Huangshan, Anhui (黄山, 安徽) - A Trip in Autumn, 2023 (Part 1)

As we landed in Shanghai in mid-September, we thankfully missed the worst of the summer heat, when the temperature can soar as high as 40 degree Celsius. Now, the ambient air sits at a moderate 25-30 degrees; not cool enough to make climbing the famed Huangshan mountain easy, but warm enough such that we don’t yet need to encumber ourselves with extra layers during our trek.

Shanghai is the closest international airport to Huangshan, but it still took us a couple of days to get there. We spent most of the first couple of days moving westward to Anhui, which allowed us to let us tour Hangzhou city opportunistically as we passed through. In Hangzhou, we cruised down the Beijing-Hangzhou canal, and visited the Xiangji Temple, a Buddhist temple that have been standing for over a thousand years. Several deities are worshipped here; and, perhaps most famously, it has a shrine dedicated to the God of Cookery. Wooden charms sway in the wind, each with a wish: some for health, for love, and for happiness.

While in Hangzhou, we also went to the summit of 吴山 (Wu Mountain), for biscuits and a bowl of lotus broth at the tea shop overlooking the 西湖 (West Lake). The experience sounded more impressive than it is. As we left, I was walking alongside a young couple and their spunky child, who remarked cheekily “I know why it’s called Wu Mountain, it’s because there’s nothing to see here.” (Phonetically, Wu can be taken for another word that means “none”). Which perhaps is not that far off from the truth.

Tunxi Old Street

It’s unmistakable that the China of the 1990s that I knew is truly well and gone. No longer will you walk into thick clouds of cigarette smoke as you enter restaurants and hotels, nor will you be shepherded into a building to spend half a day being hard-sold all manners of trinkets midway during your tour. The streets are all cleaned up; the horrid tourist centres have all been shut down; and, street crime had been virtually non-existent in the last twenty years. Solitary pedestrians walk the streets at night with no fear, and Bentleys pass our tour bus on the expressways.

But luckily, one thing didn’t change. Walking into each restaurant, I spotted the customary (tourist) beverages on each table: one large bottle of coke (可口可乐) and 2 bottles of local beer. We usually swop out the soft drink for another beer, which we happily drink for every lunch and dinner. While in Hangzhou, we ate the region’s delicacies: 东坡肉 (Dong puo rou, braised pork belly) and 叫花鸡 (jiao hua ji, Beggars’ Chicken).

Guess what else I found! (And ate some of it). Chicecream, the Chinese luxury ice cream that allegedly doesn’t melt.

But finally, we reached Anhui. With the height of its tallest mountain beyond 1800 metres, Huangshan is China’s tallest mountain range. From the base of the mountain, we first took a shutter bus service, and then switched to a cable car service to bring us deeper into the range across smaller peaks. There, deep in the mountains, lies a burgeoning tourist hot spot. The numerous trails span over 160 square kilometres. Eight mountainous resorts are contained within, each connected to one another through hours-long trek with spectacular scenery along the way.

Stone paved trails lead from one viewpoint to another with precipitously tall and narrow stairs that allow for foot traffic but not motorised vehicles. From the cable car station, our hotel is 40 minutes away by foot, and mostly uphill. We carried our overnight bag with us, and there was no shortage of moaning and groaning. But all of us shut up when we saw the porters, all of them diminutive, lean and elderly, cut through the crowd while carry up crates of produces up the trails to the resorts. They are paid each trip by the weight, and they’re loaded up to the brim. We couldn’t help them even if they wanted us to, and as they huffed and puffed their way past us, the best we could do is get out of their way. I’ve never seen such bulging calf muscles.

We dropped our bags off at Shilin Hotel, and then started our hike. The shortest circuit to the peak is still a good 4-hour walk. All in all, we took close to 20000 steps up and down the stone steps of the mountainside. The view is phenomenal, as promised. We caught the sunset from the mountaintop, watching the sky darken into a purplish hue as the evening mist shrouded the footpaths.

And in the next morning, we watched as the red sun broke through the horizon and cast a yellow glow over the mountains.

Hongcun Village is perhaps the most photogenic location of the entire trip. It’s a UNESCO heritage, and has been a tourist attraction ever since the cult-classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed here. With its classical white walls and grey shingles, this village is one of the last remnants of the Huizhou-style architecture.

It is also a hot spot for art students to practice their craft. Along the town’s alleyways and down by the river, we see dozens of them hard at work with their easels and brushes.

We also went up Qiyun Mountain, which lies nearby. The area is dedicated to various Taoist deities with altars carved into the rocks and temples built into the mountains, and a small community lives up in the mountain with the temple priests.

The view here is gorgeous, but being up in the mountains isn’t the sanctuary I thought it’ll be. Do not expect fresh mountainous air: the incense and cigarette hangs thick in the air along the temples. It’s a particularly wretched feeling to get out of breath after climbing a mountain, only to breathe in all the incense smoke. I couldn't get down from that mountain fast enough.