Our visit to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)

It’s been more than a year since my last post.  There have been several attempts on my part, but for various reasons, not one of those posts made it through.  Sigh!  Anyway, I hope to be more consistent about sharing our stories from this third year in Shanghai.  Wow!

I’ll start with our early summer visit to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), a mountain range in the Anhui Province.  In mid-June, just before our home leave trip back to the US, we spent about 5 days in the Huangshan area.  And it was spectacular!  There were granite peaks and valleys and pine trees and astounding views galore!   It was definitely breathtaking and easy to see why these peaks are the inspiration for many Chinese paintings.

Getting there was not as straightforward as we had anticipated.  After flying in to the closest airport, we stayed the night at a nearby hotel.  The next morning, we hopped in rented cars and drove another 1.5 hours to the park entrance.  From there, we were transported by bus to a gondola that took us to a station mid-way up the mountain.  We still had to hike the rest of the way up the mountain to our hotel.

During our hike up, one of our little friends fell ill.  Thank goodness for the Chinese “sherpas” who, for a pretty price, will carry those in need up to the top.  For fun, these guys even added Lily onto the lap of her friend – but it was no bargain.  We tipped another pretty price for that.

Take note of the paved trail.  Not a single trail in the park was natural.  The entire park was paved with granite steps with faux wood (cement) rails, where needed.  It didn’t make the climbing any easier but it definitely took away from the natural beauty of the park itself.

Here, my two sweet hikers are taking a break at one of many look out points.  There isn’t much hiking to do in the jungles of Shanghai so we relished in the clean air and the fantastic scenery.

In this picture below, the clouds had come in and brought mist and rain.  On many peaks, I was reminded of the Olympic Mountain rainforests in Washington:  always misty, sometimes raining, with gorgeous greenery everywhere.  And when the sun was out, everything glistened!

One of the primary reasons tourists stay on the top of the mountain is to be able to wake up early, hike to a peak and catch the sunrise (it certainly isn’t for the luxury of the three hotels at the top.)

After a couple nights on top, we hiked our way back down to the gondola station.   Here is the view from the gondola on our way down the rest of the mountain.

Nearby Huangshan is the famous ancient Hongcun Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We spent the next day walking about the village, buying little trinkets and tasting little snacks.   According to what I have read, the village is laid out in the shape of a cow (or an ox, depending on the source).   The Moon Pond below is where a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed.

There were so many quaint little alley ways in the village that transport you back in time (until you see an electric scooter parked on the side.)

   

It’s not an unfamiliar sight all over China to see meat drying outside.  Here, we have some ham hocks. (I like to keep to culinary terms to make it sound a bit more appealing but the little hooves kinda ruin it for me.)    And no, it was not one of the snacks any of us tried.

On the other hand, this crispy wafer-like snack was quite tasty.  Would have been perfect crumbled over a dish of vanilla ice cream.

Thanks for reading!  Hope to share about our next adventure soon.