Hiking in Huangshan

Some of the student artists in Hongcun.
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Another stop, another fun train journey. By the way, if you were wondering about our China-Mongolia train ride, we had a great time there and back. Our own private cabin, “free” meals, coffee and so on. Our subsequent trip from Beijing to Tunxi was not quite as luxurious, but compared to our recent experience leaving Tunxi, it was heaven. In a space of about 12 feet high they manage to fit in 3 beds giving the bottom bunker enough room to sit upright on their mattress without bumping their head. Top bunkers, where we resided, were left with a space of about 2 feet above our heads with no space to sit during the daytime. Fabulous. Oh, and did we mention that it is a smoker’s paradise here in China? No thoughts or protest about second hand smoke – you can go ahead and light up on trains, buses, hotel lobbies, public parks, basically wherever you please, which for us meant a 19 hour trip in a cloud of smoke.

Note the tour group leader in the background (Hongcun)
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We arrived in Tunxi and immediately were harassed by the waiting crowd, “room, room, we have room. Where you go? You have map?” Plowing past them we chose a direction to walk, not because we had any inkling of where the hostel was, but to look purposeful and thus escape the touts. Lucky for us we chose the right way, and stumbled through the doors to our hostel just minutes later.

The town of Tunxi was not our main attraction, but was a great base for trips to the surrounding area. Our main draw here was the Huangshan mountain range, one of the most scenic and spiritual spots in China. The mountain range consists of 75+ peaks, with a few over 1500 meters. With an overnight planned for the top of the mountain, we headed off early the next morning for a full day of climbing.

Scenic Hongcun
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The mountain area offered a bounty of sights to keep us distracted from the endless staircase underfoot. Yep, that’s right a staircase, so long that it took nearly six hours to reach the top. Not only have the Chinese toiled to build the infamous Great Wall, but they have also covered one of their largest mountain ranges with a concrete and stone staircase. The stairs and the handrails themselves are a sight to behold. We saw standard flat rocks held together with concrete, steps chiseled directly into the rocks, and concrete staircases affixed to the cliff-sides. In addition to these feats of engineering and stone working, were the artistic elements. We walked by workers who were chipping at the flat slabs of concrete so that it would appear to be separate rocks. The handrails as well were fascinating, concrete poured and molded, painted and carved in order to look like trees or vines blending in with nature.

Just some meat hanging out.
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The rock formations of these mountain ranges were incredible. Some combination of Granite rock, glacial wear, erosion, and god knows what else. It was a surreal experience to walk along high mountain ridges with thousand foot vertical drops lingering a few feet off the trail.

Of course, you can’t climb a mountain of this size and significance alone. Which brings us to the other interesting and distracting sights – the people. Walking alongside us on these steep and at times extremely narrow trails, were employees carrying up daily supplies of sheets, water, beer, rice, cement, and steel pipes. They seem to have the right of way, based on the fact that they will impale you if you do not jump off of the path when they are coming. They certainly made us feel wimpy huffing away with our daypacks on, as did the men wearing suits and business shoes, and the school kids with jeans on. I suppose that is one plus side to stairs up the mountainside, there is less need for hiking gear…

Washing dishes in one of the alleyways at Hongcun.
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No popular location in China would be complete without a collection of guided tours surrounding us. Each group of 30+ wear matching colored hats (so that they can find each other), and follow their guide who holds a flag proudly up in the air (so that they can find the guide) and disrupts the tranquility of the area with their blaring megaphone (so that they can hear their guide over the sounds of their yelling and throat clearing). Last, but certainly not least, we were highly entertained by the near-celebrity status that we have had while in China. We had our fair share of ‘sneak attack’ pictures where people pretend not to be taking our photograph but slowly edge themselves and the camera lens until there is no way we could not be in the shot, and there is clearly nothing else of interest in the background for them to be talking a picture of! But, where is the fun of that? The best times for us were the requests followed by squeals of delight and giggles as they rushed to circle us. After the ice was broken there were usually one or two in the group who were eager to practice their English and would walk with us for a few minutes discussing the mountain or China.

Drying tea leaves in Hongcun
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Our stay in Huangshan had been inadvertently extended by a day when we discovered only one train ticket was available for our scheduled departure date. With an extra day to kill we had to find something to do. Our trusty outdated Lonely Planet guide gave us no useful insight, and the friendly non-English speaking staff at the hostel were about as helpful as a glass of water in a flood.

Frustrated we pointed to a picture of a city printed on a Chinese poster nearby and said, “where’s that?” Hongcun was the reply, and that was where we went. Along the way two Chinese students decided to practice their English on us. They were baffled by the fact that we knew nothing of Hongcun and proceeded to tell us all about it.

Smoking wherever you please...
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Hongcun is a preserved city which evolved during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is famous for its water-supplying system in which fresh running water flows through winding ditches in the streets to every doorstep. Art students from all over China travel here for a chance to paint it. Most recently the city has become even more well known from the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which was filmed there.

Astonished with the gem of a city we had stumbled across, we spent hours exploring its narrow alleyways and ancient homes. We passed merchants who were carving Chinese script into bamboo vases, drying tealeaves, and selling antiques, and saw hundreds of students painting along the reflective riverbanks and meandering streets. It was unlucky circumstance that we had an extra day in the area, but how lucky we were in the end to discover and explore this picturesque place.

It is a tradition on Huangshan Mountain for couples to "lock" their love together.
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After visiting Hongcun and Huangshan it was time to venture off to our next destination. We had heard it was difficult to get a sleeper car on the train out of town and were prepared to wait a few days to get one. Unfortunately, when we arrived we found out that it was not hard – it was simply impossible, and the only tickets we could buy were hard seats. For 21 hours we sat in a cabin with 105 other people, just waiting for it to all be over. When you spend so much time with people in a small space you begin to get comfortable with them. I suppose this is why we saw so many interesting sides to our new friends in such a short amount of time. Smoking and spitting of course were commonplace, as was all manner of grooming: shaving, hair brushing, etc., men changed into pajamas at their seats, women breastfed, and children peed on the floor. Next stop Yangshuo!!