http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Anhui/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Anhui en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:40:20 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:40:20 UTC Took the train from Xi'an to Hefei this was to be our first experience of sharing a soft sleeper four bunks we have not built up the courage to take the hard sleeper as yet not sure about sharing with the masses and their livestock. Pleased to report our first soft sleeper experience was a good one we shared with a lady and her daughter about 5 years old the mother spoke limited English s http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-334628.html Thursday October 2 Friday October 3We didn't have a tour guide the rest of our time in Huangshan. We spent Thursday morning being very lazy at the hotel but soon tired of that and decided to head out for some sort of activity. We got a taxi to take us to a park we had seen on a map and soon discovered our parks in Shanghai are much different than small town parks. This park had some pretty vie http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-330421.html Quick note I'm still catching up on posting the stuff I wrote while on our trip...we are back in Shanghai safe and sound. Many of the trip photos were taken by Mark so I wanted to credit his efforts. He took some fabulous shots that really capture what we saw and experienced.Wednesday October 1 2008We met some other western looking tourists at the hotel breakfast. They ended up sitting at our t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-330384.html Tuesday we left the hotel at about 715am. The drive to the Mount Huangshan took an hour and then we had to take a bus to the cable car which took us across to the scenic areas. We knew we were going to be walking around and seeing sights but I had not really prepared myself or the kids for the 7 hours of hiking we ended up doing. Oops. They were for the most part troopers. They were for the res http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-329908.html Oh where to begin There is so much good stuff packed into the last 3 days. We have been on a true adventure just as we planned. The kids are amazing. So brave and willing to adapt. They are my heros. Whenever I want to whine and complain I look at them dealing with it all and I just try to suck it up appreciate that we are all here together. The bus Not so bad I had such low expectations an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-329902.html The bus was grand and we arrived in Tunxi 7 hours later. The town was deadly really typically Chinese and really well kept we were impressed and ready to give China another fair go. The hostel was pretty cool too.We had to leave at 6 the next morning to get to the mountain which was a total epic to get there. Itrsquos a mountain range that has apparently inspired all of Chinarsquos poets pa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-328908.html This weekend the Chinese celebrated the midautumn festival and we got a fourday weekend. My friends Gina Kristen and I chose to visit Huang Shan 4064423665 which can be literally translated to Yellow Mountain.Huang Shan is a six plus hour train ride North of Nanjing. We left Nanjing Thursday night and bought hard bed tickets for the overnight train ride. Some of our less forward thinki http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-323389.html According to China Daily the Chinese governmentowned English language propaganda newspaper 862 million Chinese watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. A good week later it seemed like those same 862 million Chinese had chosen to climb the Yellow Mountains at just the same time that we were climbing it. The masses of people and the noise on the mountain were just unbelievable and comple http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-311170.html PrologueHuangshan 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 years. This is one of 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. Huang http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-308083.html We've also added some new pics onto the last entryOK 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 politeness when Chinese come together and form a mass.. and tha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-295879.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-288769.html Dj VuIt wasnrsquot 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 wasnrsquot going to let a cold hold me back.Getting ThereThe bus trip went http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-288093.html Beautiful HuangshanThe 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 weathershaped Huangshan Pine trees and in views of the clouds from above. The Huang Shan are a frequent subject of traditio http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-287037.html Full speed aheadIn 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 didnrsquot even slow down as http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-286906.html Water everywhereSpent four days in the Huangshan region itrsquos 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 bushellip even with a baby on boardWhen we finally arrived it was pouring down rain that wouldnrsquot let up for even a few minutes. We had to call http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-286754.html Thank you for all your kind posts and helpful adviseAll 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 an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-280539.html 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 wil http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-280358.html 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 exa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-274176.html Saa er det tid til en opdateringJeg har nu vret her i godt 2 en halv uge og det gaar vel egentlig meget godt. Skolen startede for 2 uger siden og jeg er blevet placeret paa 'zhong ji' niveau hvor mellemgode elever hoerer til den foerste uge gik med at vaere frustreret over fejlplaceringen og forgaeves ledte jeg efter niveautrinnet for 'retarderede 4 aarige kinesere'. Jeps jeg fattede ik http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-255091.html Hejsa ville bare lige dele denne video af min ven Zheng Bin. Han forsoeger at sige '5 flade floedeboller paa et fladt floedebollefad' http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-255086.html Skrevet d. 24022008Hermed min foerste opdatering efter faellesmailen. Nu har jeg vaeret i Hefei paa egen haand i godt 4 dage. Jeg ankom ved midnatstid d. 20 februar til kaos paa Hefei togstation. Jeg tror det skyldtes folk som var hjemvendt efter at have fejret kinesisk nytaar. Som den eneste vesterlaending i hvert fald efter hvad jeg kunne se var jeg de mange taxachauffoerers primaere offer http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-252209.html Ok so it's been a whileIn my defense we have been working really hard.Things are beginning to quiet down now as we head for the end of term.Unfortunately the last week is promotion week a polite way of saying....we can send you to any school anywhere any age and you'll teach a lesson that'll make Aston Language Centre look good So I came to China with the Grinch thinking that this year he' http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-231913.html heyso i've been slack on updating this thing largely because china decided to cull my access to wordpress. it's hard to maintain a blog in this particular location.anyway since hefei we've been slowly adapting to life in china. i've learned that you can convey pretty much anything simply by pointing. i never really knew what a powerful linguistic tool pointing can be up until now. just two days http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-218608.html Afgelopen week was het zover mijn ouders voor het eerst buiten europa Net als voor mij was China hun eerste ontmoeting met het verre oosten.De eerste stapjesNa ruim twee maanden alleen maar contact met Nederland te hebben gehad via nu.nl en msn was het een verademing om weer wat familie te zien Gewoon weer even lekker over bekende zaken ouwehoeren en weer een beetje normaal kunnen praten lekk http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-218090.html Omdat onze vorige treinrit zo fantastisch was meegevallen hebben we vanuit Xi'an maar weer een nachttrein genomen naar Hefei. Van daaruit zijn we met de bus verder gegaan tot Tunxi een stadje in het zuiden van de provincie Anhui zo'n 150 km ten westen van Shanghai. Hier begint het rurale China zich meer te manifesteren in tegenstelling tot het meer op industrie gerichte noorden landbouwter http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-217361.html At the offer of visiting the legendary Yellow mountain we could not decline. We bought the tickets and endured our first Chinese train ride in the sleeper berths. These consisted of six beds per unit with small seats and tables in the hallway. Having the option to stretch out is fantastic I tell ya. I let Dave sleep on my lap and rest his legs while I took in the Chinese country side which was co http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-215454.html Hefei was a sweet day trip. It would have been more comfortable had someone thought to check the weather report it rained for the better part of the day and my one sweater and thin jacket was not up to the task of keeping anything warm. BUT the day was nice. We were met at the train station by Ling who is Sunny and Wendy's friend and we then walked to a shopping street which closely resembled t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Anhui/blog-215452.html