Changsha #3: Yuelushan, Yuelu Academy and Huangxing Road

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After my expensive Starbucks the previous morning, I headed to McDonald's for my caffeine fix. Much cheaper, but a lot scruffier. I took the subway to Yingwanzhen station, which is near the start of the trail up Yuelushan mountain. There were a lot of people heading to the mountain. There were entry gates and it was the same mini program as the one I was unable to use for Orange Island so I just snuck through when the gates opened for the person in front of me. The mountain isn't much of a mountain, more like a big hill. The first part of the trail was along the road and just a gradual climb. I passed the entrance to the cable car that can take you to the top, but it was closed for maintenance. The first part of the trail wasn't very exciting. I just kept following the road. It was a bit misty and overcast and I liked the mist in the trees, it made it feel a bit more atmospheric. There were some little shuttle buses going up and down the mountain which were a bit annoying as you had to keep moving aside for them. I came to a pagoda and there were some shops around there. I sat and had a rest in the pagoda. The views were a bit crappy as it was so hazy. I saw a store selling the fancy ice creams like the one I'd had in Nanchang. Here the ice creams had beautifully carved scenes of the Yuelu Academy on them. The store only had green tea ones, but since I like green tea flavoured things I was happy with that. I think I spent longer taking photos of the ice cream than actually eating it.

I continued my walk and came to another area that was filled with tea stores and little convenience type stores. It felt a bit weird to be out in nature and have so much rampant consumerism in your face. There were also a lot more people along here and quite a lot of them coming from the opposite direction. They must have started the trail at Hunan Normal University which is where I would be finishing it at. There were a few different trails leading off from the main paved road, so I headed down one of them. It was quite a bit quieter down on these trails. I passed some kind of shrine/memorial that was well cared for and covered with flowers. I also passed by an abandoned building. I think it would have been great done out as a hotel or guesthouse. I would have loved have stayed there especially at night as I bet it would feel quite spooky once all the tourists had left the area. Passing through a random ornate concrete gateway and continuing downhill, I came to Lushan Temple. I had seen the temple marked on the trail map and headed into its grounds for a bit of a look around. I really liked the temple. It was quite small, but there were a few different halls to look around and I loved all the little Buddha statues that were in one of the gardens. They were very cute. There were quite a few people but not too many so it didn't feel crowded.

As I got to the bottom of the trail, the crowds grew and grew. I passed a gated cave, which I think had been used in a war, which war I am not sure however. The crowds grew even more intense as I reached Aiwan Pavilion. This is what I think was on my ice cream. Aiwan Pavilion is one of the four ancient pavilions in China and was built by Luo Dian, who was the principal of Yuelu Academy (just next door) during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The pavilion didn't look anything special when I first got there, but as I made my way around to the other side of the water and saw it sitting above the water nestled in the trees, it looked a lot prettier. A few steps further took me to the entrance to Yuelu Academy. I can't remember how much the entrance fee was exactly, but I think it was about 60 RMB. I just scanned one of the QR codes and bought the ticket on WeChat and then joined the quite long queue to enter. Yuelu Academy was built by Zhu Dong, the governor of Tanzhou (present day Changsha) in 976 AD. Over the years, it developed further and in 1903 was converted into the Hunan Institute of Higher Learning. It later became Hunan University. I enjoyed walking around the grounds of the academy. It was pretty and I was trying to imagine what it would have been like back in the day, being a scholar there. I could just imagine it being like in a period drama where they are all wandering around in the old style robes, looking rather grand, not like today's students. There wasn't a tonne of information, so most of the time I didn't really know what I was looking it. It was also pretty busy, so it was hard to find a little nook to relax and soak up the atmosphere in. There was a museum attached to the academy, which featured information about different old style education institutes, mainly in China, but it did feature one in Korea, that I had actually been to. I left the academy and headed through the grounds of Hunan Normal University to reach the subway. The name 'Normal University' is a bit of a weird translation as it means teaching university, so the focus is on education. The campus is quite extensive and near the main gates there was a statue of Chairman Mao. So while I didn't get the money shot on Orange Island, I did get a picture of him here.

I took the subway back to where I was staying and ended up getting a little rice roll sandwich type thing from the convenience store. I was actually pretty impressed with it, while it wouldn't be winning an culinary awards, it was pretty tasty and hit the spot. Back at my accommodation, it was time for a rest and to try something that I'd been told I had to try while in Changsha. ‘Sexy Tea’ (察颜悦色) is a brand of local tea shops that are everywhere in Changsha. I had been told it was popular, but didn't realise how popular until I got here. There are several branches on pretty much every street and each one has a queue of people. Since I hate queuing and had no idea what I would order, I spent a while looking at the different options online and ordered one to be delivered to me. I sat and read my book while waiting for it to arrive. It didn't take too long to appear and I like that it was all deconstructed and that I had to put it together myself as it meant that it didn't get messed up while being delivered and therefore better for taking pictures. I had ordered something which translated in English to Dan tea. It was one of the most popular teas that the store sold. I topped the plain tea with the thickened cream and then added the salty and sweet pretzel type pieces on top. I quite enjoyed the tea. I liked the different flavours and textures of the tea, cream and biscuit pieces. However, I couldn't get all the hype behind it. I would probably have it again if in Changsha, but it doesn't displace Yi Dian Dian as my favourite tea store.

After taking a rest and once it was starting to get dark, it was time to venture out again. Changsha is definitely a city that comes alive at night. Since I had explored the old style streets near where I was staying, tonight I was going to have a meander about the more modern area nearby. I walked over to Haungxing Road Walking Street. Since it was a Saturday evening, the street and surrounding areas were buzzing with people. Despite there being so many people around, I really enjoyed my walk around this area. It reminded me a bit of Dotonbori in Osaka. I think it was all the neon signs advertising all manner of things. From here, I continued on to Dufu River Pavilion. I had seen this the previous evening from Orange Island so it was nice to see it up close. It looked even better up close and I loved the juxtaposition with e skyscrapers and their everchanging façades behind it. This place was also a hive of activity. The pavilion was closed to the public, but the area around it was filled with people hanging out. There were a few young women dressed in Hanfu and other types of traditional dress, who appeared to be live streaming. I took a walk along the river. It was a bit more peaceful as there weren't so many people about on this part of the path. After a while, there didn't seem to be much in this directions so I headed back and past Dufu River Pavilion and kept going until I reached Wenheyou. Wenheyou is a restaurant and food court complex and I having previously been to the one in Shenzhen I wanted to see how this one would compare. This one was a lot more lively. The décor inside is old school Chinese and very nostalgic. While it was very similar to the one in Shenzhen, it wasn't a carbon copy so when I was wandering around it felt familiar yet new. There was even a small cable car going around the top floor. It was also a lot busier than the one in Shenzhen. To be fair, I did visit the Shenzhen one on Covid times so probably wasn't a true representation, but I had heard from friends than even post Covid the Shenzhen one still wasn't too busy. I was rather tired by now and despite scoffing a quick sandwich earlier, I needed something else. I headed to a stinky black tofu place near where I was staying to get a feed. Armed with my bowl of stinky black tofu, I found a spot to sit, eat and people watch from. It was great seeing all the young people out enjoying the city's nightlife.

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