Huangshan, Anhui

The climb up Huangshan wasn’t too difficult really, it was just slightly monotonous and repetitive. We started around 8-ish and got up there before noon via the Eastern route. This is especially true for Yingtze who is a long-distance runner and has been training up for the marathon at year-end. This is a piece of cake for her! And she’s got a nice photo collection of me panting my way up, taken while waiting for me! ;-)

For the most part of our route, we managed to avoid the massive, deafening tour groups with megaphone-waving tourguides. Most of them took the cable-car up and congregated at the famous picture spots, queuing and jostling for the prime spot at 迎客松 and 光明顶.

By noon, we had reached 光明顶，the 2nd highest peak. It was cloudy at the top and the view of Lotus and Celestial peak were obscured but since we had the luxury of time, and no money to sit in an expensive restaurant, we enjoyed a bowl of instant noodles while sitting at the peak and waiting for the clouds to clear. After about 20 minutes of waiting patiently while snacking on noodles and biscuits, we were rewarded with a relatively-less-hazy view.

Every bit of food and water has to be transported up by human labour, which explains the astronomical prices of everything and anything you buy. We saw men carrying incredible heavy loads of oil drums, eggs, rice, mineral water, wooden/ glass cabinets up. Carrying loads of at least 20-30 kilos and drenched completely in sweat, these labourers have to take rests every few steps along the way. It is a long, arduous climb up endless flights of steps and I have nothing but respect for these labourers. They probably don’t get paid much either. There are workers that help to carry your bags up at 12kuai per kilo. If you are unable to/ don’t want to walk up the mountain, you can also take a bamboo sedan chair carried by 2 men. These are charged by distance (about 120kuai a kilometer), although personally, I think that they should be charged by the person’s weight! its not really fair to charge a fat git the same price as a shrivelled old granny is it?

For the rest of the afternoon, we continued to explore the westerly route towards Xihai. It was very quiet and empty – devoid of large tour groups. It was probably my favourite part of the trail.

Accomodation and food is a total rip-off on the mountain top. Just as well we brought an ample supply of snacks. We had a rather bland and expensive dinner that came with extremely rude service. Oh well. For 200kuai, you get only a bed in a 8-person dorm. We shared the room with 2 other Chinese travelers who were perplexed at our chattering away in Singlish. Hehehe..i have to admit I miss it!

We headed down early the next day after a disappointing non-existent sunrise and took the Western route this time. Crowds were mostly concentrated near the cable-car stations and there were queues to take a picture next to a one of the pine trees – apparently it is symbolic of Huangshan and therefore absolutely vital to pose with it. However, we knew better – the pine tree is fake – replaced with some artificial pine because the real one died some years back and it would be shocking if the symbol of Huangshan was gone!

Overall, I would say that Huangshan was a mixed bag. The scenery was definitely good but I’m not sure I’d return and if I did, I’d explore Xihai next time. Less crowds, less hassle.

FOr those interested: winter might be a good time to visit too. http://www.huangshanguide.com/english.htm

Hongcun, Anhui

As per my last entry, while Yingtze was here to visit, we went on a trip to Hongcun 宏村 and Huangshan or Yellow Mountain. Hongcun is located in Yi county 黟县，of Anhui province安徽. This village was first founded in the Southern Song dynasty, about 900 years ago.

Hongcun
We spent an idyllic afternoon walking around Hongcun, where we got to witness some part of village life. As with any other tourist destination, it is overrun by souvenir shops and tourist-oriented facilities. Doesn’t help its on the World Heritage List either. However, since there weren’t too many visitors around, it was, for the most part, rather peaceful.

With its unique, well-preserved architecture, old houses and pretty ponds, Hongcun is a haven for budding artists. While we were there, we saw crowds of art school students sitting on little stools, intently studying the architecture of the village houses and transforming them into sketches and water-paintings. Even at 6am, there was a sizeable bunch of determined kids out at the Moon pond (月沼).

We also toured around some old houses including Chengzhi Hall built by rich businessmen in the 1800s. Big spacious houses that reflected the stature and wealth of the businessmen.
Remarkably, some of the elaborate and intricate wood carvings in these old houses survived the Cultural revolution. Some wise person had the foresight to smear mud over the carvings and wrote pro-revolutionary statements over them so no one dared to destroy them.

The design of the 承志堂 was well-considered. The main door of the house could be barricaded in three different ways for extra security. As a snub, visitors of lesser importance had to enter via the smaller side doors. The courtyards provided ample natural light, and the ponds added an elegant touch to the house. The mahjong room even included a little shed for the mistress(es) to hide in case Wife #1 came along for spot-checks while the men smoked, gambled or played cards. And as the tour guide narrated, of course Wife #1 knew the mistresses were hiding there, but she will take heart in the fact that her husband bothered to hide them (yes, plural), thus giving her “face”. Above all, it also showed that Wife #1 accorded the respect and stature she deserved and hence she will turn a blind-eye to the mistresses. Fuzzy logic that.

Most of the villagers seemed oblivious to the tourists and continued with their daily chores. Afterall, clothes had to be washed, and meals had to be cooked!

Ancient Hongcun villagers cleverly made use of the water flowing down from the mountains and diverted them through a network of canals around the whole village before washing out to the river. Most of the village houses also have in-built ponds where fresh water is diverted in and flows out through another opening.

While we were there, we witnessed someone washing their clothes upstream (with laundry soap), and someone else washing a chicken downstream along the canals. And they also brush their teeth or wash vegetables there too!

In any case, we stayed a night and made it out alive ;-)

Early next day, we set out to climb Yellow mountain.

For a write-up on Hongcun’s history, check here:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/huangshan/attraction/hongcun-village.htm