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Published: October 17th 2009
Day 469: Sunday 11th October - Over the border into Sichuan
We arrive in Chongqing at 3am. I know because the ship sounds its horn, collides into the dock with some force and there is a lot of shouting outside. I go back to sleep and wake up at 6am as we have to get off the boat at 6:30am. Riley is staying in Chongqing for a few days but I can find nothing of interest in my travel literature which could persuade me to do the same. It sounds like just another drab Chinese city, and in my brief time there it looks as it sounds. It is famous for its hotpot but I’m sure I can try that in neighbouring Sichuan province. It is also incorrectly quoted in some sources as being the largest city in the world with 30+ million inhabitants. To put the record straight on that one it isn’t the largest city in the world although it is a large city, the second largest in western China after Chengdu with a population running into several million inhabitants. The mistake regarding it being the world’s largest city is made because some 10 years ago it won
municipality status to join Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The other three are municipalities are based solely around the cities but Chongqing municipality (which has 30 million inhabitants)has hundreds of kilometres of surrounding rural land, and is a third of the size of the UK and all this could never be classed as being part of the city.
It is time for fun and games for my journey across the city. I need to get a taxi as it is too far to walk but the taxi I jump in won’t use his meter and wants 50 Yuan (£5) for the journey. Way too much and although he counters with a second offer of 30 Yuan he’s annoyed me so I get back out of the taxi. This is my first experience of a Chinese taxi driver trying to rip me off as usually they’re very reliable. I take an alternative vehicle which is unlicensed but which I manage to bargain down to 20 Yuan which is more like what the fare should be. He then tries it on when we reach the bus station by insisting he only has 20 Yuan change when I give him 50 Yuan. No
problem I’ll go across the street and get some change. But with his fare disappearing out of reach he suddenly finds a third 10 Yuan note.......well knock me down with a feather, I haven’t seen that trick before!
I have no problems with getting a bus ticket to Emei when I find the right bus station after walking across the street to the wrong one. I have a two hour wait for my bus which leaves at 9am and get talking to a Chinese girl Li Juan who is returning to Sichuan. She speaks basic English but enough to have a simple conversation and then we teach other our respective languages which is fun. She reckons my Chinese is good, and my pronunciation is also good but she’s being way too kind as the Chinese have a tendency to be. I have particular problems saying the Chinese word for ten (shi) which because of its tone has me contorting my mouth in all sorts of unnatural ways to produce the correct sound! The conversation inspires me to learn some Chinese on the bus journey. By the end of the journey I’ve mastered (well almost) the numbers up to 10,
months and days of week. This must more than double my limited Mandarin vocabulary.
It takes 6 hours to reach Emei in the centre of Sichuan province. Central Sichuan will be the end of my journey west through central China roughly following the Yangtze River. I’ve blazed a trail which in the space of a week has had me travelling through 5 different provinces since I left Shanghai (Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing and now Sichuan). They’re all the size of countries in Europe so imagine a week long journey through UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy and you have something similar in European terms.
Sichuan is the fifth largest of China’s provinces at twice the size of the UK. It is a province I have an expectation I will love before I even arrive there. Mountainous, full of natural beauty, where the Panda can be found in its natural habitat and on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau....this is right up my street. However, my plan is only to see the central part of the province, around the capital Chengdu because of time. This means missing out on a journey on the Tibetan-Sichuan highway which crosses the edge
of the Tibetan plateau in the west of the province and a number of highly recommended nature reserves in the north of the province. Even with the length of my trip you have to make choices and as I say, ‘you can always come back’.
When I arrive at Emei bus station I try to arrange a free pick up from the hostel in Baoguo which is 6 kilometres away. I can’t get an answer at the other end so I have to get a taxi instead. I try the Sichuanese version of hotpot in the hostel and find it is hot but not too hot and it represents my first decent meal in days. I spend the evening chilling in the hostel, catching up on events back home, posting blogs for the last fortnight and most importantly planning my climb of Emei Shan tomorrow. I discover that this is going to be two long days of walking but I’m looking forward to the challenge and seeing the scenery of this holy mountain.
Day 470: Monday 12th October - Finding a buddy to climb Emei Shan with
I had hoped to climb Emei Shan with someone else
as its always more fun and safer too. However, my enquiries around the hostel have failed to find anyone walking the same route or on the same timeline as me. Just as I’m resigned to climbing it alone and in the process of checking out of the hostel in the morning I bump into Jin, a Korean who has just arrived. He was planning to climb the mountain tomorrow but soon changes his mind. He has two days, which is the timescale I’m thinking of too so he asks if he can join me. I’m more than happy with the company and pleased to have a buddy to share the experience with. My recent climb of Mount Fuji wasn’t as much fun as I did it alone so with Jin in tow I’m much happier as I leave the hostel.
We catch a bus next door to the hostel up to the Wannian bus station at the foot of the mountain. The start of our route is from 600 metres altitude. Emei Shan is just over 3000 metres high so this is going to be one long climb. Like most Chinese mountains (or certainly the ones I have climbed)
the route to the top is paved and has many, many steps. Thankfully Huang Shan has prepared me for the steps. Starting from the bus station to our first stop, Wannian temple we are followed by various Chinese hawkers trying to sell their various wares. One of them asks me if I want Tsing Ding (guessing the spelling) and it is a perfect opportunity for my first attempt at Chinese humour. I reply Tsingdao which is the national beer, and whilst none of them can provide me with a bottle of the amber nectar to help me up the mountain they find my quick witted response hilarious and I hear them chuckling away as we walk on.
Jin is the right person to be sharing the climb up Emei Shan with. He’s about my pace and is properly kitted out to climb a mountain unlike many travellers you come across doing it in jeans or unsuitable footwear. In fact, he’s got all the right gear, and I soon nickname him Mr North Face as most of his gear is made by the said company. He tells me his girlfriend works for them so he gets the clothing on the
cheap - alright for some. Jin also has an incredibly warm personality like most Asians. Within an hour of meeting him he’s treating me like a long lost family member and inviting me to Korea. In the west we’re so much more cautious of new acquaintances or should that be much less warm and welcoming?
It takes us half an hour to climb up to Wannian temple which is Tibetan influenced in its style. In addition to the 150 Yuan (£14) entrance fee we paid to enter the Mount Emei scenic area we have to pay an additional 10 Yuan to enter this temple. Thankfully this is the first and last temple on the holy Buddhist mountain which charges an additional entrance fee. We continue trudging up the many flights of steps up the mountain past Xixin temple and Chu temple up to another temple - the interestingly named Elephant Bathing Pool. Why it was named this way I don’t know but I’m sure it wasn’t because elephants were led up the mountain to bathe as we’re now at 2000 metres altitude.
To date the weather has not been kind, the mountain is covered in dense fog and
has an eerie feel to it. Many people and much of the literature talks of the beauty of this mountain but so far I’ve not been too impressed. It is no Huang Shan but at least we have the mountain pretty much to ourselves apart from the odd few Chinese that we meet and greet along the way.
Around the Elephant Bathing Pool we have our first contact with the Tibetan Macaques that live on the mountain. I’ve read all about how aggressive these monkeys can be and that is the main reason I’ve got my walking poles with me, because on steps they’re not that helpful. I need them in this first encounter as the monkeys start to round on myself, Jin and a young Chinese couple. They eventually give us free passage but not without attacking the Chinese girls back pack to see if she has any food and not without bearing their teeth in my direction every time I point a pole at them to get them to keep their distance. What an unfriendly bunch!
Above the Elephant Bathing Pool the weather starts to get wetter and after almost two hours climbing towards Jieyin Hall
where we want to spend the night we call it a day. About 20 minutes walk from Jieyin Hall we get the offer of a hotel room to share for 100 Yuan (£9). A bed in a dormitory 20 minutes up the path will be about the same, it’s raining, the light isn’t good and after 6 hours walking we decide to take up the offer. The room is cold and is like spending a night in a fridge and apart from dinner and some grean tea to warm us up the best option seems to be an early night and the warmth of our sleeping bags.
We need the early night. Tomorrow promises to be much harder than today. We’ve walked in excess of 20 kilometres today (all up hill) and tomorrow will be longer still. We also have to wake up at 5am to ensure we will reach the summit for sunrise. Right now our chances of seeing a sunrise are slim to none. Just seeing the sun would be nice. I still haven’t seen it since leaving Huang Shan almost a week ago.
Day 471: Tuesday 13th October - A long day of walking but
finally Emei Shan reveals its true beauty
We are up at 5am, and leave the hotel in darkness in the vain hope of seeing sunrise on the top of Emei Shan. Sunrise is supposed to be at 7:15am but having not seen the sun for a week and after fog throughout yesterday on the mountain there’s frankly more chance of Newcastle winning the league this century (that is the Premier league not the second rate one you’re currently heading!!!). Jin and I walk up the relentless steps in the dark and in the rain. In the dark and quiet of the night it is easy to get in the zone, just you, your thoughts and the task of putting one foot in front of the other. We slept at 2400 metres so we have about 600 metres to climb to the summit.
We reach the Golden Summit just before 7am. Predictably visibility on the top is very poor and it is clear that there is going to be no sunrise to view. I think watching sunrises on mountains are overrated anyway. You have to get up at stupid o’clock, brave the cold on the top of the mountain
and often find that like today the weather conspires against you. Today factor in the wet weather and zero visibility and it’s the worst sunrise (ie no sunrise) I’ve ever dragged myself out of bed for. I’m wet, cold and becoming miserable. Yes I may have just conquered a 3000 metre peak which you don’t do every day of the week, but the euphoria of the moment soon disappears to be replaced by my miserable, shivering figure. And I don’t do miserable well. I think I do happy well but miserable no.....stay well clear! In this moment though Jin has a great idea, let’s forget hanging around for a non-existent sunrise and walk down to the nearest cafe and get a hot drink and some hot food and warm up.
We sit eating noodles and drinking coffee which improves things somewhat but I’m still not back to my normal self. I should add at this point that I’ve so far climbed the mountain with an upset stomach probably caused by Sichuanese food which is known for being hot and spicy. During my latest stop for the toilet I do find some heaters in the gents and I’m soon stripping
off and drying all my wet clothes. Fed, watered and with dry clothes I’m ready to tackle Emei Shan again with a smile on my face. I can only thank Jin for first his idea and then his patience as we stop for about an hour and a half.
We walk the short way back up to the summit to catch the views from the top (what views??!!), and look in the Golden and Silver temples at the summit which are barely visible through the fog. On our second visit to the summit we are joined by many Chinese tourists, but apart from here and around the Jieyin Hall area on our descent there aren’t many at all.....bliss!! Between Jieyin Hall and our hotel we come across a number of Tibetan Macaques but these are much better behaved than those of yesterday. This is probably because they have contented themselves to steal various items of food and drink from the tourists that have passed by before we did. Also, wet from the rain they look a bit sorry for themselves. (I know that feeling). We get back to the hotel about an hour and a half after we left
the summit at 10:30am and I collect the rest of my stuff that I left behind to lighten my load while Jin waits patiently for a second time today.
We’re soon on our way descending the many steps which is hard on the knees and in some ways worse than going up. We stop just before the Elephant Bathing Pool for lunch which we have outside as the weather has now cleared up. We’re soon joined by some Tibetan macaques who appear from nowhere and who help themselves to all of Jin’s snacks as well as half of his noodles. I get away without any dent in my lunch as I’m just about too quick for them, and finish my lunch inside the cafe, as several macaques finish Jin’s lunch outside!
Up until this point nothing on Emei Shan has blown me away. This is a UNESCO world heritage site but I’m wondering if it is more for the dozens of Buddhist temples on its slopes than for its natural beauty. Where is this breathtaking scenery I’ve heard about?
Just below the Elephant Bathing Pool we take a different path down the mountain towards Wuxiangang bus station
rather than Wannian bus station. This is definitely the longer route off the mountain, a touch over 20 kilometres but the scenery is stunning. We climb up and down natural gorges, pass 1000 year old trees and the forest in its autumnal colours is a wonder to behold. On my first visit to China I was struck regularly with the magical beauty of China. On my second visit the magical places have been much scarcer and it has been more about the magical people. Shanghai’s skyline at night is special, Huang Shan would definitely have been magical if it hadn’t been spoilt by all the people but it is this second afternoon on Emei Shan which is probably the finest example of China’s magic since I have returned. Mists rolling off the mountains add to the enchanting aura of the mountain. This is the breathtaking scenery I’ve been waiting for.
On the way to Magic Peak Monastery we pass a German girl who was staying in the Teddy Bear hostel in Baoguo with me two nights ago. She explains how long it has taken her to climb up to this point, the path we have to go down, and
without saying anything to each other I know Jin and I are both thinking that this is going to be tight on time. It is after 2pm and Jin has a train to Beijing at 7:30pm so we need to get off the mountain at 6pm at the latest. I believe this is the time of the last bus as well so that is just another reason why we need to get a move on. We hurry on to Magic Peak Monastery which we don’t bother to look around, contenting ourselves with a few pictures outside and a hard earned rest for a few minutes.
We’re still at 1700 metres altitude and have another 1000 metres to descend but the full toll I expect this descent to take on my knees never happens. I think the natural beauty of the mountain is proving enough of a distraction, and maybe also because time is tight, there is something more important to think about. Close to the bottom we pass some more Tibetan macaques in an area which is known as the ‘joking monkey zone’. These monkeys aren’t jokers, they are opportunistic thieves. They hover around looking for an opportunity and
a few even follow us down the mountain for a while. However, with my walking sticks close at hand they daren’t get too close to me and Jin.
We get to the bottom of the mountain at Qingyin Pavilion at quarter to six. We haven’t made it yet as we’ve still got another two kilometres to walk to the car park. The walk at the bottom of the mountain is one of the best on the mountain however. We’ve been following the river down the mountain on this last section and the forest is really beautiful in this area. At the bottom the river runs into a lake which is so clear it is like a mirror. Even in the fading light of the day it is a real treat. We make it to the bus station at 6:10pm and have a ten minute wait for the bus. We’ve made it, we’ve probably walked 35-40kilometres today and we’re shattered. This has been 35-40 kilometres up and down a mountain not on flat or undulating ground. But, sat on the bus fatigued after a 13 hour monster walk, I have a real satisfaction that I’ve just had the treat of
walking through some of Sichuan’s best scenery, at least this afternoon.
We get back to Teddy Bear Hostel at quarter to seven and Jin now is very tight for time to get his train. Fortunately, the train ticket that the hostel bought for him leaves at 9:30pm now not 7:30pm. There is time to enjoy a meal which isn’t noodles and have a celebratory beer together before he has to get his train. Jin’s a top man and if I ever get to Korea I’m sure to look him up, he helped make my two days on Emei Shan and we had a lot of fun together. After Jin leaves, I have just about enough energy to drag myself to bed for an early night to hopefully restore my now very weary body........but it was worth it.
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