ular tourist destinations in China. You may have seen pictures of its landscape of granite peaks and twisted pines in many of the traditional Chinese paintings. Collin and I were eager to see this talked about site and relish in viewing an early morning sunrise from up top the mountain. I was hoping to take the train from Shanghai but we didn’t have time for a 12 hour ride (the book I have suggested it was only 5 hours). So we opted for a quick 1 hour flight to the area.The airport for Huang Shan is in the town of Tunxi. We booked the hote
l last minute and ended up with a super deal in an amazing golf resort. I let Collin make the final decision on this one so he gets all the credit. 
The room had all the western comforts, even a huge tub with a TV so you can soak the hours away 
(or become a prune) which Collin gladly enjoyed. They provided free mandarin oranges in the hall which we stocked up on for our eventual trip up the mountain. Included in the price was a huge buffet breakfast catering to a variety of tastes, just what we needed before a day of climbing.
to visit ‘Old Town’ in Tunxi eventually became our driver. He certainly was friendly and suggested we see a museum before going to Old Town. We agreed and he dropped us off there offering to wait for us. We declined as I really wanted time to mosey around on our own. It was almost closing time for the museum so we were rushed through. Of note – a small room with traditional Chinese paintings, supposedly drawn by famous Chinese artists (I’m still skeptical given the condition and lack of preservation of the pieces of work). In another room – an artist painting the ‘inside of the bottle’ art. His work was quite nice and I regret not having bought something. However, I didn’t want the added weight to lug around up and down a mountain.We now needed to get to Old Town and asked our museum guide how to get to there, since we had no map and no idea where we were. She explained it was far and as it was now dark out, we might get lost on the path going there. With those encouraging words to start us on our way, we headed down the road we had originally come from. We weren’t having any success hailing a taxi (I even tried to flag a bus – no such luck) but finally a cab did stop. In a matter of seconds, the taxi turned a corner and we were in Old Town – within easy walking distance from the museum. Did we lose something in translation?
I’d characterize Old Town as one very long souvenir street – guide books giving it more
credit as wooden shops and Ming style Huizhou architecture. Whether quaint or not, it was another ‘pete and repeat’ of the same goods over and over again. Its redeeming quality – there were sport shops where we purchased official ‘Li Ning’ gloves for our mountain trek the following day. That and the most amazing restaurant, Meishi Renjia. Inside it is decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns hung from the ceiling and has a very long counter displaying an extensive array of Chinese dishes – won tons, dumpling sou
ps, dumplings, steamed buns, noodles, claypots and more. You name it, they probably have it. The food was delicious but our mouths were bigger than our stomachs – we ended up ordering too much. We decided to give our ‘doggie bag’ to our driver the next morning hoping to keep him on our good side. Then it was a quick taxi ride back to the hotel, along streets all decked out in lighting just for the tourists pleasure.Once back, we wandered around the grounds of the hotel and lobby. A little shop had maps of Huang Shan for sale (we gladly purchased one for the next day's hike) and also tea. There was time for a quick traditional 'tea ceremony' so we enjoyed a few cupfuls before retiring for the evening.
Huang Shan Mountain – it’s about a 25 minute drive from Tunxi to the town of Tangkou, at the foot of the mountains. We said goodbye to our driver at the shuttle bus station for Huang
Shan promising to see him again the following day at about 2pm – same place. Our shuttle then transported us to the base of the western slope cable car where we enjoyed a 
scenic ride to the top of the cable car. Departing the station, we were met by a sea of Chinese, most in tour groups, many of them quite loud (with guides and their wonderful megaphones). To characterize our hike to the hotel – picture a slow and steady procession of ‘ ants’ along a path, 
some heading towards the cable car we had just departed and others traversing up the mountainside to their hotel for the evening (we were in the latter category). Despite the crowds, the views were spectacular with clouds and mist moving in and out and frost appearing on all the trees and 
plants as we continued our climb upward. For those needing an easy way out, you can rent a ride in a wicker seat and contin
ue for a bit ‘coolie style’. I am guessing we hiked for 5 hours or so, finally reaching our hotel. I will confess that I did not have complete confidence in Collin’s map reading abilities (especially since the names on our map and the signs on the hill did not always match) and hence I had him do the impossible ‘guy thing’ – ask others along the way if we were headed in the correct direction. He complied and yes – we are still buddies.It was cold up top the mountain and our mini one room cabin did not have heat. Collin was sure he would freeze and checked to see if we could stay in the main lodge where he was sure it was warmer. We found out heat does not exist anywhere on the mountain so we
would have to rely on the warm jackets provided. At first, Collin was reluctant to don a jacket – not a ‘cool’ thing to do. He eventually realized it was better to be ‘uncool’ instead of ‘cool’ (more like freezi
ng as the night wore on) and he became a red ‘comrade’ like the rest of us. I should clarify, as heat did exist in the most amazing hot shower you can imagine. Our evening was a buffet dinner and then early to bed to be up in the morning. A brief mention about the food – it’s best to stick with the buffet offering. There was an ala carte menu offering a dish of ‘dog’ but as the menu was only in Mandarin, it was Collin who pointed it out, otherwise I would have never known.
would have to rely on the warm jackets provided. At first, Collin was reluctant to don a jacket – not a ‘cool’ thing to do. He eventually realized it was better to be ‘uncool’ instead of ‘cool’ (more like freezi
ng as the night wore on) and he became a red ‘comrade’ like the rest of us. I should clarify, as heat did exist in the most amazing hot shower you can imagine. Our evening was a buffet dinner and then early to bed to be up in the morning. A brief mention about the food – it’s best to stick with the buffet offering. There was an ala carte menu offering a dish of ‘dog’ but as the menu was only in Mandarin, it was Collin who pointed it out, otherwise I would have never known.Early morning sunrise begins at 5:45am, same time as my alarm for work.
It’s not quiet and serene as all the ‘ants’ are up early to witness the spectacle. However, the people did quiet down just before the sun began to peak from the neighboring mountains so we still felt awed by the moment. A hundred pictures later and we were done, had breakfast and began heading towards our descent down the eastern slope of the mountain, choos
ing to walk instead of riding the cable car. The guide book claims it is a 2 ½ hour hike up but I think it must have taken us about 4 hours to walk down, step after step, avoiding the porters ferrying goods up and down the path. 
Our 
pilgrimage complete, Collin posted a letter and then we found the bus back to the drop-off station. Or so we thought. The bus driver left us somewhere on the road (our mistake – this was a lost in translation situation). Fortunately we were able to contact our driver who came and then took us to 
a delicious restaurant for a late lunch as we were absolutely famished. 
Then it was back to Tunxi, but not before stopping at a ‘tea museum’. I was led to believe it would be a tea factory and was keen for Collin to see the process (I have seen it previo
usly in India). However, the museum was interesting and I did buy both black and green tea from the descendants of Master Xie – his teas are touted as the top ten teas in all of China. Once in Tunxi, we had a few hours to wait for our flight to Shanghai. We spent time looking for an internet for Collin, ending up at a ‘fake-o’ KFC. Collin ate, but I held out for the real thing a bit later. Then a quick flight to Shanghai. The following day, Collin packed and headed up to Beijing. We said our goodbyes and have promised to travel together again one day. For more pictures check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625788882088/
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