Climbed Mount Hua, Made Local Photo Studio Workers Instant Millionaires

August 1, 2009 at 7:17 pm (China, Xi'an)
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Don’t forget to check my post from yesterday too!

Oh we got up on time for the sunrise alright… not by choice though. Last night must have been the worst sleep I’ve ever had. It wasn’t until I went to lie in bed that I noticed that it was rock hard. I ended up taking sheets from another bed so that I can make some sort of padding for mine. It helped, but not much. I also lost one of the earbuds for my headphones. The night wasn’t looking too pretty. I got to sleep, until 2:00am. When the Chinese people in the room, with complete disregard for the others in the room (Marianne and I), got up, turned the lights on, began talking loudly, making phone calls, getting ready to head out. I was raging inside. They eventually left, but then new people began showing up to the room, and one of them drove me absolutely insane. The most insane snoring I’ve ever heard! This guys wasn’t breathing in between snores… I’m  surprise he didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack or something… I filmed the guy, but the Internet is so bad here that I can’t upload any photos or videos… It’s kinda pissing me off…

Yeah, try sleeping through that. He was in the bed right next to mine but what’s even crazier is that his son was sleeping right next to him in the same bed! How did he manage to sleep through that?! Anyways, it wasn’t until about 6:00am, after one final snore, that I said “F*** THIS!” and got up. At that very moment, someone went to tell the snoring man to turn on his side, and then… it was quiet… so quiet! I could’ve slept if that man would’ve just gotten up earlier. It’s safe to say that I didn’t sleep last night, and I gravely needed it. I had to suck it up, it was time to head out and visit the peaks of Mount Hua; five in total.

We were allowed to leave our luggage at the reception (thank God!) so I only needed to bring my daypack with all my valuables. I felt so light the minute I stepped out of the Hotel! Compared to yesterday that is… There were plenty of stairs to test me out, and by the time we left after the sun had completely risen (around 6:45am), we almost had the mountain to ourselves. This is China after all; you can never have anything to yourself, and that’s a damn shame because Chinese people need to learn a lesson from Canadians on how to preserve natural sites.

It was disgusting. There were garbage cans pretty much everywhere, but nobody seemed to care since garbage was anywhere but the garbage cans. It was loud and the Chinese men were spitting everywhere, as per usual. I felt so discouraged. The initial hike up the mountain was incredible, probably since not many Chinese tourists dare take it. No, they choose the cableway and do the rest on foot. I was ahead of Marianne most of the time, but we both felt the same way; discouraged and disgusted. It’s a shame to see such a beautiful mountain get wasted like that. We even saw staff throwing garbage down the mountain face! So disgraceful…

Anyways, it wasn’t all bad. Our first destination was the East Peak (and the Central Peak along the way), after which we would circuit around to the South Peak, then the West Peak, and then finally finish back at the North Peak. The whole thing went up 600 metres in altitude, and totalled 12 kilometres all around. It was a lot of stairs, some steep ladder-style climbs, particularly the “Cloud Ladder”, but they weren’t very long. We hadn’t eaten breakfast since I wasn’t exactly craving a bowl of noodles so early in the morning, but after a while, I was getting really hungry, and my energy was running on empty. However, we had agreed to reach the East Peak before we sat down and ate.

The East Peak was about 500 metres higher than where we left off, and we made it there in about an hour and a half. The view was spectacular! We made our own little way up beyond a “No Crossing” sign, mainly because we wanted to get away from the throngs of people and all the garbage. It was worth it. Sunshine was pouring over the mountain chain, and there were a few clouds to enhance the view. We enjoyed the view for a bit. I even went over the chains to sit right on a ledge that had a really long way down, but Marianne panicked and was insisting that I get got back on the safe side of the chains. I laughed at her worrying (she wouldn’t look at me because she was scared that I would fall over), but I listened. We took a few photos and then went to the East Peak Hotel restaurant, “A Sparrow Hauk”. Surprise surprise, we had a bowl of noodles… not exactly tasty, but I was too hungry to care. I needed some energy to keep hiking.

We finished breakfast and made it to the South Peak (the highest peak of Moun Hua standing at 2154.7 metres). Once again, we were rewarded with some magnificent views, but the clouds were becoming a little thicker, and the air a little cooler. The cold air felt good. We snapped a couple more photos, and started making our way to the West Peak. The distance was short, so we made it there in no time. There was a “Furnace of Immortal Medicine Making” that wasn’t anything like the title described, but I guess the furnace could’ve been the clouds that were rushing up the mountain face.  At this point, we were coming across a lot of Chinese tourists. And believe me, there were LOTS! Hundreds, if not thousands! There were traffic hams in stairs leading to the Peaks. Surprisingly we didn’t ANY foreigners on the mountain (not until we got back to the North Peak anyways, at which point we saw about 5). Marianne and I were asked to be in a photo with some Chinese people (they love it), and little did we know, we were about to become the biggest Chinese tourist attraction of Mount Hua for the day.

Once at the West Peak, we came across a lot of Chinese tourists. One of them eventually asked to take a photo with us, and to our surprise and enjoyment, that set off a chain reaction! We were swarmed by Chinese tourists wanting to take pictures with us. We must have taken over 75 photos, often with the same person. I felt my cheek muscles aching from all the smiling, but it was so funny and such a good time. As soon as one picture was taken, we were asked by someone else, and then someone else, and this went on for at least 45 minutes. None of them spoke English, but we tried our best to communicate with each other through sign language. The same person was taking all of the photos. At first, we thought this person was a tour guide or something, but it turns out that he was running one of those souvenir photo booths on the West Peak! Everyone was paying between 10 to 60 Yuan to have their photo with us two foreigners printed! That place must have made a fortune thanks to us! The tourists kept coming. Some of them, the men in particular, were impressed by my size and kept grabbing my arms and comparing theirs to mine. It was funny when the women shot them down! LOL! They eventually asked Marianne and I to take a group photo with all of them, and then they printed us a copy for free! How nice of them! The tourists offered me to sit with them, and although I couldn’t hardly understand what they were saying, they figured out that I was Canadian, that I was in the army, and that Marianne was, in fact, NOT my girlfriend! I don’t know how people can get annoyed by this in China, I absolutely loved it! All of the discouragement that I felt throughout the day had melted away and my spirits had been rejuvenated from the experience. We said our goodbyes, shook some hands, got some thumbs ups, and started to head down the mountain.

It was SLOW! So many people going up and down. We were stopped dead in our tracks at times due to human congestion! Because of that, it took much longer than originally planned to get down the mountain, but the important thing is that we did. Hehe! On the way we saw a lot of the Chinese tourists we had taken photos with and they were all smiles. That feeling of fame felt good. Once back at the North Peak, we got our packs and took the cableway back down. It didn’t feel all too good putting that heavy pack on my back again, and I was too tired to walk down the mountain. Besides, it had started to rain. Haha!

Now I’m sitting in the slowest bus of life with absolutely no leg room heading back to Xi’an. We won’t be heading to Chengdu tonight since we’re clearly not going to make our train. Rather, we’ll be staying in Xi’an one more night; hopefully our hostel has room. I’m hungry, I want Pizza Hut. Stuffed Crust?

If I’m able to upload the photos, you’ll be able to see them here. There will also be some older ones from Xi’an that I wasn’t able to upload earlier here.

Bai-bai!

-LL

P.S. Why are you always trying to cheat me?! It is getting a little annoying when you have to haggle for EVERYTHING!

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A Tough but Rewarding Climb Up Mount Hua

July 31, 2009 at 7:08 pm (China, Xi'an)
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Wow! What… a… day! I’m exhausted, my legs are sore, and I’ve never felt better. Finally some good hiking in this trip. Today I climbed the North Peak of Mount Hua (Huashan), about 2 hours out of the city of Xi’an, and what an amazing trek it was.

Marianne and I got up relatively early this morning so that we could get a good start on our day. We checked out of our cozy twin ensuite room and caught a bus to the train station (no cabs would take us). The bus ride was a bit of a hassle since we had all of our packs, but some kind Chinese woman offered to hold it for us in the front. She had a primo seat! Once at the train station, we found our bus #1 headed for Huashan, but we had to wait about half an hour before departure since the buses here only leave when they are full. Luckily though, we met some other foreigners; a couple from Australia, Anna and Mark, and a girl from Portland Oregon named Elisha. We were all off to go do the same thing, climb Mount Hua.

Anna and Marc were staying at the bottom of the mountain whereas Marianne and I were going to stay at the North Peak, which is 1614.7 metres above sea level. An easy hike in normal conditions, but I had made the decision to carry ALL of my gear with me to the top, easily adding an extra 60 pounds to my body. That decision was going to make this the most memorable and difficult hike that I’ve done in a while. Even though I had plenty of opportunities to leave my pack behind and bring only a small daypack, I had refused and claimed that I would be fine, despite the warnings I received from pretty much everyone… Tickets for the mountain were rather expensive at 120 RMB. I really should’ve kept my University of Ottawa student card since that would’ve cut the admission price in half. Oh well, no need to fuss, we were off!

I felt fine for the first bit of the mountain. There were several shops along the way selling fruits, water, red bull, and beer. The prices kept going up the further we got up the mountain, but water was a necessity after I had finished my bottle, and was definitely worth the extra few Yuan we had to pay. We got some stenches of sewage from time to time, but it’s a stench we had grown accustomed to in China, so it wasn’t so bad! (Just kidding, it’s not all that bad). The weather was cloudy and misty, so we didn’t get many sights as we climbed, but I appreciated it more than bright, sunny, and hot weather given the circumstances, my heavy, heavy pack. After about an hour, I thought I had made the biggest mistake ever. I took my pack along, wanting to challenge myself for the climb, and was originally laughed at by Marianne, Anna, and Marc, but I pursued. I didn’t really have a choice; it’s not as if I was going to turn around, drop my stuff off at the bottom, and head back up. I was going for the top, and nothing was going to stop me. And I’m so glad I did!

After that first gruelling hour, my legs started feeling better. A little warm-up was all I needed it seemed. However, I was sweating beyond belief! Dripping everywhere! But I kept a big smile on my face! Legs were still strong, lungs were still good, no need to fret! Plus, almost every Chinese tourist that passed us by either laughed at me, smiled at me, or gave me a solid thumbs up! Most of them opted for the thumbs up, and that made me feel good. I also feel as if I got the respect of those carrying all the food and beverages up and down the mountain as they passed us by. As we went higher and higher, the trail got steeper and steeper. The trail was made of thousand of steps, and that didn’t help at all. Climbing stairs works your thighs much more than a steady incline, and considering that I had a 60 pound pack on my back, my legs were getting a little shaky after the second hour had gone by.

We had eventually gone over the clouds and saw a few of the mountain peaks. There seemed to be some much harder trails up the mountain opposite of us, and those trails are apparently called the Soldier’s Trails. They were STEEP! Pretty much 90 degrees. Might try it tomorrow without my pack. Anyways, the clouds added a sense of mystery to the mountain and compensated for the lack of sunshine. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures on the way up since it was too much of a hassle to take it out all the time, and keeping it out was just as much of a hassle! We took a few breaks on the way up, drank some water and ate some chocolate, and that did body real good and it allowed me to keep going. However, once we got to the 1,000 foot precipice, things were about to get a little harder.

I was enthused to take on the challenge! An insanely steep stair climb that required everyone to grasp the chains on either side to prevent you from falling back. Once again, my pack added just a little but more challenge to this part of the climb. It was a little complicated with tourists going both ways on such a narrow path, but in the end, it worked out good. We had met a little girl, who was climbing with her family but decided to stick with us for the rest of the way up, and we called her “Monkey”. She was FULL of energy, climbing the stairs on four legs, and waiting for us at the top (and laughing at me). I kept smiling, but after that steep climb, my legs gave up. My thighs cramped uncontrollably. I tried to stand up straight, but couldn’t; my muscles were just too tight. I had to take my pack off and take a break. We still had about another 45 minutes to go, so I stretched, sat down for about 5 minutes, and my legs got better, but only temporarily.

The rest of the climb was a little gruelling, especially when we came upon some more stairs. I could feel my muscles tighten with every step. My pack had done its work on me. I had to use the chains and my arms to help pull myself up the stairs, we were almost there, and I still managed to keep up with the others. Once more break all together before one last little push, and 30 minutes later, we were at the North Peak Hotel, Marianne and I’s resting place for the night. We had made it!

I was completely drenched in sweat! I hung my clothes up in my room (which to this minute is still empty) and the sweat was just dripping off of them onto the floor. They reeked! I reeked! No showers here either… I was craving a beer, and the others were waiting for me on the balcony overlooking all the mountain peaks. I changed, put deodorant all over my body, and made my way back outside. I felt so rewarded! Such hard work to get such nice scenery, something that I’ve been chasing for a while since I came on this trip. There were a lot of tourists because there is a cable car that leads to this place, but they all cleared out by 7:00pm. We had a beer with Anna and Marc, exchanged e-mail addresses, and they headed back down the mountain by cable car. Marianne and I are dead tired, but we had to catch a glimpse of the peaks and the other surrounding mountains. Climbing the rest of the North Peak was a breeze without my large pack, and I was finally able to snap some photos (which you can see here). After a bit of trotting around, taking in the scenery as much as possible, we headed down the restaurant for some breakfast and another beer. Delicious! Noodle soup with pork! Halfway through the meal, I noticed that the sky was clearing up and that the sun was setting off to the West. I hurriedly finished my dinner so that we could catch the end of it.

We climbed up the Peak once again, and we were treated to beautiful sunset views. The sun itself was hidden by the mountain peaks to the West, but the rays of red and orange light were visible through the holes in the clouds. I love it. I’ve been sitting on this boulder facing the East and West Peaks of Mount Hua for about two hours now, and I could stay here even longer. I’m even writing this post outside as we speak! The moon is beaming in front of me over the East, West, and South Peaks, the tourist noises have died so I have peace and quiet (but I could still see some climbers making their way up), there’s a sea of stars above me (the clouds have cleared up), and there are fire flies all around! It’s really majestic. I could sleep out here, but it’s a little chilly at this altitude. Nevertheless, I’m still going to stay out here for a little while longer. It’s too peaceful to head back in so soon at 9:20pm. Marianne went to bed, so I’m sitting here alone with my thoughts, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s fantastic, and I can’t stress it enough. I can do this every day. Screw the cities! This is what I came for! The Earth’s natural wonders, but hopefully I can find some that are a little less touristy…

Tomorrow morning, Marianne and I are going for a little circuit around the mountain. We’re going to try to get up at 5:00am to catch the sunrise over the East Peak, and hopefully the sky will be clear enough to allow for a good view. Afterward, we keep climbing, but this time, I’m leaving my pack at the hotel. We start with the East Peak, then up to the South Peak at 2,160m (the highest point), and then down to the West Peak before heading back down the mountain, back to Xi’an, and then off to Chengdu.

Clearly, there’s no Internet up here, so this post will probably only go up once we’re in Chengdu in 2 days. Same goes for the photos, which you can see here.

I know this is a really long post, but so far, today has been my favourite day in China, despite the pain in my legs and the gargantuan amounts of sweat. The pain just makes the destination much more rewarding. I hope the pictures to everything justice, especially the little kitten that was strolling around the hotel to everyone’s amusement!

Bai-bai!

-LL

P.S. I’m getting really disgusted by the constant horking and spitting of the Chinese people. And what’s the deal with rolling your shirt up on hot days? It looks ridiculous!

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Chinese Heaven

July 28, 2009 at 11:28 am (China, Shanghai)
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After a massage like that, you don’t really feel like doing much. And we didn’t… in fact, the massage was all Marianne and I did yesterday. I didn’t mind, it’s not as if there’s much to do in Shanghai. It’s been mostly wining and dining since I got here.

Like I said yesterday, I was woken up pretty early, so I got to Wendy’s place early. I picked up some bananas on the way, and had a good bowl of cereal at the apartment. The rest of the day was just planning, and some solid planning we did. We decided to skip Beijing, but still go to Xi’an and do the rest of my trip as I had planned it. It’s amazing how people’s opinions differ regarding destinations. I met people who said to definitely do Beijing if only for the Great Wall, and others who have said “It’s just a wall, don’t bother.” I feel like the latter. I need some country scenery right now, not some man-made tourist attractions. If I really want to see it, I can always go back later.

Although Xi’an does have the Terracotta Warriors, which is a pretty big tourist attraction, it also has Mount Hua, a 2,160 metre tall mountain and considered to be one of China’s Five Sacred Daoist Mountains (not that it’s really a big deal, everything in China is recognized as something big)! The mountain has some amazing views from each of its five peaks, with the South Peak being the highest at 2,160m. It should make for a tough climb, but over the years, the mountain has become more touristy and a cable car has been added, should we ever feel the need to use one. In the past, this mountain used to be climbed in the dark, so that people could get a view of the dawn from the East Peak. However, rest assured, we won’t be doing that… Marianne is scared. LOL! We’ll probably be spending 2 days in Xi’an at the Han Tang Inn Youth Hostel. Private room for 50 RMB (less than $10)! Sweeeet!

After all the planning is when we went for our massage. 2 hours of Chinese Heaven. Although the woman I had was much stronger than she looked, overall, the massage was good. She hit a few spots, particularly in my neck and around my spine that were kind of sensitive and made me squirm a little bit, but it felt so good after she took the pressure off. The head massage was my favourite. The pressure went deep into my brain and it felt like I was going out. A few thoughts did go through my head about not falling asleep for fear of losing my personal belongings, but this massage parlor looked pretty reputable, and I let myself go. Unfortunately, no happy endings… Haha! They had put me in the same room as Marianne so my masseuse didn’t get the chance to offer. I’m sure she would’ve went for it, I mean, for an extra few bucks? Damn… LOL!

After the massage, I was in a Zen state, floating in clouds, so relaxed with a big smile on my face. All of that for $18, and I’m sure I’ll be getting more. I mean, why not? It’s sooo cheap! Maybe it’ll become a weekly thing. It makes my whole day so much better! Throw in some happy endings in there and it’ll be such a high! Haha! Moving on, after the massage, we went back to Wendy’s place and just relaxed until the busy workers came home. Then, more wining and dining. I’m not catching any of the restaurant names, but they’re good. Wendy has yet to disappoint! We went to a Taiwanese restaurant and ordered several dishes. Relatively expensive, but this is Shanghai and it’s to be expected… everything will be MUCH cheaper everywhere else in China. Afterward, we went to the Bund, the most famous tourist destination in Shanghai, but unfortunately EVERYTHING is under construction for the 2010 World Expo, so the famous river path that looks onto the city was completely shut down. We did get a nice view from Captain’s Bar though. So many Shanghai lights in the downtown area across the river. It’s too bad I didn’t have my camera, in fact, I didn’t take any pictures yesterday since there wasn’t much to shoot, but more photos will come soon, worry you not! I did strike up an interesting conversation with someone at the bar, but she completely lost me when she told me she wasn’t a fan of lawyers (after I told her I was planning to go to law school), how they were one track-minded. If lawyers were open-minded (in their work), they wouldn’t be very good at their jobs now would they… Anyways, she was the one that has been staying in China for the past 3 years. The conversation was great up until that point. LOL! Maybe it was the fake Guinness that I had to suffer through… it was… ugh… not a Guinness…

We called it a night at around 12:30am and made our way back to the apartment. Today, Marianne and I are checking out the fake market, haggle-district! Should be some serious fun! I can’t wait to get myself so authentic looking counterfeit merchandise! And then, our 14 hour train leaves at 8:05pm and arrives in Xi’an at 9:49am tomorrow morning… so no blogging until tomorrow. Can’t wait to tell you how I’m gonna get some Gucci, Prada, Hugo Boss, Tag Heuer, etc. merchandise at realllllllly good prices! LOL!

Bai bai!

-LL

P.S. Send me your orders! Who wants some authentic, fantastic looking counterfeit merchandise?? Name your brand and your product! I’m taking orders and can ship stuff to you!

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