Blogs from Hua Shan, Shaanxi, China, Asia
February 29th 2012
Huashan I made some Chinese friends playing basketball and one weekend they invited myself and two other teachers to hike Huashan, a nearby mountain with them. I eagerly agree as this presents an opportunity to do multiple “un-beaten” path activities as well as hopefully accelerate my mandarin learning. My friends spoke little to no English and I, even less Chinese, but I felt it added adventure. After doing some research online I learned Huashan is one of China’s 5 sacred mountains, each having significance in Taoist history. If you are like me and never heard of it before please go to youtube and type in “Huashan plank walk” and imagine it before early 2000s when there were no harnesses. The first leg of the journey was the 5 hour train ride, on a Chinese train. I ... read more
October 29th 2010
My life has slowed down immensely in every respect with the formal study behind me. My head is virtually empty which is quite a strange space to find myself in. Enjoying the changes though. One of my inspiring Swami's did a talk about how its easy to carry an empty or full matka (one of those Indian pots) on your head, but not easy to carry one that is half full as it sloshes around.... I'm usually carrying the full one so it's really a different space to be in to carry an empty one! I'm applying for a few different places to work and am happy to go anywhere. Really open to whatever the Universe throws at me! Such a difference as usually I create what I want and this time I have virtually no ... read more
October 23rd 2010
On our way to Xian we spent 2 nights at Hua Shan. Hua Shan is a sacred Taoist mountain which is very popular with the local tourists. We happened to be there on a Saturday which also may have coincided with a national holliday. If we ever complain about crowds in Banff or Kananaskis at home, remind us about our experience in China. Also, if we thought that Kongtong Shan was expensive (see our previous blog which was quietly published), we were in for a shocker at Hua Shan. Between the entrance to see the mountain, the cable car, and the shuttle to get between the ticket office and the cable car it cost us about $100 for the two of us. Food and general cost of living in China is quite cheap, but tourism has ... read more
October 19th 2010
I går var teamet for første gang sammen med vores "kunder". Vi tilbragte formiddagen på hotellet med at forberede vores personlige præsentationer og kørte så om eftermiddagen ud til en af områdets store nye "softwareparker" - altså store områder hvor man etablerer it-virksomheder. Man må sige, at det er imponerende hvordan der tilsyneladende lynhurtigt kan etableres kæmpe kontorbygninger, der langt overgår alt hvad vi ser derhjemme, og hvordan alt dette skyder op imellem gamle faldefærdige beboelsesområder. Det er ikke fordi der gøres så meget ud af omgivelserne, men jeg er sikker på, at alting om få år ser radikalt anderledes ud igen. Det er så tydeligt, at man bygger en ny verden oven på den gamle, men mange steder, er det til nu ret facade-agtigt. Man skal ikke andet end rundt om hjørnet og så er ... read more
September 17th 2010
Je me leve tôt le matin pour aller prendre l'autobus pour aller à Hua Shan, qui est situé environ à 2h de Xi'an. C'est une des cinq montagnes sacrées de la Chine. Le mont Hua tire son nom, « fleur », de l'aspect que lui donnent de loin les cinq sommets qui le composent. Wouter m'accompagne et nous sommes donc 2 à se diriger à la station d'autobus. C'est le chaos total lorsqu'on arrive aux autobus... personne ne parle évidemment anglais et tout le monde nous harcele pour qu'on prenne leur autobus). On suit finalement une femme qui nous dirige vers un autobus à l'extérieur de la station d'autobus. C'est en fait un autobus de touristes chinois qui vont une visite organisé à la montagne hua shan. On arrive à Hua Shan et on est complètement ... read more
June 5th 2010
We had an early morning start as we got up around 7:15am showering, eating breakfast and getting a cab to the train station to get a bus to Hua Shan(Flower Mountain). bus ride that was to be 2 hrs but took over 3.5 due to traffic 33 kuai cab ride to another park entrance 10 kuai lunch for 2 chicken and beef fried rice 30 kuai park entrance 100 kuai bus ride to cable cars 20 kuai, cable car 150 kuai round trip hike and views priceless Bus ride back down mountain 20 kuai Cab ride to train station 20 kuai dinner at hole in the wall restaurant for 3 people including 2 beers each 63 kuai while waiting for train to leave train ride back to Xi’an 10 kuai for 2 hrs taxi ride to ... read more
Day 131: Cat Ba, Vietnam to Hua Shan, China.
Published: April 9th 2010Asia » China » Shaanxi » Hua Shan
April 7th 2010
Day 131: Wednesday, April 7th, 2010. Cat Ba, Vietnam to Hua Shan, China. Per Intrepid Notes, "Days 13-14 Hua Shan On day 13 we again board a chartered boat for a direct transfer back to Bai Chay, then onto a private bus for a drive to the border of China (approx. 6 hours). Be prepared for some long waits at the Friendship Gate border crossing into China. We then travel on by bus via Pingxiang and Ningming to Hua Shan (approx. 1 hour). We spend two nights in a charming guesthouse, set near a little village of wooden Dong and Zhuang-style houses. Quiet and isolated, this is a great base for uninterrupted explorations of the magnificent mountain scenery. On the day 14 we meet with a local guide and explore the local villages and countryside by ... read more
October 15th 2009
Well, we set of early for Huashan, one of the five sacred Tao peaks like Taishan, in our secretly hired mini bus with our secretly hired mini bus driver. Chatter started early and we soon found ourselves at the ticket station before we knew it. Even though it took about 2 hours to get there. We sort out the tickets for entry and the bus and head in to the National Park, only one entry though and special equipment was used by the security to check if there were any terrorist style devices on board. It is the National Holiday week after all. Can't be too careful! Pics are taken at the foot of the climb and it's Ready, Set....Go. It was like a stampede. All the more fit and, dare I say, young ones are ... read more
Climb 8000 Steps - Receive Free Souvenir As Hero ”Magic, Can’t Wait”
Published: September 27th 2009Asia » China » Shaanxi » Hua Shan
September 17th 2009
It is 4am, the air is chilly but not cold, a surprising amount of noise is being made upstairs and I need to pee. After 2 minutes of enduring my bladder, I clamber down from the top bunk. Shaking Jakub and Ype awake and sprinting to the bathroom in a dazed state. Time to witness the sunrise on Mt. Hua. The day before we had arrived at the base of the mountain with backpacks on, a Dutch guy(Ype from Pingyao entry), Jakub(Czech workhorse who we met on the bus) and I began to tackle the ‘Soldier’s Pass’ method of ascent. This way is shorter, yet steeper than the way we came ended up coming down. As a first point, Jakub had just spent the last 6 days on a glacier so as I struggled to carry ... read more
August 11th 2009
After another night in the train, I arrived at Xi'an about 1 pm. I was a lot more tired than after the other night trains, because this time I traveled on a hard sleeper. Because there was no space anymore for my backpack, I put it on my bed as I also did on my previous trips. But because the beds are definitely smaller, I almost had no room anymore for my legs. Because with the hard sleeper, there are three beds on top of each other, instead of two which is the case for a soft sleeper. So it is impossible to sit up, not even a little... So I decided, I will permit myself a soft sleeper again next time. After arrival, I tried to buy my next train ticket in the train station, ... read more
