If you have seen classical Chinese paintings of jagged mountain peaks and pine trees, that was probably a depiction of Huangshan. It means Yellow Mountain but there is no yellow in the mountains. It was renamed Yellow Mountain to honor the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, who practiced alchemy here and became a supernatural being. It is not one mountain but a mountain range, known for its scenery, sunset, jagged mountain peaks, unique pine trees, winter snow, etc. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the iconic landscapes in China.
I have heard of Huangshan for many years but never had the opportunity to visit it. On this trip, since I am traveling alone, I have the flexibility to go where I want to go and not have to ask anyone. This is one of 3 places in Central China that has been on my list for years: Huangshan, Suzhou and Hangzhou.
The same driver who picked me up at the Shanghai Pudong airport a few days ago, picked me up at the Sunrise at the Bund hotel. He dropped me off at the Shanghai South Railway Station. There are five railway stations in Shanghai. My train was scheduled to depart at 12:57 from platform 6. About 15 minutes before departure time we were allowed onto the platform. Most passengers scan their local identity cards. I gave my passport to the gate agent and she entered my passport number into the computer and I was allowed in. My seat was in first-class in car number 1, seat 9A.
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| My Train Schedule |
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| Train Station Lobby |
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| Gate 6A for Cars 1-8 for Train No. G3087 |
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| A High-speed train |
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| First-class Car |
I asked my travel consultant to book me in all first or business class trains. Not trying to be a snob but I don't feel like pushing or jostling for space in second class. The price difference is small enough that it is worth the extra expense. I had a seat next to me but it was empty throughout my whole journey. I don't know whether it was coincidental or I am paying for the extra seat.
A few minutes after departure a lady came to sell food. I ordered a lunch tray. It was a very generous helping. The train is very modern and clean. It rode very smoothly and quietly on the tracks. At times it reached a top speed of over 300 km/hr or close to 200 mph. Scenery of cities and farms flew by. The toilets are clean. This is indeed a high-speed train! I passed the time by listening to podcasts or music. I had cellular network connection so I was able to receive and send texts and read news on my phone. It was everything you want a train journey to be. I would take a train over flying anytime if it takes about the same amount of time.
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| My big lunch |
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| A squat toilet |
I was picked up at the Huangshan North Railway Station and taken to the An Chi hotel. I don't remember the name of the town it's in but there are several small towns that are considered in the Huangshan area. I decided to take a short walk and have a small snack or dinner. I found a restaurant that serves dumplings. I ordered a tray of nine and it costs 7 RMB, about $1.
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| My dumpling dinner for $1 |
In the morning I was met by my guide Megan. She is a wonderful English-speaking guide with 20 years of experience. She said this is the first time she has an American tourist. Her clients are from Europe or Southeast Asia. We converse in both Mandarin and English but when it came to explain things she used mostly English because she knows my Chinese is very basic.
We were supposed to go to Huangshan on the first day and Hongcun (宏村), Xidi village (西递村) and Tunxi Old Street (西递村) on the second day. But it was raining the first day so we had to switch the itineraries.
But I want to start talking about my trip to Huangshan because this is the highlight of this part of the trip. Before coming here I pictured Huangshan as a standalone mountain. You can walk to the summit or take a cable car up there. Was I wrong. It really is a mountain complex with many individual speaks scattered all over the area. The place is so big that it took us several hours to go from one end to another. We were there on April 30, the day before International Labor Day, May 1. This is the start of one of two China's Golden Week, when almost the whole country shuts down. The other week starts on October 1, China's National Day.
We left the hotel early that day, thinking we'd be able to beat the crowd. When we got there it was like the whole of China was there. First, there was a long line to get on the bus that was to take you to the entrance. After that, there was another very long line to get just to take the entrance. Then another line to get onto the cable car. It took me 3 hours from starting to queue to the entrance. Finally we are at the top of the mountain range. That's when we start exploring different peaks and views and learned more about Huangshan.
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| This is just the start |
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| Buses taking us to the entrance |
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| More Crowds |
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| Cable cars up the mountain top |
The views of the various peaks are very impressive as the following pictures show. No wonder artists from all over China came here to drawn those classical paintings.
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| A range of granite peaks |
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| A solitary peak |
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| The mountain in B&W |
I was also very impressed with the way the park was being managed. In my previous trips to China the locals just trampled all over the place. There was litter everywhere. This time the park management folks created small collection areas where you can throw your trash. There are no trash cans. The locals did throw their trash in those collection areas. There are also many workers picking up the trash. In spite of the crowd the place was quite clean.
After a cigarette butt caused a massive fire several years ago smoking is banned in the park. The local Chinese are notorious for smoking but they nevertheless adhere to this rule. I guess the fine will be quite massive if you smoke in the park.
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| Maintenance worker picking up trash |
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| Porters carrying people |
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| Porter carrying goods. No animals or motorized vehicles allowed |
There are also several artists practicing their drawing or painting skills.
When we came down from the Mountain we took a big cable car that get us down to the parking lot where buses are waiting to take us back to the other parking lot where we started. Just to give you an idea how big the park is, the bus took about an hour on the highway to go from one end to the other end where we started. In spite of the crowd and the hassles it was absolutely worth the time and effort. This is like visiting the Grand Canyon in the US. It is an iconic mountain in China that you don't want to miss.
I have been having difficulties with the wifi and internet in both Suzhou and Hangzhou. Because of government restrictions I have to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to get around some of the banned websites. It slows my internet connection and I had much difficulty uploading the pictures. I decided to publish this post about the mountain now and write the next post about the other sites that I visited.
