4.  Up in Huangshan Mt. (15th 16th & 23rd Nov)

Map showing scenic spots in Mt. Huamgshan

Located in the south of Anhui Province, Huangshan is well known for its magnificent scenery which is characterized by the four wonders, namely, grotesque rock formation, odd-shaped evergreen pines, seas of clouds and crystal-clear hot springs.

Mount Huangshan covers an area of 1,200 sq km, with the scenic area occupies just over 150 sq km. Within this area, there are thousands of peaks, 72 of which are well-known with magnificent scenery and have names indicating the shapes they resemble. Mount Huangshan has distinctive scenes in the four seasons of the years which earns it the name “Earthly Fairyland”.

Mount Huangshan is not only known for its beauty but also for its abundance of natural resources and a wide variety of fauna. Because of this it has been listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990.

We left Jiuhua Shan in the morning of 15th November, hoping against hope that the weather up in Huangshan would be sunny and warm. We took a couple of hours from Jiuhua Shan to reach the Taiping Cable Car Station on the northern part of Huangshan Mt. Along our way to the mountain by cable car we noticed that the whole area was covered in thick mist. Also along the journey from the cable car station to Beihai Hotel there was nothing to see as the surroundings were enveloped in thick mist.

It was snowing and foggy. Everything was in black and white and the visibility was down to not more 30 meters in the thick fog. Though we took a hike around the mountain from Beihai Hotel, there was hardly any spectacular scenery to admire except snow-covered trees and tracks.

We were supposed to put up four nights in the mountains. But after staying in Beihai Hotel for two nights we felt quite miserable because of the inclement weather in the mountains. We decided then to descend and tour the areas around Hongcun and Tunxi City.

I felt totally dejected to “abandon” Mount Huangshan. It was my first time up in this mountain after my third attempt in organizing this expedition. It could be fated as I might not have the “ 缘 ” (Yuan) with Mount Huangshan!

With two extra days down the mountains, we ran short of areas to visit around Hongcun and Tunxi City. As the weather started to improve, we decided to go up Mt. Huangshan again for a day trip in the hope that we would be able to see and enjoy the scenic beauty of the mountains

We went up the eastern steps by cable car in the morning on 23rd Nov and were pleased to see the sun for the first time. The sky was clear and the mountain sceneries were beautiful and majestic.

At last I was lucky to have a good vista of Mount Huangshan and with that I did not have to make a fourth attempt to see “The Loveliest Mountain of China”!

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