Huang Shan – Yellow Mountain
Ajeet February 28th, 2009
After a particularly cold January, an anti-cyclonic high pressure system was positioning itself over eastern China as we were planning this trip. Warm sunshine, blue skies, clockwork connections, clean accomodations, breath-taking views…. apart from a few minor setbacks, this was easily one of our most pleasant trips so far! Huang Shan, the Yellow Mountain is said to be China’s most beautiful. Famous for its spectacular granite formations and seas of mysterious heavenly fog, it has inspired generations of chinese oil painters and poets. One can visit this mountain during the 4 seasons and come back with 4 very different experiences, alternating between snowscapes, fall scenes and spectral mists.
Geology: Huangshan Mountain, with a maximum altitude of 1864m, has a complex geological history. The formation of the peaks dates back to the Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era as a result of crustal movements and subsequent uplift. During the late Mesozoic Era and the early Cenozoic Era, a large amount of granite magma erupted through fissures due to further crustal movements, which became the main body of the Mountain after cooling down. (Source)
Getting there: From Shanghai, there are direct trains as well as buses. The 12-hour overnight train via Nanjing is a popular choice, while the comfortable bus ride from Shanghai South Bus Station takes 6 hours. As the train tickets had run out, we took option 3: Fast D-train to Hanghzhou, followed by a 4-hr bus to Huangshan.
Route: Our plan was to ascend via the shorter Eastern steps, spend a night up there, and descend via the Western Cable Car. But mother nature had other plans, as you will discover later…
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- Breakfast in Hangzhou
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- Hangzhou to Huang Shan by bus
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- Porter carrying heavy cement bricks up
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- Eastern Steps -- Beginning of the climb
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- Pleasant weather, blue skies
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- Wise old man shows the way
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- View from White Goose Ridge
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- Bright Summit Peak
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- Taking a break -- Bright Summit Peak
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- Heavenly Sea View Point
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- Meditation at Heavenly Sea
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- In awe of the giant rock
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- Sunset from Bright Summit Peak
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- Early birds awaiting sunrise
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- Sunrise, ripe for the picking
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- A professional at work
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- First rays of the sun reaching into the sleepy recesses
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- Nature’s picasso -- an inspiration for generations of chinese oil painters
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- Deserted viewing point, after the crowd dispersed.
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- On the way down, a beautiful scene
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- Chair-lift service, when you really need it!
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- Before the 100-ladder steps
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- Bulking up on carbs for the climb down
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- One of the many rubbish cleaners on the mountain
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- Mobile phone rock!
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- Monkey bidding us farewell
Before you conclude that this trip was a walk in the park, remember formidable mother nature? On the day of our descent to the cable car station, she still gave us beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine.. and just for fun, she added some winds -- strong gusting winds!
Have a look:
The winds were so strong that the Western Cable Car service was suspended for the rest of the day, and we had to walk all the way down… Ouch! It was tough going, with the wind changing its mind every few seconds. At times, we and our fellow climbers just had to crouch down low on the narrow steps for minutes, holding on to dear life. It’d be comical, if it was not so scary! The winds mellowed as we got lower down the mountain, and after a quick snack for lunch we got on our direct bus back to Shanghai.
Although we missed out on the spectral mists due to the dry high pressure weather, it was already more than what we’d expected. Truly, spectaculare!