My camera card was infected my night on Huangshan. So, as the screen gets wavy, we travel back to February as I fall asleep in a rough dorm room on the summit, ready to get up at 5 am to make a fool's attempt to see the dawn...
...well almost. Here's a movie from yesterday evening, when I hiked through the summits of Huangshan in wild weather, alone and content.
The grey around me brightens until I am sure the Sun is above the horizon. There's no chance of seeing it though: the world beyond the edge is lost to cloud. Having seen nothing beyond the cliffs for two days, it is almost as if the world beyond has ceased to exist, like in The Neverending Story. To explore, I head to Refreshing Terrace, the other branch of the "Y." There, is no Sun there either. But I do find my roommates from the night before. We talk and exchange numbers in the cold. And I find more wind, and more ice...
I had wanted to hike up Beginning to Believe Peak, but my leg hurts too much. I start towards the nearer of the two cable cars down from the summit. Of course, there's a sign giving hours for the new cable car. New one? After debating for a while (with myself), I decide to follow the piece of paper taped to a sign rather than the map and guide signs. I debated, because even walking/hobbling the mile from Refreshing Terrace to this point had really aggravated my injured tendon. Decision made, I proceed...up more stairs. But soon I hear inappropriately loud people, and then see them, ill-dressed for the weather - Ah ha! I chose wisely, they must have come up the cable car.
...well almost. Here's a movie from yesterday evening, when I hiked through the summits of Huangshan in wild weather, alone and content.
I wake up when one of my roommates goes to the bathroom. It's 4:50 am. Close enough. I put my outer layers on, having slept essentially in my clothes for warmth. Again, the map and guide signs are only kind of helpful. In the dark and cold, headlamp my guide, I make a choice at a "Y" in the path. Instead
of Refreshing Terrace, I end up at Dawn Pavilion. A good wrong turn ...no, a right wrong turn? I am glad since, as I was leaving, a group of tourists was behind me: I still want solitude. On my chosen path, it's magical: a world coated in ice, bone cold, the air still under the white pines but filled with the tinkling of iced needles, the creaking of branches, and the howl of the wind beyond the cliff's edge. Since the rocks are coated in ice, I get on my belly and inch out to the edge. I am lost in an elemental land, tolerated for a moment by raw spirits and small gods.
of Refreshing Terrace, I end up at Dawn Pavilion. A good wrong turn ...no, a right wrong turn? I am glad since, as I was leaving, a group of tourists was behind me: I still want solitude. On my chosen path, it's magical: a world coated in ice, bone cold, the air still under the white pines but filled with the tinkling of iced needles, the creaking of branches, and the howl of the wind beyond the cliff's edge. Since the rocks are coated in ice, I get on my belly and inch out to the edge. I am lost in an elemental land, tolerated for a moment by raw spirits and small gods.The grey around me brightens until I am sure the Sun is above the horizon. There's no chance of seeing it though: the world beyond the edge is lost to cloud. Having seen nothing beyond the cliffs for two days, it is almost as if the world beyond has ceased to exist, like in The Neverending Story. To explore, I head to Refreshing Terrace, the other branch of the "Y." There, is no Sun there either. But I do find my roommates from the night before. We talk and exchange numbers in the cold. And I find more wind, and more ice...I had wanted to hike up Beginning to Believe Peak, but my leg hurts too much. I start towards the nearer of the two cable cars down from the summit. Of course, there's a sign giving hours for the new cable car. New one? After debating for a while (with myself), I decide to follow the piece of paper taped to a sign rather than the map and guide signs. I debated, because even walking/hobbling the mile from Refreshing Terrace to this point had really aggravated my injured tendon. Decision made, I proceed...up more stairs. But soon I hear inappropriately loud people, and then see them, ill-dressed for the weather - Ah ha! I chose wisely, they must have come up the cable car.
I take the cable car down. Between one moment and the next, I leave Otherworld, and see what may be seen in another season - I will be back in the summer.
As I get closer, I see Yongu Monastery, where the hike to the top Huangshan began. I've told the the story of getting back to Tangkou on the not-a-minibus and taking a less expensive hotel room near Mr. Hu's. Here's the view from the window.
I clean up before heading out to lunch. As I do, CCTV9 (the English language channel) tells of a couple getting married with a scandalous age difference: she is 72, he is 97. !?!? The West has aging all wrong. Maybe it's that no matter 
what, everyone over 60 does morning calisthenics? Maybe it's that Confucianism, the underlying fabric of Chinese society, honors, really honors, its elders? Maybe it's being valued by society? Maybe it's eating fresh, unprocessed food? I've never seen a 97-year-old walking, laughing, falling in love. Makes you kind of believe those stories about 250-year-old monks.
Guess I'll have to do a few flashbacks; this one has gotten long.
what, everyone over 60 does morning calisthenics? Maybe it's that Confucianism, the underlying fabric of Chinese society, honors, really honors, its elders? Maybe it's being valued by society? Maybe it's eating fresh, unprocessed food? I've never seen a 97-year-old walking, laughing, falling in love. Makes you kind of believe those stories about 250-year-old monks. Guess I'll have to do a few flashbacks; this one has gotten long.
Good night,
Dan
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