Anhui, part 1: Going to Huangshan

Welcome to Jixi Xian. Where? I don't know. Not our destination. Sizable city, though.


We took the overnight train from Nanjing to Huangshan. We awoke to a sunrise near the city of Jixi, after an incomplete night's sleep.









Our train pulled into Tunxi, the city now known officially as Huangshan, even though the mountain by that name is still quite a ways away. Inside the sweeping city limits, however.

We had a change of plans -- we joined a tour group. Fewer hassles of the logistic variety that way. We wouldn't be sleeping atop the mountain, but I probably wasn't going to see the sunrise anyway. Never in May, they say.

Chunlin bought a poncho from a hawker, then the hawker lady stepped it up and sold her a hat. Three yuan, but we only had one yuan or 100 yuan, so the tour guide agreed to pay the hawker the next day. We never ended up paying the three yuan and never saw that tour guide the next day anyhow...

So we boarded the minibus and headed for Tangkou at the base of the mountain.



Up in the mountains! Rows of tea plants on the hillsides, bamboo trees growing like weeds up the slopes. Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) appeared in the distance -- yellow rock shooting up from all the greenery.

Our hotel was in western Tangkou.


We got checked in, emptied our packs, then got back on the bus.

At Tangkou proper, we got our first good view up the valley at the mountain -- Heavenly Capital Peak, in specific.


And east we went, off my map. Forced patronage of a roadside restaurant. The air was so spicy I wanted to cough just walking through the door. Chunlin asked them not to spice our lunch, but then it wasn't flavorful enough, so she asked for hot sauce.


While at the restaurant, she got a phone call. From her coworker, boss, brother, or cousin, I no longer remember.

More photos on flickr...