Huang Shan Day 2 - 10.18

Woke at 5:30, still late for sunrise. My knee made no improvement over the night. Still with our packs in tow we half-ran up the few hundred steps to Brightness Peak as the eastern sky brightened with alarming speed. Atop Brightness, there was another hotel but the sunrise view was obstructed by a more easterly peak that was not accessible. The morning was cold but bearable; us both having on everything we owned. A gorgeous full moon lingered to our west.

Us all bundled up

We had a rushed breakfast inside Brightness Peak hotel consisting of pickles and congee and white steamed bun and boiled egg. From there to Bei Hai was a leisurely 20-minutes stroll of mostly steps down. Finding no room anywhere on this side of the mountain, we decided to move our Chengdu flight up by one day and finish Huang Shan this afternoon.

Left our backpacks at the friendly Shi Ling Hotel. I got a wooden stick to help my deteriorating knee. To the west we went, to Xi Hai's Cloud Dispelling Pavilion, we saw the Grand Canyon of Huang Shan with its myriad of beautiful colors and strange rocks. Xi Hai was even closer to Bei Hai than Brightness Peak.

Flying Over Rock	Western Canyon
Cloud Dispelling Pavilion

On the way back, we passed a porter resting in the shades. He asked sinyee if she had any food on her, for he had no lunch that day. A little suspicious, we gave him the small Zhong we had from the day before anyway. He just wolfed it down while standing on the steps. Are they unable to afford even lunch to carry themselves through the day of backbreaking work?

We skipped Dan Xia Feng due to the my knee. Up to Coolness Steps, then Monkey Viewing the Sea. Lunched at the Coolness Temple which had been converted to a fast food restaurant. For 20Y, we both got a metal tray of very very delicious and simple meal. Baby bakchoy so fresh I could almost swear off meat for it; generous portion of soy cooked meat with dried vegetables; and a soothing soup. We sat outside on the stone platform overlooking the Bei Hai valley, shaded by an old pine tree, upon stone stools and tables that might have been used by peoples ages past, playing chess or perhaps sipping tea and discussing philosophy.

Backpacker Dude	Monkey Watching Cloud Sea
Syl on Coolness Steps	Fab lunch

In the afternoon we strolled over eastwards to the Pen Flower rock, with its matching Pen Holder rock, then Black Tiger Pine and Beginning-to-Believe Peak, Sea Dive Pine, Harp Pine, Goddess Peak, ending at Guan Yin Peak. The BtB Peak was unfortunately closed for restoration. Past that point the number of visitors quickly dwindled. When we got to the end of the path, there were but a handful of adventurers sitting around enjoying the spectacular and serene views. We got a closeup view of the Backpacker Dude Peak (we found out later it was actually named Monk Carrying Nun Peak) which we saw from afar at Coolness Platform. Chatted up with a small canadian contingent at Guan Yin Peak.

Pen Flower Peak	Backpacker vs Backpacker
Stone Bamboo Peak

That concluded all the major sights on Huang Shan. We felt pretty good to have done all that in one day. In truth the vista points on the front of the mountain were prettier and much closer together than those on the back of the mountain. But they lacked the sheer grandeur. We sorely missed the most spectacular feature of Huang Shan, the Cloud Seas, for it had not rained a drop the days we were there. However, what we saw was surely unforgettable in its own right.

We picked up our packs (and ironically got offered room at Shi Ling) to start the long descend to the bottom of mountain.

Thinking back I should have with all reason chose to take the cable car down. But it was set in our mind that we were going to walk the length of Huang Shan on either the up or down trip. The initial going was extremely steep and treacherous. The stick I got, while already broken at the head at that point, was a lifesaver on the thousands of foot-deep stone steps down the mountain. I would not have made it without it. The beautiful views of Huang Shan has been obscured by the trees along the way, not that we would've been able to spare a look. One miss-step could have been disaster.

Down the Mountain

About half way down, one of the porters that were coming down the mountain asked if we needed our packs carried. He asked for 15Y for my bag, but I gave him a 20 and told him to keep the change. All over Huang Shan we have seen these porters labor with their huge loads, certainly a sight to provoke sympathy. Later I chatted with him and found out that they make 30-40 cents for 1 chinese pound of stuff he carries up. And they can only make this trip once a day with a 90 pound load, taking 5-6 hours. That gives a gross salary of 36Y a day. Considering that on the mountain, all supplies costs about 2-4 times more than usual, it was not hard to figure out that it wasn't the porters that were cashing out on the profit, as much as it seemed they should.

We caught the last bus out of the mountain, then got into a taxi without too much haggling over price as the day was already nearing an end. We just wanted to get to Huang Shan city and secure our train out. Both our eyes were glued to the road as this crazy taxi driver took us on the ride of our lives. He made the minibus driver on the way here look like an old granny. At one point I was so tired I dozed off, only to wake minutes later and continue watching the car zip its way around the dusky roads, dodging incoming trunks, donkey carts, pedestrians walking in total darkness, cyclists and other lifeforms. How we did *not* get into any accident, we do not know. Just like we were so amazed there weren't more accidents on the city streets with the way chinese people drive and ride.

Fixing up our return train tickets to Shanghai, we went to have dinner at a holey but busy restaurant by the street. Ok food. I was sore all the way back on the sleeper train.


Breakfast 20. walking stick 5. Fast food tray at Cool Temple 20. 500ml water 5x2. Cucumber 1. Porter 20. Bus out mountain 10. Taxi to HS train station 50 for both. Night train to SH upper bunk 164. 3 dish 1 soup dinner 31.