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Published: April 16th 2006
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Two hours away on the train, there’s a mountain called Hua Shan. It’s a huge draw for Chinese tourists, as it’s one of the five most famous mountains in China, with Taoist connections. Some little old ladies climb it almost everyday to pay homage to various things, and there are temples dotted around at the top. It’s 2200m above sea level, and absolutely beautiful. The most unusual thing about it is that it is basically one giant staircase, as that is the only way of climbing this granite peak. There are chains and handrails to help you occasionally, as some of the steps are almost vertical. Two of the girls from the museum (where Joe and Alex work), Renee and Domino, also came with us. There are two ways to get to the first peak, cable car, or climbing. Fiona was feeling a bit crook, so we got the cable car (me, only to keep her company, of course). The others climbed it, as some of the other volunteers had done the weekend previously, and there was a touch of the alpha male syndrome. Fiona and I got to the top in about three minutes, and wandered around for a while,
looking at things and people. Four hours later, after a few games of rummy whilst being stared at from all angles, several Snickers bars and about ninety seven pictures of us with various children and students, the other four turned up, hot, sweaty, exhausted, but still smiling. Apparently, it’s a hands and knees job at some parts, and the stairs just never end. I could probably do it if it was just climbing, but I hate steps with a passion. I was awfully proud of them for making it though, especially as Joe was getting the flu, and the girls were tiny. After a quick break, we set off for the East Peak, stopping on the way to take photos of sunset. Our plan was to stay at the hostel on East Peak, then get up early enough to see sunrise, then head back down the mountain. I was contemplating hiking down the mountain, so I didn’t feel completely feeble, but that was a decision to be made the next day. Our bags would also be lighter then, as we had brought enough food to last a fortnight, and plenty of clothes in case the hostel was full and we
had to sleep outside. When the other group hiked up here last weekend, they started at 11pm, so as to be at the top by sunrise, then head down again immediately, so saving money as well. They said it was absolutely freezing when the sun went down, so we came prepared. However, sunrise was really misty, so they didn’t see much. We decided to travel by day, so we could see the view and the sunset, in case the mist descended again.
Two hours later, by about 9pm, we got to East Peak and the hostel in the dark. Everyone was a bit tired by this stage, and unthinkingly, we just approached the owner of the hostel and asked how much a room for 6 would be. His little eyes lit up at the sight of four foreigners, and he attempted to charge us a ridiculous sum each. Well, it wouldn’t be considered ridiculous at home, about sixteen pounds a head, but it was more than we had between us, and we have also started thinking in yuan, sixteen quid is 40 large bottles of beer back in Xi’an. If we had been thinking straight, we would have got
And we're waiting....
Hmm, nearly four hours, and they still aren't here. Hope they haven't fallen off. Do I look worried?? the two Chinese girls to get the room, and sneak us in after we had paid up, before he started with the special foreign friend price. We sat outside getting madder and madder, as the girls tried to bargain at various intervals. Fiona saw two Dutch guys we had met earlier, and went to chat them up to see if we could sleep on their floor. Joe had brought his duvet, and was all set to build a fire on the peak and camp outside. We tried to abduct two more Chinese people they had walked up the mountain with, to try and get a four bed between 8 people. At about 10.30, we finally got a three bed-room for 530 kuai, about 7 pounds each. A bit of bread and tea, and we all collapsed into bed, ready to get up for the famous sunrise.
The longest night of my life, bearing in mind that it only lasted from 11pm to 5am. It was very very cold, but the duvets were great, however, any bit of you that snuck out outside the duvet froze in about three seconds. The boys didn’t snore, for a change. But Joe’s flu
kicked in nastily, probably something to do with the damp t-shirts they were still wearing while we were trying to get a room, as the sun set and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. I slept for about half an hour in total, waving my hand over the sensor clock every three minutes with vague hopes of it being time to wake everyone else up so I’d have someone to talk to. Five ten came around eventually, five of us got up to not see the sun rise, but the mist turns a very pretty orange and pink. The girls slept for about another half an hour, as Fiona, Alex and I wondered how long to leave it before we got everyone home. We decided to just walk back to the North Peak and cable car it down, as Joe was burning up and looked really ill. I think next time we’re just going to get a train into the countryside, and get off when it looks decent enough, and go proper hiking and camping. The sense of achievement at climbing this mountain is somewhat tainted by the thousand other people who do it every day, including random little old
Ladder to the clouds
...at night. Less scary than during the day. ladies (for religious reasons) and little old men (who carry up crates of beer and food for the hostels - some climb it up and down once a day). And when you get to the top, sweaty and full of adrenalin, it ruins it to see bunches of men in suits who have just got the cable car up for a laugh.
So tarpaulins and a tin pot are on our list of things to buy for our last weekend.
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Andrew
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Cable cars for the win!
I'm with you. 4 hours of steps would be quite wearing.