We visited this valley in Zhejiang while on the way to Mount. Huangshan. It was very cold and windy, and we were all shivering in thin clothings.

Read the full story

“五岳归来不看山，黄山归来不看岳” is a famous proverb to describe the beauty of Huangshan in comparison with the five other famous sacred mountains in China. It means after visiting the five superb sacred mountains, you won’t want to visit any other mountains; but after returning from Mt. Huangshan, you won’t wish to visit the five sacred mountains. The five mountains hereby referred to as Mt. Taishan, Mt. Huashan, Mt. Hengshan, Mt. Songshan and Mt. Hengshan.

We took a cable car up to Mt. Huangshan. The first day at Mt. Huangshan was very misty; we couldn’t enjoy the clear sceneries of the famous peaks pines and clouds. People say that mountains have unpredictable weather, so it’s good to stay on the mountain for a few days to observe the different sceneries that changing weathers can offer.

I encountered terrible altitude sickness and was literally vomiting every five to ten minutes while hiking the mountain! That bad! Our guide also couldn’t help and didn’t bother me. Then, a group of Korean nuns walked down the peak toward us. One saw me vomiting and came to help me. She took out a needle, borrowed our guide’s lighter, ignited the lighter and heated her needle with the flame to sterilize it (I guess!). Then she held my hand, and poked my fingers with the needle! However, I didn’t really feel any pain and blood oozed out. She massaged my hands for a while and left. Miraculously, my vomiting had relieved and I was able to climb up to the famous Bright Summit Peak.

Alas! For such a tough hike that I had gone through with so much vomiting, we couldn’t see any sceneries at all from the peak, all were hidden behind the thick blanket of mist. We were very cold, the temperature had fell below zero degree Celsius. It was the first time I could drink a very hot cup of steamy tea and not feeling it hot at all! That could get one scalded unknowingly.

We walked down hundreds of steps again, and returned to our hotel. I don’t know why, when I saw the flights of stairs to the third floor of our hotel room, I had the phobia to climb!! I was basically climbing up the hotel stairs very very slowly, as though I had hurt my legs (my legs were fine)! My Huangshan trauma had not ended there. For the whole night, I was vomiting once in every fifteen minutes’ interval! I thought I was going die… and Jacky couldn’t find any doctor nearby at all. I vomited only water, perhaps even bile. Fortuately, I didn’t vomit anymore the next day and I felt better. And I enjoyed the spectacular sceneries on the second day, when the mist was cleared, and the enchanting peaks, absurd pines, rocks and clouds appeared, all fixed together like a jigsaw puzzle, forming the fascinating sceneries that Mt Huangshan is famous for! View the beauties on the second day at the end of this post.

These are locks of love! Couples can buy the locks, say out their love vows and throw the keys over the cliff, an expression of inseparable love that can’t be “unlock” anymore. Jokingly, our guide told us the keys are alike, so the locks can still be unlocked and put up for sales again!

These men are very tough! They can carry heavy loads that are attached on each end of a bamboo stick up and down hundreds of steps on the mountain. Food and other products are more expensive on Mt. Huangshan.

Read the full story

The bizzare pines, absurd stones, sea of clouds and hot springs are the four wonders of Mt. Huangshan. For thousands of years till now, Chinese painters have been inspired by Mt. Huangshan for its mesmerizing sceneries.

There are pines growing everywhere in Mt. Huangshan, even on the crevices of the cliffs. The pines growing from uneven terrain become crooked and even grow downward. The absurb stones and rocks shaped like animals, human beings or other objects that you can imagine of. 黄山 “奇松、怪石、云海、温泉” 闻名天下.

We had seemingly walked into a huge Chinese painting with lofty peaks, and we were above the clouds!

Read the full story