So yesterday evening the following happened. We arrive at the train station of Mount Huangshan, but no driver at the first exit. So out of the building, of course on the ground floor, where else. Exit????? Wooooo???? Ah here…. Still no driver. Markus starts searching… Sylvia is approached from behind and a sign with our names on it is held in her face. Ok, driver there, Markus comes back. The drive to the hotel starts. Nearby we are unloaded on the street with our luggage. And now? Ahhh… someone comes waving towards us and helps us with the suitcases. It is already 9:30 p.m . and accordingly dark. Through the pedestrian zone and then through a narrow lonely alley. So we follow a complete stranger in a foreign country, through narrow streets, it might get a bit queasy, but we feel safe. And then it comes, such a neat little hotel surprises us completely. The interior, the most tasteful thing we have seen so far. Pebbles, round windows, hanging flower tendrils, floating lights, carved windows, decorations, a soft bed, we can’t get out of our amazement. And so we fall asleep happy and satisfied with the window open.
This morning it rains. Markus checks everything again and we decide to take the easy way to Mount Huangshan in the east, after all we are well equipped. Let’s see if there is something to see. At 9 o’clock David picks us up and we drive an hour by car. Our suitcases are temporarily stored in a market building. Well then. Then we take the bus from the city center to the valley and up to the gondola lift. Today there are really few people. At the top it is still raining and you can’t see anything. And then there is a nasty wind. It doesn’t go long and shoes, socks and pants are wet. We walk to the hotel, it goes down and up stairs. After an hour we are there. The fog still swallows rocks and trees.
Mount Huangshan, which literally means “Yellow Mountain” in Chinese, is named after Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who is considered the progenitor of the Chinese people. According to legend, he once lived on the mountain to achieve enlightenment and immortality. Huangshan is famous for its four wonders: the wind-sculpted pine trees, the spectacular granite peaks, the sea of clouds, and the hot springs.
It’s wet and cold and now it’s time for braised beef and a beer.
In the evening there is still Chinese folklore in the hotel lobby and it continues to rain in torrents.