i'd been told by a hefty bulk of the chinese i knew, that huangshan (yellow mt) was the place to go around here. apparently this is no well kept secret. we knew it'd be busy but it's still a bit of a surreal experience to be lined up for over 2 hours with well a crowd well into the 3 figures. bowen and v were getting fairly antsy by the time we made it to the cable car, but i think we all knew that our host mr xu (aka ringleader of team useless, bless his cotton socks) wouldn't make it back down again had we pushed him to walk up.
the weather was pretty rubbish, as the swarms of peddlers trying to flog off their garbagebag-esque "raincoats" can attest to. i've wised up a bit since paying about 10 times overprice for a pair of gloves at tiananen square 3 years ago, so got mr xu to do my purchasing for me.
reflection in solitude was not to be on the mountain, but the views were fairly stunning nonetheless. can see why it was a pretty popular spot for those alternative types way back when in some dynasty or another. although the chinglish signs telling the crowds exactly what every second rock or tree is supposed to symbolise (from artist's brush to fairy's pumpkin) takes a bit away from it.
a few parts of the walk were blocked off for environmental regeneration, but it was still a fairly solid hike back down. about 6 hours walking in all. incidentally, mr xu did not cope so well in the long term. we saw him last night where he informed us that he's now undergoing long term chiropractic treatment and physio to improve his fitness levels. doesn't stop him smoking a pack of durries every hour though. what a trooper.
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