On the bus ride to Huangshan, we were uncertain about what would happen when we arrived. Someone from the hostel we were staying at had called us the day before and told us that there would be someone who would pick us up at the bus stop. What was suspicious about it, was that the person on the phone had asked us which hostel we were staying at. At the bus stop, there was indeed a pair of people who were waiting to take us to the hostel. Being taken to the wrong hostel turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the hostel we ended up at actually had a three bed room and only for a little more than what we would have paid for the original hostel.
The next morning, I looked out the window and was mesmerized by the city I saw. Ancient looking buildings looked to be just arm’s reach away and in my mind I thought “this was the China I was looking for!” Once I got outside, however, I realized it was just another tourist restoration, which was disappointing, but at least it was tastefully done. We got lunch at a nearby wonton place that was by far the largest restaurant on the street. Inside the restaurant there were televisions detailing the humble street food origins of the owner, which made the whole dining experience even more interesting. It seemed the success got to the owner’s head a little as the walls of the restaurant were adorned with numerous caricatures of himself. Though when we saw the owner working in the open kitchen, he did not look that different from the humble man on the television screens, I wonder what consultant told him to cover up the restaurant with his face.
Probably not as old as it looks
Little girl selling balloons in the corner while the policeman watches, so much for child labor laws
After lunch, we took a cab to the bus station and got our tickets to Jingdezhen, which was a great relief after our reoccurring transportation debacles. Immediately after acquiring tickets, we hailed a cab to Huangshan, I picked the newest looking taxi out of the batch and this led to a story within itself. To clarify, Huangshan shi (city) is about an a two hour drive away from the actual mountain itself and a cab ride costs about 120 RMB (20 USD). On the cab ride, we began talking to driver, or rather I asked questions and Crystal translated the question and answer. As it went on, Crystal started to get into it and began asking her own questions. It turns out the cab driver had quite the interesting life. Originally from a coal mining town, our cab driver came out to Huangshan Shi in search of a better life. He bought a car and began driving foreigners then made enough to open his own internet café. The cab driver claimed that the value of his cab business has skyrocketed, increasing the value of his car by a multiple of four. Now he has brought his son over, who also drives a cab, and earns enough to take a day a off every week. Have I met someone who achieved the Chinese dream?
Our Taxi Driver, he was not angry despite how this picture may look
The drive to the mountain was a breath taking by itself. Field after field of chrysanthemum flowers broke up the seas of green grass. The air was crystal clear and best of all fresh, something I had been missing during my stay in Shanghai. It all reminded of those Swiss alps that I had driven through when I was young but this time, there was a Chinese flair to it all.
Chinese flair
Arriving at the mountain, we received some disappointing news from the cab driver. Turns out it takes five hours to get to the top of the mountain via hiking and the park closed at 6pm, meaning that when we reached the top we would have maybe fifteen minutes. He dropped us off in front of a hotel and advised us to book a tour of the attractions at the base of the mountain instead. We listened to his advice and booked a tour that provided us tickets to four sights and also a driver to get us there. The first sight we visited had us hike along a stream, stopping at various points to observe the beautiful flowing water. This was great the first time, but when we went to the second sight and did the exact same thing, and again at the third sight, it started to get really old. To be honest, the most exciting part of the tour was the drive from sight to sight because the reckless skill displayed by our driver was something of beauty. At the end of the third sight, we were all so tired of flowing water and rocks that we skipped the last sight and just went home.
Waterfalls make good backdrops for pictures but how many can you see before you get bored?
We ended the day eating at another famous restaurant that the taxi driver recommended. The restaurant was certainly very nice and there was a huge line, but the food was just mediocre at best. What was happening outside our window as we ate dinner was more interesting than the food. There was an old man painting fans and then handwriting poems on the back of them. These fans were for sale and after dinner I immediately wanted to get one. However, I mistakenly picked a fan that was printed rather than drawn. All signs pointed to the fan being printed but I wanted so strongly to believe that the old man painted it that I just went with it. I was happy because I thought I had found a unique souvenir for Jeanni but when I walked along the other stalls I saw the same damn fan design again and again. There were also multiple old men painting the same scenes and writing the same poems around the market. As disappointed as I was, I held off from throwing away my new fans.
Classy looking restaurant
The non-unique fans
Sweet looking old man though
On our last day in Huangshan, we went tea shopping before getting on our bus. Tea shopping was an experience within itself. Sitting around sipping small quantities of tea, trying different grades ranging from 300RMB to over 1000RMB was a lot of fun. Tea tasting has a way to make you feel much more sophisticated than you are and I took it for all it was worth. Learning about how to make tea, for instance not letting the tea leaves sit in the water for more than a minute, made me feel like a connoisseur. The tea shop looked pretty famous, having news footage and pictures of a time when former President Jiang Zenmin visited their tea plantations. We ended buying over 1000RMB worth of tea between the three of us, where I ended up buying the most. Just as we were about to leave, I asked the salesperson through Crystal, if it would be possible to see the picking of tea. The salesperson replied that during April and May, not only could you come to see the tea being harvested but you could participate in it as well. I marked the date on my mental calendar.
As we boarded the bus, we vowed to come back soon to actually climb the mountain and just like that we left Huangshan without having really been to Huangshan.
