Mt. Huangshan / 黄山游记 (day 1)

“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.

Though the surrounding sceneries were hidden behind the thick mist, Mt Huangshan still offers another perspective of itself with enchanting, mystical views. One needs to observe his/her steps on Mt. Huangshan. A common advice is “don’t walk if you take photo; don’t take photo if you are walking”. A trip can send you down the deep! My sickly face, after so much vomiting, and still vomiting after this photo was taken. Wild imagination running free: any highly skilled martial artist or wise men living in the mountain caves?

Second day: More beautiful photos with clearer skies, peaks, pines and floating clouds.