China Memories: 黄山 Huangshan, 安徽 Anhui

CCDI Group looked after their staff well (at least I always felt well looked after) and had an annual team building trip for each department. In my first year, the international department went to 安徽 Anhui province. We wandered through the historic towns of 宏村 Hongcun and 西递 Xidi, both of which are placed along the riversides of fertile valleys. The last day of the trip was a visit to 黄山 Huangshan, the yellow mountain.

There is a cable car that saves the day long climb up to the loop trail around the many peaks and scenic lookout points. Immediately you walk off the cable car there is a monumental staircase - the hero slope - almost straight up to just start the loop trail (I seriously couldn't walk stairs without pain for a week afterwards). The trail was busy. Most were complaining about the clouds blocking the famous views (there are more than 20,000 worth of poems about those views). I had no idea what I was missing and enjoyed walking through the mountain forest in the mist.

The loop trail is several kilometres long, and winds up and down around the main peaks. Some of the paths were cut into the edge of precipices, with the extent of the drop obscured by the clouds. Every now and then someone would be carrying an impossible load of water bottles and snacks to resupply the vendors and sell to the hikers. There were also the occasional sedan chairs carrying the lucky ones on a bumpy and precarious trip around the mountain side.

The sun burst through just as we arrived back to the top of the stairs near the cable car. Suddenly the landscape was unveiled and the views were spectacular. We raced back to the nearest scenic spot to take more photographs.

五岳归来不看山, 黄山归来不看岳! There is a China saying that if you see all five famous mountains in China, then you don't need to see any other mountains. However, if you see Huangshan, then you don't even need to see those five famous mountains. That's a fair call.

Photos by the Author (Taken 3 November 2011)