Beijing Blog Part 13: Among the clouds (A Photo Album)

July 7, 2009-(Huangshan – Anhui Province, China )

When many Chinese individuals get married, they tend to spend their honeymoon among the clouds of Huangshan, and it’s no surprise why. Being located at 3,250 feet above sea level, simply walking through the UNESCO World Heritage site makes you feel like you’re flying in the air at some points.

Our trip to this destination started out on one of our last days in Hongcun. After a quick breakfast at the inn we were staying at, we boarded our bus to start our trip towards the mount, a 2 hour drive.

Hardcore climbers usually start from the bottom of the mountain and hike their way up. Instead, we decided to take an alternate route and take a newly built cable car to the top of the summit. In retrospect, that was probably the wise thing to do since it would’ve probably taken us the good part of two or three days to climb to the top.

Huangshan is especially known for its unique flora and fauna. The mount, which consists of various stalagmite-looking structures that have eroded away over time, is famous for the bonsai-looking pine trees that grow out of the bare rock among these structures. The area is also known for its various types of wildlife and natural beauty.

Throughout the years, many Chinese poets and scholars have tried to put Huangshan’s beauty on the paper and paintings, but it’s really hard to put what cannot be put into words on paper, even here.

Thus, in an attempt to capture the true beauty of Huangshan, I decided to try to attempt a photo gallery of sorts.

The cable car that took us to the top of the mountain. These were new cable cars that were installed no more than two years ago.

Some of the rare rock formations that have formed among the mountain top.

The North Sea, located on the northern face of Huangshan.

The Grand Canyon located in the Western Sea of Yellow Mountain. There is a path here that takes you down nearly 1500 feet to the bottom of the mountain.

The path down the Grand Canyon, the Pagoda in the background represents roughly the halfway point down the canyon.

There were also many types of wildlife among the mountain trails. This was the first squirrel we saw in China.