Blood and Sweat in Huangshan

They say if you have climbed the Huangshan, you will not want to climb any other mountain. I made extra effort, with a partner, to prove them right. Huangshan does offer world-class scenery, extraordinary trees and plants, and classic stones that need a lot of imagination.

Hiking is the only thing you can do in order to fully enjoying the stunning scenery up to the peak. Try making the hike a slow and comfortable one, so that you can truly indulge in this heaven on earth!

Besides the stunning scenery, you may consider climbing the Lian Hua Feng, which is 1,864m. It's a very hard climb, as the steps are so steep that you need to use both your hands and knees for support. However, your hard work will be rewarded by the awesome scenery up there. The peak offers you the best spot to see Huangshan as a whole.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

The cable car on the eastern route, however, is a longer ride, and it will bring you closer to Xi Hai. You will only need to hike for an hour, but you will miss most of the major sights in Huangshan.

Alternatively, you may consider hiring a sedan chair (which is hand-carried by two men) along the hike. However, that is only popular among the elders, as they have weak knees.

When we reached the hotel, it was about 4:30pm and just the right time to catch the sunset after settling down. However, we were dead tired after the overnight train from Shanghai, the 3-hour car ride to Tangkou from Huangshan Train Station, and the 6-hour hike! Thus, we have no idea how nice the sunset was, as I was deeply asleep till dinner time.

The hotel is a little bit old, probably because it was the old wing that we stayed at. It was built in 1958 and renovated again in 1996. While looking forward to a nice, hot shower, I couldn’t get any hot water from the shower at all. Panic set in, and I then decided that I would just wash my hair because it was just too chilly to take a cold bath. And then a miracle happened at the most disappointing moment, I pressed on a button on the wall next to the switch of the bathroom light, and I realized that the water became warm. I grinned and shouted to my friend who was waiting for her turn to have a bath, "I got it!! I got the hot water!"

Then we realized the water is a bit rusty when we brushed teeth, as probably the pipe is too old and carries rust. However, there’s nothing much we could ask for at an elevation of 1630m above sea level.

When we woke up at about 8pm, we realized the restaurant in the hotel is closed for the night, dinnertime is only till 6pm, and there are not many people around either. I walked into a mini-market near the main entrance, and got a cup of noodles, some potato chips, and a sausage for dinner. The weather outside was approximately 5ºC that night, and I knew I needed some hot food to keep warm.

A Little Bit About The Hotel
Beihai Hotel is located near the Bai’e Ling Cable Station stop if you travel via the eastern route. It’s just an hour hike from the stop. As it provides good view for the sunrise, it attracts many tourists to the place early in the morning, thus you don’t need an alarm clock to wake yourself up for the sunrise (Though I still missed the sunrise! What a shame!) .

The three-star hotel is considered one of the best among the three on the top of the mountain. It has housed quite a number of celebrities from overseas and the local area, including Deng Xiao Ping.

1. Odd-gestured Pine
Huangshan’s odd-gestured pines take root deep in the rocky crevices and they display 1,001 postures. Among the 1,001 postures, Yingke Song (the Welcoming Guest Pine) is the outstanding one. Its boughs out-stretching like arms welcoming guests to the mountain. Yingke Song is at the Yuping Feng (Jade Screen Peak) on the western route.

2. Grotesque Rocks
Besides pines, the grotesque rocks have made Huangshan famous too. These fantastic rocks were created by the nature. Among them, the famous ones are Feilai Shi (Flying Over Rock), Houzi Guan Hai (A Monkey Watching the Sea), Shiba Luahan Chao Nanhai (18 Arhats Facing the South Sea), and Xianren Chai Gaoqiao (Immortal Walking on Stilts).

However, all these grotesque rocks need extreme imagination to see the shape of them. Thus, having a guide along the way is indeed a good help as they will practically point out what is what along the way. Besides the famous one all listed on the tour map, there are also a few smaller ones (some are just stones) that have great stories behind too. Most of them are deeply related to the Chinese legends and fairytales that you might have heard of from somewhere else.

3. Sea of Clouds
As the Huangshan Mountains Range is high and dense with lush forest with a lot of rainfall all year round, it is well wrapped in misty clouds in all four seasons. Therefore, Huangshan is also called Yunhai (Sea of Clouds). These seas of clouds are vast and misty, billowing and surging. It veils the valleys and mountains by showing only the peaks.

Millions of people visit Huangshan to indulge in the Sea of Clouds while enjoying the beautiful sides of the mountain at the same time.

4. Hot Spring
Huangshan's Hot Spring flows steadily in all weathers and constantly keeps the temperature at 42ºC. The spring water is not only suitable for bathing but is also said to be effective in curing various skin diseases and the nervous system.