On June 8, I stopped at Hangzhou en route from 桐鄉 to Mt. Huangshan. It took me about six hours to arrive at 湯口(a small town at the foot of Huangshan) where I lodged in a rural inn which I booked on internet in advance. The host was very friendly, so were his families. After checking in, I laid my burdens down and looked around. I didn’t want to waste any minute here, beautiful scenery everywhere. So I went to 九龍瀑(I will upload some pics later), in which I met my first tour pal named Chenyan. He came here alone too, and we used the same type camera. In fact, it’s better to be accompanied when travelling alone. So we exchanged cell phone No. and decided to climb together the next day. I dragged my exhausted body back to inn after two hours’ up and down. What’s worse, my shanks kept trembling due to starving. I replenished my stomach with delicious dishes cooked by the hostess. They told me to prepare some food for the next day, since anything in the mountain is pricy. So I walked out to the centre of town and enjoy the cool night. I like life in countryside, people here should be very simple and unsophisticated. But not! There was always someone sticking like a limpet for sales promotion. Here is my tips：Never respond to these people. After wandering around for a while, I went shopping in a small market, where I met my second tour pal named Gorge Chan. He also came here alone, but we didn’t climb together. He arranged one-day tour which was very different from mine. He was equipped with a DSLR. Pretty cool! We talked a lot and left contact information. It is lucky to make some friends in a totally strange place, or else you have to be One Man Army. After farewells, we both returned to inn. There’s a rivulet swooshing in front of my inn and a mountain covered with bamboos rustling behind. So it sound raining outside, which I worried most. Anyway, I packed everything I need in climbing and then hit the sack.
On June 9, I got up at 6. a little bit excited. After a simple breakfast, I walked out to take some pics. About 6:40, my host drove me to a bus station where tourists can take a bus to the gateway of scenic spot. Then I send a message to Chenyan. We planed to set up at 7. I couldn’t believe that he overslept. God! I had to wait another 20 minutes. He emerged with a huge back bag (filled with water, tent, clothes, and food, etc.) which had a weight of 30 kg. Holy! About 30 min later, we ended the twisting mountain road and arrived at the destination. Then we went to buy entrance ticket. Thank god, I still kept my student ID which saved half the price. We also got tickets for cableway which was not suitable for student ID. Here we met our first teammates-a family (An old mom (already 72 old) with her daughter and great daughter named Jean, and a Canadian young man named Jasom, jean’s BF.). They came from Canada, except the old mom. Since they were individual travelers too, so we decided to climb together. It is always a pleasure to communicate while travelling. Sometimes we spoke English, cause Jasom was not good at Chinese. The old mom was very energetic and imaginative. Jean and Jasom stayed together and whispered Most of the time. While their mom kept calling them to view the gorgeous scenery and take some photos. Chenyan and I took some pics for each other. Here you could always hear different foreign languages, such as English, French, German, Japanese and Korean, etc. since it was not in the tourist rush season, it was not so crowed. So we could save a lot of queue time while viewing some popular spots. The most attractive spot is the Grand Canyon in the West Sea which is called Dream Spot. After several hours’ sightseeing, we headed to this fascinating place. Unfortunately, it began raining with thundering and lightning. It could be very dangerous at this altitude. Soon we were equipped with raincoats (umbrella is not suggested). Get some, lose some. Although we couldn’t see anything clearly, we did watch the changeable cloud sea. Fogy everywhere, someone might be too excited to shout out, so did we. It’s hard to describe the feeling. You need to experience it yourselves. Anyway we moved on. It began to rain pretty heavy, when we arrived at a rock tunnel, where was the entrance of the Grand Canyon. Due to time limited (only one-day tour), plus bad weather, the family decided to return. We said goodbye here and sheltered for a while. Suddenly, a streak of terrible lightning with absolutely shocking thunder hit the valley. Oh my holy! We immediately turned off our cell phones and stayed away from outside. Soon, here came a bad news. A middle age man came and told that his foot was hit lightly by the lightning, and what’s worse, an old woman’s hand was hit a little bit more badly while putting her hand on the rail. God, I sincerely hoped she was fine. 10 min later, the rain stopped and we restarted to finish our route. I had to say the Grand Canyon is absolutely worthy. Especially after a heavy rain, the valley became marvelous and magical. Plank roads stretch out the cliff, sheer steps penetrate through the alley, and strong wind continual hit us, changeable fog wrapped us, drop dead gorgeous. We felt like living in heaven. All in all, West Sea is a must when travelling in Huanshan. After walking out this alley, we headed to the so called Bright Summit(光明頂). It began raining again, but we didn’t stop. We had to finish those spots before dark. The Bright Summit is said to be a pretty good place to watch sunrise and sunset. Unlucky this time, we didn’t see anything except the Fogy Mountains and heavy rain, so we decided to lodge. Chenyan planed to sleep in his own tent which was a terrible burden for us. But the weather ruined his hope. Terrible hit for him. So he had to give up and find a place to sleep. Due to being exhausted, we didn’t go out after settling down. I got three roommates that night. Very lucky, we were college graduates this term. The living condition here was pretty like college dorm. I had instant noodle plus some ham and eggs as my dinner. The food on the mountain were very expensive, cause they were carried by manual labour. It was a highly hard job to carry anything from the foot of the Mt. to the top of it. Here present my sincere respect. It was a rainy, windy and cool night. We talked a lot about childhood, college life and future. Although we were strangers, we behaved like classmates and friends. It was a good night!
On June 10, I woke up at 3 am. and then couldn’t fall asleep anymore. I got a cold and my legs were sore and achy. About 4 o’clock, my roommates woke up too. One of them went out to see the weather. What a pity! It was still raining heavily and colder than yesterday. I had to change my plan and decided to go downhill directly. They set up at 6 with their tourist group, and then I went to find Chenyan. He was still sleeping. There was nothing to see under this weather, but he wanted wait another day there. So I set up with another couple. I had to say it was very dangerous walking outside under this bad weather. Everyone was equipped with raincoat, rain pants and waterproof shoe covers. But I only wore a raincoat. I didn’t expect to be dry when arrived at destination. It was absolutely a tough journey. My shoes and pants were soaked. Strong wind, heavy rain, continual thunder, and sheer steps and lanes, so terrible! Anyway, I did it after 3 hours. I got a feeling of relief when seeing the bus station. On the way back, I seldom saw some tourists. Funny thing, at the foot of mountain, several girls went up without cableway. Poor girls, you had no idea how long the rest journey was and how tough the lanes were. God blessed you! I couldn’t imagine how terrible if I didn’t clean up and change my wet clothes and pants and shoes. Here I must present my sincere thanks to George Chan. He was still in a hotel in 湯口. He helped me got my luggage from the host of the inn I stayed before. And then I took a shower in his room. Thank goodness, my nightmare was finally end up. Then we went out to have lunch. Thanks Geoge Chan again, he insisted to pay the bill. I didn’t know what to say, long live you! Then I bought an old man shoes, pretty funny and weird in my feet. In the afternoon, we stayed in his room and shared our pics taken in the mountain. To some extend, we have some similarities, such as college life (there were only two boys in his class of 50 students), characters, etc. I guess he is a little low profile but we talked a lot about his major and job. Time flies, I had to leave this place and return home. At 4 pm, he saw me off and we said goodbye. He said, probably this was the first time we met also the last time. Sound a little sad. Like I said, it is always a pleasure to make friends while travelling! Take care and good luck for your next few days travel. At 10 pm, I got on a train to hometown which took me 13 hours! Holly shit!
A short stay in Mt. Huangshan leaves me beautiful scenery, new friends and also nightmare!
This article aims to commemorate my days in Mt. Huangshan!