Yellow Mountain III: descending the Western Steps(1)
New Year's Eve 2007
At least I have a heater this evening, and the miniscule room I'm in somehow manages to accommodate three bunk beds, sleeping a total of six people. My Chinese roommates, I notice, have all opted for the same meal as I, and so we sit huddled around our tea eggs, pot noodles and heater.
I have treated myself to a can of Huangshan beer! with which to celebrate the New Year, hoping that its low alcohol content will be somewhat heightened by the altitude and might help me to sleep.
At one point one of the guys in the room quite unselfconsciously announces that he snores "terribly". This causes much laughter. I assure him it doesn't matter as he seems concerned he will disturb me in particular.
As it happens, the beer, the altitude, last night's lack of sleep and all that physical exertion of the last two days are no match for one Chinese guy's snoring. In fact, it is so loud I'm surprised anyone on the mountain can get to sleep, and so I do see in the New Year in peculiar style: lying in bed and listening to his growling and spluttering...
In the dark, I try to image the noise is fireworks...
The First Sunrise of 2008
I'm happy to be the first up, at just after 5am, and even though I'm quiet I manage to disturb the snoring man. He is lucid enough to mutter an apology before returning back to sleep.
My plan is to return to Lion Peak, a great sunset watching location, in order to watch the sunrise and it's about an hour's walk from my room. This morning I’m not late, and secure a position right at the front of a viewing platform. I'm the first person there.
Unfortunately it's very windy and the position is exposed to the full force of the elements. It's bone-numbingly cold, and I’m grateful for the steady trickle of others who fill up the platform behind me acting as a windbreak.
Other close peaks hinder the view East from Lion Peak and so this spot doesn't provide the unequalled empty skyline and low cloud that I saw yesterday morning, nevertheless, it's decent enough. The rocky outcrops and pine trees provide an interesting foreground, although it does take the sun much longer to actually come into view.
We bang our feet together in collective cold, the other watchers and I. We watch the sky change from night, to pale blue, to pale pink, to pale orange and it's not until way after 7am that the first three beams of sun grip the rock with a fiery claw.
The sun has risen on 2008 and I wish the New Year a good morning.
Locating the Western Steps
The "Tourist Map of Huangshan Mountain" that I bought is not great. Many of the routes aren't marked and it's very difficult to use it as a guide to which paths you should take. So I'm quite surprised to find that the Western Steps begin behind Brightness Top, and that a second climb of this summit is required to reach the route.
I return to the 1840 meter high peak under brilliant blue skies and the morning promises another bright day with temperatures below freezing. I meet again the observatory and remember my desperate scramble for the sunrise the day before. I ask an official if I am on the right path, before continuing downwards for a while towards the Tianhai Hotel.
The Tianhai hotel area is under construction but they still manage to have, here on top of Yellow Mountain, some of the best toilets I've ever visited in China. Warm, clean, and with a choice of Western-style or squat toilets. There was running water, wash basins, soap and even a hairdryer. I don't usually wax lyrical about toilets (especially Chinese ones) but these are absolutely worth a paragraph of their own!
From Tianhai's terrific loos, I head onward towards Lotus Peak passing the Haixin Pavilion which stands between me, Lotus Peak and the sun in glorious silhouette.
Turtle Peak and Alternative Routes
Heading towards Turtle Peak, I soon pick up on the Chinese from a tour guide that Lotus Peak is closed. Alternative routes are in place however and they are none the less spectacular, although my map becomes almost useless at this point as it doesn't cover them.
I abandon my map into my backpack and decide to follow the path wherever it will take me, knowing that I will eventually get to the foot of the mountain one way or another.
Turtle Peak stands at 1710 meters and offers incredible views out over the mountain range, as well as back towards the summit where you can see the meteorological station on Brightness Top and a large, previously hidden reservoir in the valley. There are some unusual circular rock formations here, which a signpost tells me are seen as "snails" to be eaten by the "turtle". They remind me of steamed buns and I'm suddenly very hungry.
Turtle Peak looks out over another rock formation called “Turtle Carrying Gold”. I can't quite conjure up this image in my mind and admire the views instead.
