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Tourists Review about Mountain Huangshan

Hiking up along and down the mountain
Depending on your time and fitness level, you can hike all the way or part of the way, taking cable cars.

There are two directions, the back or west which is steeper and more dramatic and the front or east. The back or west has cable car for half of the journey and the front or east has cable that goes all the way.

So if you cannot walk well, take the front cable car up and down and you can still enjoy the walk along the top of the mountain. If you can walk, there are sedan chairs but it can be a bit scary as these old male carriers have to keep the momentum of moving fast avoiding other tourists.

Most important is to not to push yourself too hard. Stop frequently to enjoy the view.Hiking most of the way or part of the way to Huangshan is an exhilarating experience. Only thing is that traffic is both ways and you have watched for other hikers.

Back/West Route: Going up: I hiked 15 minutes to the cable car station. Then hiked another 4 hours to the top.

Front/East Route: Going down: I hiked 15 minutes to the other cable car station. Then waited for all those who hiked down.
by Slliew

Welcoming Guests Pine (Ying Ke Song)
Its scientific name is Pinus Hwangahanensis. This legendary pine tree is still alive and welcoming guests to Huangshan. It is so famous in China that a security guard ranger is permanently stationed at its side like a soldier to protect it from the crowds of tourists who jostle for best posing position as well as watching at night through severe weather conditions. Special people who get paid to go around estimating the age of trees have guessed that this one is over 800 years old.

Every Chinese tourist who visits Huangshan wants their photo taken with this tree. In the second photo, you can see calligraphy on a nearby rock praising the wonderful scene.

Sunrise at Huangshan
Depend on weather, you may get a chance to witness this much talked about experience of seeing the red sun shooting out above the clouds in Huangshan.

Check with your tour guide and hotel, there is a predictability factor of the chance of seeing sunrise and expected time of sunrise. So plan the time of the year of your trip if this is a must.

You have to do a 10-20 minutes short hike up the steps to site of watching sunrise in the dark and so bring a torch light if your hotel does not supply one. Remember you may be too tired in waking up if you have been hiking the previous day. I woke up just in time to catch sunrise around my hotel.

Taking pictures at Huangshan
Everyone seems to want to have their shots taken to show their friends back home. Easier for me, as I was mainly taking pictures of scenery but still have to avoid bumping each other's camera or each other off the slope.

Because of the crowd waiting in turn to take pictures of all the famous sights with legendary names of characters formed by mountain tops, rocks, clouds and trees. With names like: "Rock that flew" "Monkey overlooking the sea"，"Lotus Flower Peak"

Nine Dragon Waterfall
There are nine sections to this waterfall, hence the name. If you only go as far as the rock where everyone has their picture taken, you will have missed the upper sections. To continue further up, take an unmarked trail to the left and continue to hike some 15 mins and you will see the top of the waterfall. The unmarked trail was pointed out to me after I asked a guide if there was more to the waterfall. Admission fee: 42 yuan.

The hostel (zhaodaiso) called a cab for me to get there for 15 yuan. I took the local blue bus back (1 yuan) after telling the cab driver not to wait for me (they were pestering me to sample tea in a back room which I felt really uncomfortable doing). After visiting the waterfall, I walked down to where a group of old folks were sitting in front of their farm houses .......turned out I had just missed the local bus and so ended up spending 40 mins or so chatting with these friendly farmers.