Anhui, part 3: Emerald Valley

Our second short hike of the day with our Huangshan tour group was to Emerald Valley, also known as Lovers Valley.



Cross the bridge and start up the paved path...

Stop and read the poetry if you'd like.



The second bridge is called Lovers Bridge. It's above a pool where Mandarin ducks supposedly like to hang out, although we didn't see any. The ducks are, of course, associated with love.


Couples put padlocks on the bridge to symbolize their eternal love.


We don't need a padlock.

Bridges, waterfalls, cliffs. The scenery just kept going.







Eventually, we arrived at the Love Rock, where the character for "love" is painted huge on a flat rock.

I waited several minutes but this was as clear a shot I ever saw.

And then, surprise!


Acrobats appear above us, riding a unicycle across the canyon, waving fans and trailing ribbons.



For some reason, they went backwards. Perhaps to be better facing their audience?


It was soon time to return down the valley through the bamboo forest.

On the way, I said hi to the first non-Asian I'd seen that day, a Canadian.


One soon learns which characters mean "exit." "Chu" (to go towards) plus "kou" (opening or mouth).


The valley was peaceful in the shade, hot in the sun. We ran out of water while we waited for everyone to return to the bus.

After that, our tour group was dragged to a tea shop presentation to see a saleswoman recite her spiel. More recitation than salesmanship, by her tone of voice. She poured water all over the table and floor, dropped canisters left and right. Buy? Taste. Buy? And they did. Chunlin, too. Our first souvenir.

No photos of that, but for more of the hike, go to flickr.

Anhui, part 2: Rock Gate Gorge

The first destination of our Huangshan tour group was Shí Mén Xiá (Rock Gate Gorge), a short drive east of the mountain.



Take you ticket, show your ticket at the gate, and start walking up the paved path through the bamboo forest.


'Twas a hot afternoon.

We didn't actually go all the way to the Rock Gate Gorge, but stopped at a green pool with a boulder cave and a waterfall.

There was a warning sign before the short trail down to the creek.

"Warning: Rain the hour:Prevent the swollen mountain stream occurrence, and please not the water to inside play the water, and keep off the water side, and carefully slip and fall down [sic]" -- Words of wisdom, there, I tell you what.






Do you see Chunlin there? The Chinese character means "green," for that is the color of the water. I quickly decided they used the wrong color paint...







Quick quick quick before I'm ready to leave, our guide is calling us to head back for the bus. I wanted to take more photographs! Ah, but that's life in a tour group.

At least once the bus was moving, there was a refreshing, cool breeze through the window...

More photos from this brief hike on flickr, if you can find them.

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...

Jiangsu, part 10: Canals of Suzhou

Rather tired, we decided to grab a bite to eat and then take a small canal tour of Suzhou. Sausage on a stick: tasty.





Quite pleasant. Relaxing after the crowds of the trains and the Humble Administrator's Garden.





Suzhou is all green and gray...





For a promise of a bit higher tip, the boatman sang for us. Worth it.



Our boat ride covered merely a tiny corner of Suzhou's network of canals, but it was a satisfactory length of time, for sure.

When we had returned to the dock near the museum and garden, we hired a pedicab to take us back to the train station, with a stop at the North Pagoda.





Since our train was to leave soon, we didn't have enough time to do the 25-yuan entrance fee justice. Thus we just admired it from outside the gate.



And had another snack, as well. Good food in China, everywhere!

We caught our train back to Shanghai and returned just in time for another feast with Chunlin's cousins...

More photos of Suzhou on flickr, of course.

Jiangsu, part 9: Humble Administrator's Garden

Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden is nice, but not spectaular. If you get caught in the wrong spot, the tour guides can drive you crazy. Other places and times, however, it can almost be relaxing. Perhaps it would have been nicer in the morning, but we arrived in the middle of the afternoon.

We took a city bus from the train station to the garden. It was a "tourist" bus that circulated to the local highlights that they expected tourists to go to. We had a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the garden, though.


Past a fancy new museum and past plenty of tourist-oriented shops.

Through the gates and into the Humble Administrator's Garden, which was originally the personal garden of an imperial administrator for this region. With a huge garden like this, I'm not sure how humble he actually was...















This city had more foreigners than anywhere in China outside the World Expo. Or so it seemed. French and Russian and German and too much English.

Having no blonds in a crowd was weird, but having blonds in a crowd was weird to me, too.



Since we were tired enough to fall asleep on our feet, we decided to not visit any of the other gardens in Suzhou, even if they may have been quieter.

As you might expect, I've posted more photos of this garden on flickr.