Donning our raincoats with a resigned mood, it's time to trek to the Cloud Valley cable car station. Well, it's not going to be a direct route; for sure there will be some notable attractions along the way which I would generally not mind under good weather.
I think all those who stayed in the hotels around the area were all congregated here since it's a bit too early for day trippers to be at the same elevation as us before 9.00am.
Like many attractions in China, live-action NPCs (non-player characters) can be found at Huangshan too! Dressed in traditional attires, we didn't have time to find out what was the role of the above NPC.
Love locks again.
So cliche.
A snippet of blue-ness gave us hope that the sky would clear soon! Hope was in vain as the wet condition continued all the way, even after we descended from the mountain, and went into the city!
That's the thing about human psychology; being hopeful is better than being despaired, and it's good to look forward to a positive outcome. If all else fail, the second picture shows us how the view was like in good weather.
Above would have been breathtaking without the mist.
It was already quite impressive with my naked eyes that day.
A stream with likely ice cold water as the temperature that morning was only about seven degrees celcius! I could only thank my jacket for keeping me warm while blaming the drizzle for the cold raindrops on my face!
Climbing up!
Good to warm the body!
Black tiger pine tree! 9.1 meters tall with a 14.4 x 14.2m crown; its name came about when a meditating monk saw a black tiger on top of the pine tree although he could not find it afterwards. Maybe imagination?
God knows how old the above stone bridge was.
Hmm.. being shepherded to a single line up a long flight of stairs. In normal circumstances, it would have been fine but I did have safety concerns amidst the rain.
We could only thank our blessing stars that there's no push and shove!
Guess we were supposed to climb up a peak for some views but as you can deduce from the above; it's best to take safety precautions! Walk slow, hold on to the railing, and pray your shoes have a good grip.
Because of the crowd, we decided not to venture too far up.
Signs were put up to warn visitors not to climb the cliff and even though there were anyone for the above photo, some visitors would still attempt to take a once-in-their-lifetime pictures. I might do the same when I am younger but not at this age.
Happier to just take the "correct" route.
Worn out Chinese carvings on the rocks.
Huangshan is known for endless walking and I always find it funny to see kids being hauled along the journey; many of whom were full of energy in the beginning, and absolutely deflated halfway through.
Making our way down!
Random photographs as I am short of words, and there's only so much I can remember to jot down on my notepad given that I had to take photographs, and catch up with the rest of our tour mates who were far ahead of me!
The structure of the pine trees is quite fascinating; unlike most trees with branches inching up towards the sun, the branches were arched as if they were arms that were ready to cradle something.
Many hikers were going towards us in the opposite direction, likely day trippers. And it's quite fascinating to see the colorful raincoats that contrasted with the natural surrounding and, moving like ants. It would have been quite eerie to have the same scene at night though.
Information panel but this was a bit strange since it talked about a condition (soft rime) that appeared most frequently in January whereas my visit was in April. I thought it was some famous tree.
Scenery beside this flight of staircase would have been unforgettable but the mist / fog made it impossible. I had to use the dehaze function on photoshop to give you a better view because in real life, everything was just hazy and we could hardly make out the mountains.
Up and up!
A dead tree; lightning strike?
Arrival at the Cloud Valley cable car station!
The same station that we took on day one.
Availability of drinks at the convenience store; pricings for reference, from 8 RMB for mineral water, 15 RMB for soft drinks and 20 RMB for red bull.
Dad was ecstatic to have finally "conquered" huangshan!
Making our way to take the shuttle bus back to the main station.
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Map of Huangshan
As above.
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