Anhui, part 4: Nine Dragon Falls

The next stop on our whirlwind tour of the scenic areas around Huangshan was the famous Nine Dragon Falls.



Early in the hike was a little waterfall called Dragon's Daughter.


The guardrails were made to look like wood, but were actually steel-reinforced concrete, carefully painted.



I'm not entirely sure how they made a continuous concrete handrail of that length, so it certainly impressed me.


Trails in China are all paved. Sloped trails have concrete stairs. It makes the walking easier, guarantees less erosion, and means that tennis shoes are overkill, not to mention hiking boots!


The ninth falls wasn't all that impressive, but that's where most people stopped.

We continued up the 400-some steps to the higher falls.


Up up up.


Until finally... the view of the main falls.

I think we missed seeing falls seven and eight and never climbed high enough to see one and two, but three through six were quite impressive!

We continued climbing up to the base of the higher falls.


Once there, life was peaceful and relaxing. As long as the breeze kept up, it was enjoyable. Otherwise, kinda hot. But that's southern China for you...

Chunlin washed her face in the pool and I dunked my head. A Chinese couple wanted a photo with the the American. I obliged.

We laid down on the rock slab and rested (after a few photos of our own).




With a glance at our watches, we sadly realized it was time to head back down the hill. Back on the tour bus, back to our hotel.

Mostly cold showers because we weren't quite quick enough to hop in, but that's a good way to cool off, right?

Our hotel looked like it was originally two separate buildings. Two adjacent staircase were connected at the landing between the first and second floors with a large door, but a couple floors up, they had a tiny door between the stairwells.

Cute, but odd.

Others in our tour group walked around town looking for a restaurant, but ended up at the restaurant in our hotel's lobby. We thus trusted their decision and ate there, too. Eggs and tomatos to start. Let Chunlin order. More dishes. A local beer washed it all down well.

The others in the tour group noted my left-handedness. Chinese lefties still write with their right hand, apparently. Otherwise the characters wouldn't look right.

We then hit the town for grocery shopping for tomorrow's big hike. The town was hopping -- cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians running up and down the neon-lit street. A brass band practiced on a back alley.



Bedtime for us.

More photos of waterfalls and stairs on flickr, if you'd like to see those...