Poems, Opinions, Cookery, Pics, Travel blog: Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)

Map of PRC

Huangshan was a destination previously unheard of to me but our trip was mostly tailored around our requirements for our experience here. My husband and me like to think of ourselves as moderately active couple with the occasional runs, hiking and cycling. So when the Lonely Planet book described the misty mountains and the relatively family friendly hike to the top, we were hooked!

We decided to try the hike up using the stairway on the eastern side of the mountain and, as recommended by Lonely Planet, stay on one of the hotels on top overnight to enjoy the sunrise and sunset, and climb down the next day. This plan entailed that we would be carrying our luggage with us to the top. We had read that there were porters who lugged your bags up the mountain for a fee but hubby and me were somehow averse to the idea. Now, since we were packing for a 8 day trip to China, in Autumn, we would have to very efficient in choosing what to take. We limited our fashion choices in lieu of some adventure and packed very stingily, even in winter clothing. So, in a way our whole holiday to China was affected by our decision to go to Huangshan!

Ambitious or maybe foolish! Especially, with a 9 year old. While my daughter is always ready for the great outdoors and she used to cycle 22 km with us in Dublin, we were not sure about whether we could pull this off as a family. However our shopping trips for hiking backpacks to local Decathlon outlet just increased our excitement and determination and here we were on the bullet train to Huangshan, backpack and all!

Speeding up!

Although the monitor showed us a speed of 250 km/hr, we never experienced any of that speed. Perhaps it was because our journey was in the night and we couldn't see any fields whizzing past etc. It was a comfortable ride and the train car was very clean. Food options were limited though.

We arrived at Huangshan North station at 10:10 pm on 20th October 2019. The high-speed train from Shanghai stops at Huangshan North railway station which is a good deal away from Huangshan railway station and the main city near the mountains, Tunxi. While planning the itinerary, we decided to book a hotel close by, 300m from station, as we were reaching quite late in the night and didn't want a long commute to hotel. The station was quite big and brightly lit but it was cold, dark and deserted as we stepped outside. Very few people who had got off the train were walking in the direction that the map app on my hubby's phone was leading us to.

A body-blanket, used commonly in cooler parts of China

As we walked a bit worriedly, we saw a friendly, middle-aged woman, on a scooter, waving at us and smiling. Oddly, she seemed to be holding a blanket in from of her while riding the scooter. It was only later I got to see the body-blanket used very frequently by female motorists on the roads. My husband showed her our hotel name and she nodded and smiled in the fashion of someone who doesn't really care what we're showing her but wants us to go with her anyway. We slowly followed her on foot, very apprehensively. By this time she had summoned a man who came in his car and motioned us to get in. We were definitely not getting in someone's car on a dark night in an unknown country, till we were sure she was from the hotel we had booked. Anyway, when we reached her bright and lighted , 2-storey establishment, at the end of the road, I was shocked as it looked very different from the hotel we had booked. With good reason too, its a different hotel!

As she urged us to the hotel register, my hubby protested and she finally read the name of the hotel we had booked in Mandarin on his phone. She looked like she's from a simple farmer household and her 'hotel' was modest. She looked disappointed and pointed us in the direction down the road. She also started talking to someone on her phone. It was a village road with houses converted to hotels on either side, all of which were closed as it was 10:30 pm and practically midnight in a village. There was one man, outside one of the 'hotels' and when we showed him the address in Mandarin he pointed us further down the road quite disinterestedly.

There was a dark alley, with a neon-lit sign in Mandarin at its beginning, at the end of he road. We could see two more hotels , down this alley and a man smoking in front of the first one. By now, I had serious misgivings about our situation and all the paranoia I have inherited from my father and which I usually successfully suppress came rushing back, very helpfully, to me!

As my husband walked hopefully towards the man to ask for directions once again, a woman came running out of the 2nd hotel in the alley and towards my husband. She was the hostess of our hotel and was alerted to our coming, by the friendly lady down the road who first met us. The world felt less scary again.😊

Alley that scared us at night

Behind our 'hotel'

The 'Huangshan North Boutique hotel was good value for money. It was one of the last of the 'hotels' before the village area starts. So it was a bit like living in the village itself. We did a quick check-in and had a call with the owner, who sppoke English and who was away in France on business! He asked us if we needed transport to the base of mountain and on confirmation booked us a taxi for 7:30, the next morning. We had some pot noodles and cranberry bread to soothe our hunger and went to bed at around 12 am. We opted to switch off the air-conditioning and opened the windows instead to enjoy the cool autumn air. Bad decision!

Spot the over-enthusiastic rooster!

At 3 am I am jerked awake by the lusty crowing of an energetic rooster. It seemed to be in some sort of crowing match with an unseen competitor with every subsequent crow becoming louder and lustier. This continued while I try to go back to sleep and sleep fitfully till sunrise when we finally rose to get ready for our adventure that day.

Our taxi, costing 45 RMB per head, deposited us to the base area around an hour away from our hotel. The base area was where we could buy the entrance tickets as well as tickets to the cable car ride, up the mountain. The entrance tickets to the mountain were pretty steep, as warned by the Lonely Planet guide book and included a bus to the starting point of the hike which was also next to the cable car station. I am wary of car or bus rides on curvy mountain slopes as they wreak havoc on my insides, so I stared straight ahead, breathing deeply during the 20 odd minutes of the slow ride up in the bus.

Queuing up for the bus

Entrance to the climb

There are few shops, where we got off the bus and bought ourselves, two walking sticks, a map of Huangshan and a selfie stick. All these may have been at expensive 'tourist rates', but for a total of around 40 RMB was still a deal. We had also packed some sugary snacks and water bottles which we bought from the hotel. I felt hungry as soon as I saw the first of those steps and promptly chomped on some of the snacks. My sweet daughter whose instincts are triggered by anything she sees me do, followed suit. This also prompted a visit to the toilets at the very entrance. My hubby, eager to start the climb, looked on at these proceedings with an air of extreme patience 😊. We finally started the climb at around 10:30 am.

Ready to climb with sugary snacks, lots of water, selfie stick and walking sticks

Layers coming off!

We started the climb with loads of enthusiasm. All of us had bags on our backs at this point. I was thankful to God that my daughter is cheerful and in high spirits. The steps and the area around it is kept clean and there are rubbish-bins carved out of rock and made of cement at regular intervals. They blend with the scenery and also serve their purpose. Very few people took the stairs. They were mostly youngsters bounding ahead and we spotted no other family, with children on the climb. I settled into a slow and steady pace, with my regular panting sounding like a beat while hubby and daughter moved ahead faster than me. My daughter is a born naturalist and we got a lot of breaks as she paused to stare and comment at an interesting leaf or a new kind of insect. As it was cool, we had started the trek with a few layers of clothing. These start to come off slowly as we ascend, sweating and panting in the cool weather. There are breaks and places to sit at regular intervals which we use to admire the scenery and click photographs of the beautiful autumn foliage all around.

A mountain sedan, in case you want to call off the hike, placed temptingly near one of the peaks

One of the first peaks

We had planned to make our way to the Beihai hotel and seem to have caught the right route as per the map. We were not sure of the distance but knew that we would be climbing up and down a series of small peaks to reach our destination which is a good 1500 m above sea level. According to our research, it was a family friendly hike and would take 2-3 hours to ascend. As we were doing it with my daughter and backpacks, we expected it to take around 4-5 hours. Once we really started to feel the effort of the climb, we saw a chair tied to two long poles placed tantalizingly by the side of the path. It was a porter service for those who had enough of the hike placed cleverly along the way, at a point where you start to feel the muscles in your calves, by all the stair climbing.😀

Little shops by the steps

There were little shops, few and far between, along the way selling water, Fuji apples, biscuits, chocolates, snacks and high energy drinks. We bought a chocolate bar and apples to refuel.

Autumn colors at one of viewing points on the way

Selfie at one of resting points

We saw familiar faces as we keep ascending as climbers overtake us and we catch up with them and vice versa. There were very few people on the steps, despite it being very family friendly and one of the most convenient hikes. It was not hard to see why as we determinedly climb on 2 hrs after we started and having covered less than half the distance to our destination. Miraculously, my daughter is active and engaged throughout the hike. My wonderful husband along with carrying her bag over his backpack and clicking wonderful photographs was also keeping her interested and occupied by his side as I trudged along like the slow and steady tortoise 😊. My daughter was also spurred along by the many compliments she has received from kind and very gracious fellow climbers, being the only child we have seen throughout the climb. She was also delighting in all the attention received.


Cable car line

One of the peaks on the way

Slow and steady

As we climbed higher, the views become more spectacular and we rejoice in them, till we get a glimpse of the cable car line going up to the station near our hotel. Our hearts sink slightly as we realize we still have a long way to go. However, the sights are mesmerizing and we had some fun with our walking sticks and sang songs to keep us going. At one of the viewing stations, my husband remarked that the location of the nearby peaks would cause echos. As if on cue, my daughter shouted greetings to the mountains and is delighted to hear her voice echoed around. Many of the names of peaks sound quite funny as they were literal translations of the Chinese names. Sample these:

Stone monkey gazing over a sea of clouds
Bookcase peak
Heavenly Dog watching the Moon

One of the myriad beetles that fascinate my daughter on the climb

While climbing we also came across porters laboriously lugging up heavy logs of building material, food and clothing up the mountain. They do this many times a day and carry with themselves no water or food. Some of them were panting and sweating profusely as they went about it. I offered some biscuits to one of them who accepted it graciously. I felt quite humbled seeing them. They carried loads up the mountain and trash down the mountain. Seeing them made me squirm. Surely there must be a better way of doing this specially since most of cable cars are running empty most of the time!

A porter carrying loads for the hotels, shops and tourists

White Goose Ridge

Finally after 4 and 1/2 hours of hiking we reached the highest point of our trek, The White Goose Ridge. We took congratulatory photographs and felt awesome, however cannot stick around for long as we're exhausted and believe it or not the smoker's were claiming that space! You see, the cable car ride also dropped people off at that point. So the duffers who had to control their habit for the 10 minute cable car ride, just whipped out their cigarettes and start smoking away at that beautiful viewpoint! 😠

Again we rest...

In front of Beihai hotel

We headed to our hotel which is 700 m away from this scenic spot. The Beihai hotel, is a dream come true in terms of location and appearance, but that's about it. The rooms were once grand but now need more lighting and upkeep. The hotel staff were barely civil, seeing that they have monopoly of accommodation in that part of the mountain. They aren't the only hotel up in the mountains but they are one of a select few. As expected, everything is costly up in the mountains and we wouldn't grudge the costs, if some of it actually trickled down to the pockets of the poor porters we saw laboring up the mountain with supplies. However, I highly doubted that this was the case.

After we settled into our rooms it was around 5:30 in the evening. Though we had, when planning for the trip in the comfort of our home, planned to see sunset decided to give it a miss for the simple luxury of sinking into a soft bed. A long nap later we were ready for dinner.

View from the hotel

Shops and a police station in front of the hotel

China post in case you want to send a postcard from the mountain

As with everything else, the dinner buffet was exorbitant at 140 RMB per adult and 70 RMB for children. Since we desperately needed to refuel, and since it was vacation after all we submitted to this.

The grand dining room was well occupied and we got seats in the far end of it on an empty round table, We didn't mind the distance from the food in exchange for some privacy. We were newly acquainted with chopsticks and dining etiquette in China and didn't want to provide extra entertainment to our fellow diners. We perused the menu options and though they were mostly Chinese food which we were unfamiliar with, there were few choices that looked inviting to each of us. Barely had we settled down with our first servings that another wave of tourists entered the dining room. A group of friendly looking women asked if they could share our table. They were pleasant and we had a lovely conversation with them through dinner and they sweetly showered my daughter with more compliments when they heard of her hiking up the mountain.

View from dining hall

While we were eating, wave after wave of tourists came into the dining hall till there were no more seats left and people were roaming around with plates in their hands! Some of these tourists seemed to have just escaped famine as they descended on the buffet like a swarm of locusts. They piled plate after plate of food and had these plates on standby on their table while they ate from one of them! I am sure it led to a lot of food wastage.

Despite our plan of getting up bright and early to catch the sunrise next morning, we just managed to wake up in time to not miss the breakfast buffet the next morning. Our legs were aching and we decided to take the cable car instead of a 7 km trek down the mountain. This saved us some time for morning visits to the scenic areas around the hotel. We visited Lion's peak or Pine peak as it was sometimes called and took some photographs. However, we couldn't linger too long at the view points as by mid morning there were loads of tour groups led by various tour guides, each with a microphone and flagpole with a company specific flag trying to outshout each other, at the scenic area. In spite of this, we did have a good time.

No way we are hiking down!

Autumn colors on the mountain

The ride down on the cable car was one of the longest and steepest I had ever taken. It provided beautiful views and new perspectives to the mountain we had come to really appreciate. Some of the steep drops, were quite unnerving for those who fear heights. The cable car dropped us at the place we had started the hike the previous day.

As we were queuing up to take the ticket to the bus ride back, I saw another destination, 'Hot Springs', advertised on the board. The ticket price to this place was less than that to the base and so, I gathered, was the distance to it. I had read fleetingly about the 'hot springs' in Huangshan and easily persuaded my husband to visit these.

On the cable car ride down the mountain

I tried asking the woman who checked our tickets, how far the 'hot springs' were to the base but she only sniggered in response. She spoke to her colleague in Mandarin and it seemed to me like they shared a laugh at our expense. Anyway, I started doubting my decision to visit the 'hot springs' and my misgivings deepened when we were the only ones let off the bus at a turn on the road a short distance away, in front of a grand but deserted hotel. Few, very impatient looking travelers, were standing with a woman in uniform at the point we got off and they were let in, in exchange of us. It looked like they were waiting for this bus to get on it and that there had been prior communication between bus driver and the woman.

In search of the elusive hot springs

A pretty bridge across the stream to the 'hot spring'

We had to check out the stream

It all looked fishy to me and there were no 'hot springy' looking things anywhere in sight. We asked the woman about the hot springs and she pointed down the side-road. In front of the hotel, there was a small river/stream by the side road and a pretty bridge across it. It was a beautiful but deserted scene. As we walked further, a janitor from the hotel, the only other soul there, came hurrying up mistaking us for hotel guests. He realized his mistake when we asked him directions to the hot springs and he disinterestedly pointed across the bridge. After a few more twists and turns we finally chanced upon the elusive Huangshan hot springs. Turns out they are a wholly privately owned spa sauna kind of establishment with cemented pools on their grounds, presumably having piped water from the natural hot springs. These pools were filled with colored balls with tourists in swimwear waddling about and looking more like they were in the Jacuzzi of some resort than in natural 'hot springs'. The entry fee was a cool 200 RMB per head and excluded compulsory swimwear which we would have to buy as we hadn't packed any.

We abandoned our 'hot springs ' plan and headed back to the point where we had got off the bus. Here we purchased tickets to the base station and were told we would have to wait for the next bus carrying tourists to the 'Hot Springs' to get seats for ourselves to the base. Sure enough after a 45 minute wait, we exchanged fates with the next couple of clueless tourists on their way to check out the 'Hot Springs' 😝

It all reminded me of Tom Sawyer's luckless friends, in Mark Twain's classic, who were tricked by him to paint his aunt's fence and who waited for the next hapless victim to be trapped so that they are released from the chore!

Shops near Tunxi bus terminal

Dinner at a restaurant near the bus terminal

The bus took us to the main bus terminus in Tunxi, the main city near Huangshan. We were told there were buses from the terminus to the Airport where we had a flight to catch that night. However, after we had our meal at a restaurant nearby, we were told there were no buses or metered taxis to the airport after 5 pm. We then ended up bargaining for a private taxi to the airport. It cost us around 150 RMB but we reached the airport in an hour by private taxi.

The flight was 'Beijing Capital Airlines' was nearly 3 hours late, which seemed like a regular occurrence given that our co-passengers were treating it as 'no big deal'. At the airport we chanced to meet a young SriLankan couple who were very sweet and friendly. Our delay at the airport was more bearable because of the wonderful conversations we had with them. We were very surprised by how closely our itinerary matched with theirs especially as both us started our visit from Singapore.

Our next destination in China was very new and also very old!