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Published: April 2nd 2005
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I had a trip with my family to Huangshan in Anhui in April. Due to time constraints, we went with a tour. So, basically I didn't have to do any research before leaving home--just show up in the right place at the right time (and pay), and you will be taken to the destination and shown around. This has not been my favourite mode to travel because i) it is not challenging ; and ii) sometimes you have to do something, such as going to shops, which you don't like. Anyway, given the circumstances, I was not complaining too much this time.
We were flying direct from Hong Kong to Tunxi, which is the service centre for Huangshan. It is a small town in southern Anhui, and on our arrival, I found this place to be a bit different from the economically better off parts of China. After all, it is in the mountain region, and being in a mountain region in China usually means it will not be too developed. But, fortunately, Huangshan should have helped this place a lot, as, without the tourist money, the region would look much poorer.
The tour went to Huangshan on
Yuping Cable Car
Travelling up Huangshan the second day, and we travelled up the mountains by the Yuping cable car. In the past, when there was no cable car, it is said that visitors then had to be trained before travelling to Huangshan, as they needed to walk up a thousand plus meters from the base of the mountain. I originally thought that our trip would not be too difficult given that we did not have to climb, but it turned out that we had to hike for some distance, with a number of sections being quite physically demanding.
Our route was: cable car to Yuping House (玉屏樓) where we could have a view of the opposite Tiandu Peak (天都峰), which is a step peak. From there, we hiked past the Lotus Peak (蓮花峰), through the Ladder on the Cloud (百步雲梯), and up to Tian Hai (天海) and to the highest point of Guangming Peak (光明頂). We then decended a bit and had a detour to Xihai (西海) which is a huge valley with great views. We ended our day at the Xihai Hotel. On the third day, we did some sightseeing on the north, which is within easy walking, and then decended the mountain
by the Yongu cable car (雲谷索道).
The most difficult part of our journey was that we had to carry our overnight lugguages through all of the hiking. This proved to be extremely inconvenient as some sections are just narrow steps. At the end, we gave up and hired instead a local porter who offered to take all our lugguages to the hotel. Looking at these porters, one would immediately notice that earning a living in this part of the world is not easy. But they should be the lucky ones--compared to those who carry supply items, such as food and water, from the base of the mountain all way to the top, these porters, serving the tourists, should have been reasonably better off, I think.
In short, Huangshan is an extraordinary place, as the Chinese say "五嶽歸來不看山,黃山歸來不看岳" (more or less: you don't have to see any mountains after coming back from Huangshan). I will leave the photos to explain the beauty of this place.
After touring Huangshan, we also had the opportunty to visit a traditional village called Hongcun (宏村), which, with the mountain itself and another village called Xidi (西遞) in the region, is on the
Tiandu Feng 天都峰
You can actually climb it UNESCO World Heritage List. Indeed, these traditional villages are very well preserved and many buildings can be dated back to the Qing dynasty. One can find many fine carvings inside the buildings. In addition, the region these villages are located, which is known as Huizhou (徽州), is one of great cultural importance. This has been reflected in the high literacy rate of the population there and the number of First Hounors in the national examinations during the past. We could even feel this inside the village--when we bought some books, a man said to us, "I can see you are educated people."
To conclude, our trip to Huangshan was a rewarding one. We had seen the beautiful nature as well as the rich cultural heritage. And I hope tourism is going to help the region in positive ways, both in enriching the people and in protecting the heritages. But I was also stunned by the sharp contrasts I have seen: while a wireless ordering system is used in a luxury Tunxi restaurant, materials are transported up the mountain using the most primitive way that is the porters' labour.
It reads inside an old house in Hongcun: "守分安命, 順時應天;
為人若此, 庶乎近焉" (To be satisfied with one's fate is to be rich). Maybe it is true.
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