Blogs from Huangshan, Anhui, China, Asia - page 4

After an epic train journey, in more ways than one (see previous blog entry!) to Huang Shan, and arriving three hours later than planned, at 7am ...in a slighlty delirious state from lack of sleep, we quickly got on a bus to Tankou, the town at the bottom of Huang Shan (Shan means mountain in Chinese). Everyone got off the bus in town, and the lady was asking us where we wanted to go to, but we couldn't tell her in Chinese, so she just handed over her phone and lucky for us, "Mr. Hu" , a recommended hostel owner was on the other end, speaking English, so we told him we wanted to come and stay at his hostel and he told the bus lady! Lucky. Once at Mr. Hu's we checked in and had ... read more

The main reason I went to Yellow Mountain was my friend Fran. She just turned 50 over the weekend (spent on the mountain of course) and it was her idea to go to the mountain during one of our long weekends. I heard that if you are in China you should definitely go to see it. We decided to take the bus there rather than fly since it was significantly cheaper- plus I have already taken a few flights this year, why not try something different? The bus left the Shanghai South Railway station at 7:58 am….only 4 stops away from my place. You would think that I beat my friends; Cynthia and Fran, who were coming from Pudong (the other side of the city) but unfortunately I was running out the door at the last ... read more

We got to the entrance of Mount Huangshan, a UNESCO heritage site which is known for its mountain top views of the clouds below, it is actually called the Sea Of Clouds and spectacular sunrises. We arrived at the entrance to the mountain by way of bus and taxi before spending around 11 hours climbing the west side steps and savouring the stunning views, the peaks are all roughly 1800M above sea level and have interesting Chinese names like “Beginning to believe peak”, “Cloud dispelling pavilion” and “The flower grown out of a writing bush rock”. There are steps the whole way, some of them very narrow and slippery. I did find it quite demanding because my knees aren't really that great, the physiotherapist has told me that eventually they’ll get back to normal but that’s ... read more

I sorted accommodation in Tunxi, a town with an old shopping street which was only 1 hour from Tangkou, the bus station that accesses the mountains. The bus ride to Tunxi was interesting, lanes of traffic don’t exist here, only tiny spaces between vehicles where you edge out at all angles. If there is a gap it will be filled in seconds. The highway code doesn’t exist here in any form, there are red lights but anything other than that is dismissed, even when pedestrians cross when the green man is lit the car still has right of way so you basically just have to weave in and out of the traffic stopping in the middle of 6 lanes holding your breath for another gap. The other thing with drivers here, they love using the horn, ... read more

This stop in Anhui is the most exciting as the Huanshan and Ancient Villages are all famous international sites with UNESCO World Heritage status. The Huangshan City area (including Wuyuan) belonged to the rich merchant groups in old Huizhou that were very active from the Tang to Qing dynasty. With the riches, they built villages that were well designed, nicely decorated and included safety features to protect the family member since the men were not at home for long periods of time because of their trading business. On the first day, we visited Chenkan Ancient Village which was recommended to us by the taxi driver. This village is privately managed by the villagers and is not featured in official tourist sites. We had planned to visit Huangshan on the second day but it was snowing there ... read more