Detailed Postings for the Day
Woke up to a freezing temperature of just seven degrees celcius, and I could only be grateful to be borne in an era when heat radiators / heaters are the norm to be installed within hotel rooms!
I was up very much earlier to hopefully catch the sunrise but as it was drizzling; I decided to go back to sleep! Rain had stopped when I once again awoke from my slumber; and I joined my family members for a unscheduled morning walk surrounding Shilin hotel!
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Unwittingly trespass a private property which looked like a pretty high-end hotel called Upcloud Shilin Villa. Bet the surrounding views would be unmatched in a cloudless, blue sky day.
Had breakfast in Shilin hotel which was alright. Nothing to complain about since they were just stomach fillers for a stomach that had emptied overnight, and I am not so much a breakfast person.
Start of our morning trek down the mountain! Pity the drizzle had returned and it was such a pain to walk in the rain! Not to mention that the whole mountain was shrouded in mist and fog, and I can't make out much of the scenery for most of the trek!
Quite an interesting sight to see those vibrantly colored raincoats trudging in the rain, in the midst of brown and green surroundings.
Rare blossoms beautifying the environment! As it was still too cold up on the mountains, we could only see more blossoming flowers halfway or at the foot of Huangshan.
A conclusion to our Huangshan visit, on our 3rd day!
Lunch time! Typical of tour packages in China, variety is limited to really Chinese cuisines, where you get communal dishes of meat, vegetables, soup and fish, and yes, white rice.
Loving the braised pork belly here!
Only bad thing; you need plenty of white rice!
End of our lunch; honestly, the sustainable soul in me can't stand seeing food wastage but the selfish devil in me was telling me that I could eat all that and endure a spike in weight gain after I return home. So, selfish won the argument, over sustainable.
Back on level of the restaurant and it was packed with customers! Now, restaurants in China are cut throat businesses and it was reassuring to see so many people; after our meal though, so didn't quite matter.
The pot of braised pork belly that I had earlier! So tempting to ask for takeaway but I knew dinner was just a few hours later. Being in tour packages mean you will seldom go hungry.
Back on the coach, which we have missed for almost 24 hours, since it can't drive up to Huangshan! A large coach for 40 persons; we had plenty of spaces since our tour had only 12 persons.
I thought the rain would have relented at the foot of the mountains. Turned out to be still a pain in the ass; who likes rainy weather while travelling? Not for me for sure.
Exploring the Lakeside Ancient Village along Xin'An River, which was so quiet; I think we were the only group for most parts of the walk. Boring it sure was, and the rain didn't help.
Cruise Along Xin'An River - a heavy lunch, a rainy day, a boring village; elements that eventually contributed to a sleepy cruise along the 365-kilometer long river. Thank god it was less than an hour long.
It's just right to have something cold, in the cold.
Attending the Cultural Show on Huizhou Culture at Huangshan Performing Arts City; I have watched enough of such shows in China to assume that they would roughly be the same setup, just focusing on the differences in regional culture.
My assumptions had been broken every single time as I was hooked on it for the entire one-hour performance! It was entertaining and the use of technology was just eye-popping; with movable audience seats, water gushing from platforms to emulate floods and LED panels that showed stunning graphics!
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Back to the hotel, feeling totally overwhelmed by what I saw during the show and wondering if my workplace can replicate, albeit to a small extent given how little budget we have.
Night was still young; so we ventured out of the hotel, only to find that there's really nothing much around the hotel, and Google Maps don't quite work in China, making own-self exploration a challenge. Well, guess safer to go back to the hotel.
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