Blogs from Anhui, China, Asia - page 15

After getting on board the bus to Huang Shan we noticed something was different with this bus. Called a sleeper bus it was made up of three rows of bunk beds. Designed for chinese poeple we did our best to squeeze our size twelve feet into the gap at the end of the beds. We made do and got some sleep. The driver woke us up at 4am in a place called Tangkou. We are assuming a relative of his owned the motel he dropped us at. Bleary eyed we were handed a phone with an english speaker at the end and rented a room to get some sleep. We were woken by the same Chinese speaker with a bizarre english accent (Another relation) who offered to help us get some food and a room on ... read more

Jiuhuashan, nine brilliant mountains, is one of China's great Buddhist peaks, and was founded in the XII century when a Korean monk believed to be the reincarnation of somebody holy and revered met his end. After a five hour coach trip from Nanjing, up along the bank of the wide Yangzi, passengers disembarked to pay the steep park entry before boarding the complimentary mini bus lift to the village of Jiuhuashan. Shrouded in mist, the village is encircled by a road connecting the temples and guesthouses, small hotels and eateries and countless shops selling overpriced wood sculptures, dried foods, teas, umbrellas, music, instruments, pendants, everything but postcards. In the late afternoon I settle into the pension, accept a cup of hot oolong tea and shower before strolling to nearby Dabei Lou where monks young and old ... read more