This is it, guys! We’re up on Huangshan and it’s magical!
50 photos below!
Exiting the cable car
This is one of the best photos I have of Huangshan, and I took it right at the beginning of our hike, just opposite the cable car station. I felt like I was in a painting. It was surreal, and only got more so.We all put on our rain jackets. They couldn’t cover both our chests and our backpacks; we chose to cover our backpacks. Siqi is covering his face to avoid AI bots.The first part of the hike wasn’t up, it was down. (Siqi’s photo.)It wasn’t really raining much. But there were lots of clouds!Trees outlined against clouds.Mist and clouds, mountains and trees. (Siqi’s photo.)The stairs were pretty nice.I’m sure that rock formation has a name…Same rock formation, but with zoom. (Siqi’s photo.)Clouds! (Mom’s photo.)Those nice stairs we went down? We looked back and noticed there’s nothing under them! They’re hanging off the side of the rock. I mean, they’re anchored, but they’re not sitting on rock, they’re sitting on air!Trees somehow growing on steep rock cliffs…Life finds a way. (Siqi’s photo.)This could be Mount Rushmore on a cloudy day… It’s not, but it could be!More stairs, more trees…Pine trees. Sadly, we didn’t see the most famous one.But we did see awesome views like this, where the mountains peeked out of the clouds.Mountains, looming.“Hey bro, I almost can’t see my hand in front of my face. You?” “Yeah no, we don’t have hands or faces, ’cause we’re trees, but same, bro, for real.”Cliff, portrait view.Cliff, landscape view.Cliff, landscape view. Same same but different! (Siqi’s photo.)Layers.Looming peak, portrait view.Looming peak, landscape view. (Siqi’s photo.)Because of the weather and time of day (afternoon), there weren’t a lot of people on the path, which was nice. Siqi walked with Mom, as shown here, and Dad and I lagged behind. Dad and I took a lot more photos! He has more than I do, if you can believe that.
“Magic Brush with a Flower on the Tip”
According to a sign in Chinese and semi-inscrutable English:
Lying in the east of Sanhua Cove, it is constituted by the granite pillar and the pine on top, with Penholder Peak at the opposite. The pillar and Penholder Peak got together before Sanhua Cove formed. It is also called Write like an Angel, meaning the brilliant talent and smooth literary creations.
Well, ok then…. but anyway the main thing is to notice a tree sticking up on a rock on the right.
The pine on the pillar is in this photo but you can’t see it very well.This is a slightly better picture of the pine on the pillar.View of trees from the plaza, including the special pine.View including special pine. (Siqi’s photo.)There it is, the special pine on the pillar!More trees and fog…This is over on the left. I think this is supposed to be Penholder Peak. “Penholder” means “[Chinese calligraphy] brush rest”.Here we all are, with the famous tree just visible over my shoulder.
Moving on…
I bet there are some nice mountains over there.Anyway, the trees look cool.This would look totally different if the sky were blue.Looks like frost, right?Okay, now it *really* looks like frost!Great shot of rain on pine needles! (Siqi’s photo.)I took a photo of rain on pine needles too, but mine’s not nearly as good, LOL!
“United Pine”
The sign informed us:
It is 15.2m in height, 235cm in girth and 12.8m by 13.3m at crown diameter. With its roots intertwisting, several trunks clinging tightly to one another, and branches and leaves luxuriant in vigorous clusters, it well symbolizes the great unity of Chinese ethnic peoples. Mr. JIANG Zemin [president of China from 1993 to 2003] and his company sang here “Unity Is Strength” in chorus when he inspected Mt. Huangshan in May, 2001.
United pine. (Siqi’s photo.)United pine, landscape photo.United pine, portrait photo.
Moving on…
Stairs.So many stairs!Not much view, but lots of trees.Same trees, from farther back. (Siqi’s photo.)Same trees, but with zoom. (Siqi’s photo.)
Approaching Xihai Hotel
Porter. I envy his leg muscles, but not his job, which has to be performed, rain or shine.
The roads into the Huangshan Scenic Area only go to the cable car dropoff. There is more than one hotel inside the Scenic Area that can only be accessed by walking on the stone paths, stairs and all. That means you gotta carry your own clothes and stuff up, and it also means that whatever supplies the hotel needs have to be carried there. This guy was going away from the hotel; my guess was he was carrying hotel laundry, but now I think it would make more sense for the hotel to do laundry on site. So I don’t know what this is. Maybe trash.
