We got up early the next morning to watch the rising sun fall on Meilixueshan's various peaks, but we were clouded out. The three of us joined to other hikers in Feilaisi, an accountant from Hangzhou and a graphic designer from Beijing (with a wicked Beijing accent), and together we took a minivan to the hot springs near Xidang to start our hike. The van was 200 kuai total or 40/person. On our way in, we had to buy 80 kuai (40 student) entrance tickets. To get to the village of Yubeng, we started at 9,000 feet, hiked to a mountain pass (yakou) at 12,000 feet, and then descended to the village valley at 11,000 feet. From the beginning, I was breathing quite heavily and I was always grateful when we took a break to let
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