Prologue: Huangshan is in Anhui province. It's very accessible by buses, trains and private vehicles these days. James and I always have fond memory of it since we both visited it in our college year, which was more than 20 years ago, separately albeit, since we didn't know each other back then. This is the most amazing mountain in China if you ask me. So many other mountains are associated with religious activities, but this one is not. Huangshan is famous for three wonders: 1. Huangshan Pines They grow out of the granites on the cliffs, as if they don't need [View Full Entry]

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(We've also added some new pics onto the last entry) OK, onto today.. I could go on and on about hidden charges in China and especially the Yellow Mountains (I could even start to write an entire blog on the noise the Chinese make when they prepare a good spit... oh... and possibly a complete Dicken's sized novel on the lack of common polite-ness when Chinese come together and form a mass.. and that's without moaning about cigarette smoke on trains so thick you could chip a tooth just breathing in) but I'll leave all of that negativity aside, as the [View Full Entry]

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The train to Huangshan was very uneventful. Some lady on the train was very insistent on me speaking and understanding mandarin and no matter how many times I told her that I dont understand she kept on trying, which turned pretty comical after a while. Once I arrived in Tunxi (the base city from which you have to travel another hour by bus to get to the base of the mountain.) I was completely bombarded by a whole bunch of people trying to sell me maps of the mountain, raincoats, and taxi rides. As I kept on saying no and walking [View Full Entry]

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Déjà Vu It wasn’t until this trip was well under way that I realized my sneezing was not from allergies, but from a cold that was spreading around the Shanghai Summer Program students. The worst of it hit me on the mountain, making the climb extremely uncomfortable. I tackled Philmont with mononucleosis, though, so I wasn’t going to let a cold hold me back. Getting There The bus trip went by pretty fast since I slept through most of it. I was awake for the last hour or so, so I got to see some of the sights along the way. [View Full Entry]

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Beautiful Huangshan!! The Huangshan mountain, which translated literraly means Yellow Mountain, is part a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. The area is very famous for its scenic beauty, which lies in the peculiar shapes of the granite peaks, in the weather-shaped Huangshan Pine trees, and in views of the clouds from above. The Huang Shan are a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings. When I finally arrived, a bit late in the day due to all the bad weather I just wanted to get up the mountain. Decided to walk up the east side, which was abou [View Full Entry]

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Full speed ahead! In theory it should have only been a little over an hour bus ride back to the hostel. But taking into account two strait days of pouring rain and maybe it could anger the river enough to engulf and submerge the road about three feet. Which was exactly what happened. But never you mind seeing other busses and cars stuck in the deep water, our bus driver didn’t even slow down as we splashed into the river. Of course our engine flooded and we slowly started to drift down river. Most of the men got off board and [View Full Entry]

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Water everywhere! Spent four days in the Huangshan region, it’s about a five to six hour bus ride from Shanghai, depending on how many stops the bus driver decides to make. Hard to get used to people spitting into buckets and smoking on the bus… even with a baby on board! When we finally arrived it was pouring down rain, that wouldn’t let up for even a few minutes. We had to call a taxi to drive us to the hostel from the bus station, he just sat and watched us as we busied ourselves loading our luggage and stroller [View Full Entry]

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Thank you for all your kind posts and helpful advise! All will be considered in our journey outside of Beijing this August... We are intrigued by the China countryside, and our lonely planet lists some small towns in the south to explore...Has anyone traveled to Honcun, Xidi, Nanping, and further on in Jiangxi, and the Wolong mountains.... Would love to hear some more information about lodging (?) and experiences! [View Full Entry]

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Well Hangzhou was very nice, and certainly a lot less hectic feeling than other places. It was a little boring, as far as just gardens and stuff, but really it was nice to have a day to sit around and relax. Today, I hiked at Huangshan. It was one of THE most beautiful places I have ever seen, and also DEFINITLY the most difficult hike I have ever done. When I finally get to post pictures, you will see that it is enormously steep, and really quite dangerous at times, though it didn't exactly feel like it at the time. The [View Full Entry]

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Well, I don't even know where to start. I suppose that adding "chrono" to the beginning of "logical" would make the appropriate word; however, there's so much to say that it will be difficult to stick to that. I have returned from my escapades in Shanghai and Huang Shan. Granted, I returned the Sunday before last (May 4), but I had to rent an apartment, do some work for my internship, final exams, presentations, and projects. so it has taken me a while to post this. My apologies (especially to you, Andy - I will be make this my first priority [View Full Entry]

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