So i know how much you all love fantasy settings and this is one you have to go to if you ever get the chance to. In China they have a May week long holiday. So my wife and I decided to go to Haungshan. IT is in the south of China and it is amazing. It is also the home of Mount Huangshan, a hold mountain to the chinese. Being avid outdoor freaks we decided to climb this mountain! Boy were we stupid. The mountain is 1800m tall. The good news is that there are stairs cut and laid right into the side of this thing, the bad news is that there is very little in the way of spots to break, no off trail spots to rest or rather very few. So if the person in front of you stopped you did too, as in some spots there was nothing between you and a fall to your death but air. So we are on this mountain that was amazing, we looked up at the bottom and saw the mist surrounding the part we were going to climb and then when we reached the top 3 hours later we looked down at the mist covered valley, it was amazing to behold such a sight.
There were a few draw backs though, first it was 7 kms of steps with no to little breaks, we weren't used to the elevation so we got winded quicker than usual, (I run marathons so I figured i should have been in better shape, WRONG!) Also the amount of peopel going up and coming down on those narrow stairs was unreal it was like being in a giant line up for about 3 hours, if there weren't as many people shoving and only looking out for themselves i would have had a better time, but the view was fantastic and I am never going to regret going up. Though why someone would bring children along or be dressed in business suits while climbing the mountain is beyond me! BUSINESS SUITS!! ahhhhhhhh! I Thought they were going to pass out becasue of exhaustion.
I would actually like to go up again and tackle the other part of the mountain, but not this year, maybe next year. Who knows?
Well if you would like to see some of the pictures of this adventure go to www.flickr.com/photos/kirstenmike
Later
A.
P.S. If you want to see how they treat you after you come down off the wall go to the page 4 on that website. I swear I don't look like a Mongolian!