Huang Shan 黄山 Yellow Moutain

Last weekend was tombsweeping festival so we had the monday off work. The other trainees and I thought it would be a nice idea to take the friday off work and give us a nice 4 day break. We decided to head for Huang Shan. One of China's most famous scenic spot, Huang shan is the setting for most of the typical chinese landscape paintings that you see - so we were expected great things.



Imagine our dissapointment when the first day was foggy and the second day was not only foggy but there was also torrential rain for most of the day. Walking up thousands of steps is not easy at the best of times, but when the "inspiring" views you were sold are impossible to see and the weather is appalling it is even harder.






The first day we walked up to the western steps which are meant to be the more challenging choice of stairs and are meant to reward the climbers with superior views to the eastern steps - in fact the Lonely Planet guide books recommends these steps for coming down only! So we walked up them and didn't actually get to see any of the stunning scenary - just our luck. We got to Jade Screen on the first day and reached our hotel. The hotel was OK - room was big but was only made for three people, they had then just squeezed an extra five mattresses into the space available. Luckily the shower worked though. The food was absolutely awful though



Whilst the first day was a bit bleak, it was nothing compared to the second. From the moment we left the hotel to the moment we checked in to the next one it was constant rain. Luckily we only had to walk for three hours or so - our second hotel was nicer than the first but the room was more like a hostel (bunkbeds) and the hot water only worked between the hours for 7pm to 10pm. So we got there looking like drowned rats and had to wait for 3 hours before we could have a shower. On the upside the food was much much better and we had a few interesting card games to pass the time - I taught everyone how to play Auction Rummy - i regreted teaching them the buying rule though as even the first hand takes 15 minutes when 6 people are buying every single card they see!



We were promised much better weather on the third day and thankfully the forecast was right. Bright sunshine all day. We walked to the very top of the moutain and then walked down the north side all the way down to the entrance at ground level. This is the less touristy route down the moutain and the path that most the porters that have to lug bags and boxes of food all the way up the 6000 foot climb! It took us about 3 hours to get to the bottom and we then took the cable car back to the top of the hill. After that we walked around the east side of the moutain for a hours and saw some absoultely fantastic scenary, then we made our way back to the hotel.


The final day was got up at 5am for the sunrise. We'd been a little dissappointed at not being able to see a sunset any of the previous days due to the fog and cloud but this more than made up for it. We made our way up to a pavilion on the top of the mountain and sat down on the cliff. The sight was fantastic and the noise the chinese made when this bright red orb emerged from the sea of clouds was hilarious. It was quite a magical moment. Really



enjoyed just sitting there and taking it all in.


After such a fantastic start to the day the rest didn't dissapoint either. We made our way back down the mountain - deciding to take the western steps again, in order to see some of the sights that we missed due to the fog on the way up. About half way a few of the girls decided to take the cable car the rest of the way and Xuan, Emma, Carsten and I completed the trek. I was sceptical that we would do it in enough time (we had a 3 hours before our bus departed) but we were fine and I was so happy that we did as the weather beautiful and the surroundings fantastic. To top of the holiday at the bottom of the mountain we found a waterfall where we sat and had a well earned rest for half and hour or so - and got fantastically sunburnt.


I was a great holiday. I stupidly didn't take any proper walking shoes - just my flat soled addidas sambas - so ruined my ankles to a fair extent but it didn't hamper my enjoyment. After we reached the bottom we boarded the bus for the 6.5 hour journey back to Shangers - I'm sure you'll be surprised to here I was asleep almost instantly upon taking my seat!