HUANGSHAN: going home

It was nice having a little getaway to Huangshan Mountain, and simply awesome that we had a 5-day public holiday. This should happen at least once a month! ;) Since we live in Shanghai’s chaotic city, dirty air and messy streets, it was really nice to get up there on the mountains and breathe fresh air and see greenery EVERYWHERE.

Such a massive difference and it makes you realise that when people label China as all the former things (chaotic, dirty, messy, etc), it’s really only because they’re impression is based on Shanghai or Beijing or Guangzhou or any of the major cities. When you travel and your eyes are opened to the REST of China, it’s actually a beautiful place. It’s a shame that people don’t realise/see this about China…

Buh-bye Huangshan Mountain!

Down and back to reality

Enjoying our last views of Huangshan Mountain

Having lunch back in Tunxi city. This was a delicious seafood hot pot!

These are the nicest prawn crackers I’ve had. Not salty and no trans fat.
They’re practically health food ;)

A yummy “zhong zi” (sticky rice dumpling with meat and fat) on the way back to Shanghai

 

HUANGSHAN: sunrise on the mountain

We did something craaazy whilst at Huangshan Mountain. Decided to get up to watch the sunrise over the mountains. It’s basically THE thing to do whilst you’re up on the mountain, and tons of guests at the hotels on the mountain top also go and watch the sunrise.

We got up at the INSANE time of 4:30AM, all bleary eyed and looking like crap ;) Everyone else got changed but because I am *ahem* special, I refused to and went out in my pajamas ;) I figured I could just throw a jacket on top and be all good!

We staggered outside in the early morning chill and made our way to one of the vantage points. We actually got there earlier than most people and so had an awesome spot and view. Hurray! Chinese locals are insanely eager-beaver and like to be THE FIRST ONE for anything, so I was really surprised we were there earlier than others. It was fairly crowded but nothing terrible (no pushing or shoving), but what was pretty awful was that they were NOISY!! Non-stop yakking away. You’d think that to experience such a special occasion, people would be quiet and appreciate the view. But nope, lots of yakking and someone even started playing Chinese music full-blast on their mobile phone. Really quite rude of them but there was nothing we could do :(

Absurd behaviour aside, we tried to block out as much as we could and just focus on the sunrise before us. It really was gorgeous. Quite amazing to see the sky progressively get lighter in a myriad of pretty colours, and then the sun peek out and rise upwards, a glowing ball of light. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a sunrise, let alone from the mountain top in clean, fresh air. I loved it :)

The moon amongst the trees

In the forest, at 5:00AM

Beautiful colours of pre-sunrise

Getting brighter

A peek of the sun

Glowing ball of light

Almost didn’t post this.. generally NOT a fan of posting no-makeup,
wakeup-at-4:30AM photos of myself ;) But it’s a hilarious photo all
round – Us looking zonked. Sulky guy on the far left. Dazed girl
on the right. Shifty-eyed guy on the far right. Haha!

Check out my sexy outfit of pajamas and overcoat… LOL

The risen sun

Me talking away (sound v dull cos I was half asleep!) and video-ing of the scene

Guess which one’s me?

*SMOOCH* Good morning

 

HUANGSHAN: trekking at Grand Canyon

Chris and I decided to go on the Grand Canyon Walk ourselves at Huangshan Mountain. Our guide warned us it has a LOT of stairs and is more strenuous, and boy, it really was. We walked and climbed until our legs couldn’t quite move anymore… oh the pain!!! But it was worth it. Breathtaking views and peaceful and quiet. I loved the little lookout at the end, a small area poking out that you can sit and enjoy the views and the sunshine.

A very steep walk down the stairs. And yes, we had to walk back up those stairs later!

Walking through a small crack in the rocks

Love the dark green trees and the misty mountains in the background

ARGHHH this was scary, the drop was RIGHT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!

Sitting in peace and quiet at the lookout

Our view

A video of our view

Tired as hell

REFRESHMENT TIME

 

HUANGSHAN: hiking around the mountain

It may have been the easy way out to take a cable car up to the top of Huangshan Mountain, but even so, we had a 1 hour walk to our hotel. Very painful because of the sheer amount of steps involved… OUCH!! We went sight-seeing all around as well, which involved steps, steps and more steps. It was like a Stairmaster class.. except it was all day long ;) Gah.

Fortunately, the fantastic weather made it really fun to wander around outdoors. The mountain peaks were gorgeous and so serene against the sky. I know it all looks fairly similiar in photos, but it was fascinating going to different lookouts and seeing all the different views from the vantage points. What I really needed was a pair of shorts and a thin tank top! My jeans and long-sleeved tops didn’t quite cut it, and I was hot and bothered pretty quickly from all the climbing. Fortunately, once the sun goes down, the temperature drops significantly, so it’s actually really lovely and cool at night.

We had to walk 1 hour (full of up/down stairs!) to the hotel

But at least we were treated to spectacular scenery

Me with our tour guide, who was awesome

Mountain peaks

I had to keep resting cos I am so unfit… oops..

Me and Dad! It is unclear what I’m doing here..

A tree sticking out from the rock

Us stuck together, like the trees behind us ;)

Photo opp!

This is the actual one, taken properly

Gorgeous

It’s a great feeling, being on top of a mountain

Overlooking the world

Resting at the top

This is called “Monkey overlooking the sea”. Can you see him?

And this is “Monkey overlooking the monkey overlooking the sea”. LMAO!
Stone monkey is right above Chris’ knee, in the background.

Video Chris took

I love this pic!

Sweet little pink flowers

STILL climbing upwards

Arghh…. *plod plod plod*

 

HUANGSHAN: going up the mountain

The next few posts contain photos split over several days.. but I tried to consolidate it as much as possible, hence why it looks like we did a LOT in a super short period of time ;)

The main part of our trip was Huangshan Mountain. The same mountains that inspired the “floating mountains” in the movie Avatar. It’s really easy to see why when you see them in real life – huge and lofty, with clear air and beautiful weather. We had crystal clear blue skies whilst we were up on the mountain, but apparently it’s also gorgeous when it’s misty and raining, because the clouds descend and the mountain peaks are above the clouds, giving them a dream-like quality.

You can choose to walk 4.5 hours (!) to the top of the mountain, or take a cable car. Guess which one we chose? ;)

Snozzing during the 1.5 hour journey to Huangshan Mountain

A solitary house along the way

Going up and up past other mountains

The road hugged the side of the mountain – scary!

Went on a looooooong cable car ride up Huangshan Mountain

Dad and Mum looking very chill

All matchy-match in red. It was unintentional, I swear!

A glimpse of the peak

On BEAUTIFUL Huangshan Mountain!

Pretty views and clear blue skies = bliss

LMAO

The obligatory tourist photo

The 4 of us

 

HUANGSHAN: dinner at Ancient Street

We had dinner whilst at Tunxi Ancient Street, selecting a restaurant that was packed to the brim and also had a queue. There were loads of locals there, so we figured the food would be authentic. I love the concept of ordering food in this area – it’s a real life menu! The food’s all displayed right in front of you, and you simply look at the dishes, and write down the number if you wish to order it. Then, they cook it all up and deliver it to your table. It’s an excellent idea because it’s so much easier to decide when you can see the dish in front of you, and especially useful for non-Chinese speakers. They should use this concept all around the world.

We ordered a storm of dishes, and I didn’t take photos because I was too busy eating and the horrid fluorescent lighting made it all look funny-colored anyway. We didn’t order anything “weird”.. though I did spy a turtle soup (!), which was basically a whole baby turtle in a bowl of soup. Eeeek. No thanks!

My favourite dish was the roti prata, otherwise known as “fei bing” (flying biscuit) in Chinese. It was cooked to a crisp and with a generous sprinkle of shallots. Absolutely delicious. The weirdest item that I had there? Corn juice, which is like a fruit juice drink, but using corn instead and served warm. It really does taste like a corn milkshake ;) Sounds strange but it was actually pretty tasty.

IT BE DINNER TIME!

The huge restaurant (which was packed to the brim)

A sneaky pic of Chris and I canoodling whilst waiting in line, hehehe

You can preview all the food to choose what you want to order.
It’s like a real-life menu, very cool!

I HAS PRATA. Except in China it’s called “fei bing” (flying biscuit)

Happily eating

We then went for a tea ceremony in a tea-selling shop

A very expensive mountain mushroom tea (?!). It tasted good.

Tea tasting

 

HUANGSHAN: down Tunxi Ancient Street

In the late afternoon, we took a walk around Tunxi Ancient Street, a pedestrian commercial street that was originally built in the Song Dynasty. Some say it’s like the “Oriental Ancient Rome”. Most of the buildings are 2-3 stories high, stone-based and brick-laid. They’re also decorated with small green tiles, wood carvings in the Hui style, ancient shop signs, and red-lacquered with double eaves on the roofs. Quite an interesting sight! Nowadays, the street is also used as a natural studio for films and TV series.. though we didn’t see any filming going on whilst we were there, d’oh.

It was a lot of fun walking down the cobblestone alleys and checking out all the little knick knacks on sale. We bought mostly foodstuffs since the shops were all so cute and I don’t see the same stuff back in Shanghai.

Walking into “old street”

1KM street full of cute knick knacks and street food. Loved it :)

This dude was pulling fresh candy, man it looked like hard work!

A guy cooking fermented stinky tofu…….. egads…

The narrow streets

A shop selling nothing but chillies, chillies, chillies!

Bought a bunch for Chris’ dad cos he loves spicy food

A man making fresh dragon beard candy.

Got sucked in and bought some, but it wasn’t very good at all :(

Savoury biscuit/cake things with bacon and pickled vegetables.
It was so-so for me, but Chris liked it.

Dad found some sesame sweets, and black sesame ones too. He was happy :P

Us talking animatedly, for some reason, LOL