Huangshan mountain, Anhui

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It was raining the whole night and early morning. The rain stopped during the morning, but the clouds were hanging low in the valleys and obstructed views.  By the afternoon, the sun appeared, and we stripped our rain coats.

Huangshan Mountain is one of the most beautiful mountains in China.  It influenced heavily the Chinese art over ages, all those beautiful watercolors with misty mountain peaks and pine trees growing from cliffs.  The mountain is huge, and there are many hiking trails and hotels. Many Chinese come to visit it, and as everywhere, we could see only very few Western tourists and were frequently surrounded by a crowd.

We selected to hike a less crowded Western See Canyon – Xi Hai – which is more rugged than the mountain top circle.  This hike offers some magnificent and dramatic views.  We hiked the two loops in the Western See for five hours and then took a short cable car back to the Brightest Summit.  From there, we needed another three hours to get back to our hotel.  By the evening, clouds descended again, and we had to give up sunset viewing.