down with some random 25-year-old-ish guy (we led our tour group full of 60 year old men... the tour leader was at the back of pack). i had to hold on to the not-so-stable chain hand-rails to avoid being blown away by the crazy wind, and I was soaked through to my underwear and sox by the rain (I was a "lu tang ji" [smt smt chicken] by absolutely no exagerration). my trip sucked. Oh, and cuz it was raining, we didn't see the sun rise either (nor the sunset... tho i don't remember why).
ur dorm was SOOOOOOOO nice compared to ours!!! we didn't have a plastic tubby thing, or hot water, or water in general!!!! wow... WATER!!! (and btw, i love how you post all the prices! ... tho i would've written "ridiculously expensive water, crazy ass expensive crap dinner", etc... :P) ... see, when i went to HS, i didn't pee for two whole days! i don't know how i did it, but i did. did u guys have big mosquitoes too?? ... and btw, i had a big yellow tour group hat too... but i never wore it... it served as a very useful mosquito-net-thing for my face tho when i slept.
by
munkee, at 8:33 AM
SO you saw crap all then on huangshan? at least cloud sea coz it was raining? we had no rain and no mosquitos.. it was fall too cold and dry for mosquitos
by
Billy, at 4:36 PM
um... i saw the monkey/sea thing, and the pen in a rock thing, and i think i saw some other things too... obviously, they weren't that memorable. Most of the cool stuff was when we went DOWN the stupid mtn, and that was when it was raining and i was being blown away by the wind, so i chose to stand where the wind wasn't gonna carry me off the mountain. and technically, i saw the cloud sea... only cuz i was standing/walking/being blown in the middle of it. and mosquitoes scare me. but ya, i saw crap all. i wanna go again to see the stuff i missed.
by
munkee, at 11:49 AM
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