Return Trip Day 12 - Huangshan Moutain

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Today we woke up, ate breakfast, and drove to the base of Huangshan ("Yellow Mountain”). The mountain wasn’t yellow today, nor is it ever. The name comes from the translation of “Huangshan.” Emperor Huang unified China in and was apparently its first emperor. Tradition says that he climbed to the top of this mountain to codify the unification of the country, and then ascended to heaven. The name Huang also translates to “yellow” in English, hence the name, Yellow Mountain.

We took a tram from the base of the mountain to a landing zone near the top, and then walked up and down a staired pathway for about 45 min to reach our hotel. On the way we were passed by porters who carry up to 200 pounds on their backs – everything has to be brought to the hotels by porters, since there is no ground transportation on the mountain and the paths are not passable with wheelbarrow or cart. This was also true for the building of the 8 hotels that have been built into the top of the mountain, and the radio and weather tower at the peak. Apparently all the building materials, hotel facilities, amenities in the rooms, etc, were carried up on the backs of porters. On one of the peaks, there is a huge metal bell that weighs more than a ton and was carried up the mountain by porters for the millennium celebration in 2000. The food, water, and other supplies continue to be carried up daily from the bottom of the mountain. The porters are not allowed to use the tram because the lines for the tram get so long that they are not willing to further delay visitors to the mountain, so the porters carry their burdens for three and half hours to reach the top.

At times the path from the tram to the hotel is quite steep; at other times the stairway has been built off the mountainside. Views are spectacular! Every time you take a corner you are presented with a new view of mountain peaks and rock formations that is better than the one that overwhelmed you the minute before. After dropping our backpacks off at the BeiHai Hotel and grabbing a quick lunch (remarkably good considering they have to carry all the ingredients up the mountain), we went for a 3-4 hour hike and saw some of the classic vistas of Huangshan including the “The Traveler,” “Monkey Watching over the Sea of Clouds” and “Lion Peak.” We then walked to the west side of the mountain and saw the Unity Pine and the “Grand Canyon of the Western Sea.” While it was much different than the Grand Canyon in the US, the views were no less spectacular. The mountain range seems to extend for ever with rows after rows of purple mountain peaks disappearing into the horizon – amazing.

After a long day of hiking we went to bed early and slept like rocks in anticipation of waking to see the sunrise tomorrow.

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Photos

First view of Huangshan after getting off the gondola

A porter loaded with supplies

The traveler, the chess players, and the judge

Monkey rock

The "Grand Canyon of the West Sea"

Walkway off the side of the mountain