When we reached the gate, we encountered a small dilemma. The situation presented us with two options, that weren't really ours to choose. Dong Laoshi received an electronic letter from Nanjing University confirming that our group of students are full-time 南大学生 (NanDa students). If the letter passes, then we would be able to receive student discounts, which come out of our Dialogue trip budget. If it doesn't pass, then each person would have to pay a rather expensive admission ticket in order to hike. Dong Laoshi used her 关系 (Guanxi) and persuasion skills to finally convince the man in the black suit, who was in charge, that we were eligible for student tickets. When we finally got past the front gate, we took cable carts up what would have normally been a four-hour long hike. The view was amazing, but incomparable to what we were in for during the rest of our walk up to the peaks of the mountain.
As we left the carts of the Cloud Valley New Cableway, we started to hike towards our first destination: the Beginning to Believe Peak. The story behind the name of this peak comes from a man who once started the hike half-heartedly, unknowing of what he was about to experience, until he reached the first view stop. This stop presented a incredibly picturesque Huang Shang, enabling the man to finally realize that this place, indeed, lives up to its reputation. On our way up to the North Sea Guesthouse, which is where our lunch break would take place, we stopped by several more peaks and famous pine trees. Most of the students were surprised that in China, "hiking" means climbing up thousands of stairs, instead of trails, that encircle the mountain sides.
White Goose Peak and the Black Tiger Pine only received more Ooooo's and Ahhhhh's. From the top of the peak, we were able to see the monkey-shaped rock that amazingly balanced itself on top of another peak. The incredible height we were at gave us an jaw-dropping view of the surrounding peaks and the Anhui villages and towns beyond Huangshang. This sight was what I found to be the most incredible of all. As everyone was enjoying the all-natural scenery and appreciating the marvelously rare chance to be where we were, I couldn't help but think of how the tourism business had taken the serenity and 风水 (fengshui) from the naturalness of China's most beautiful mountain range. On our way up, we passed by a large poster of Deng Xiao Ping standing on a cliff of Huangshang with a quote that said, "This is a great place for developing tourism." By the looks of it, Deng Xiao Ping is absolutely correct in his statement.
Just as we were taking more and more rests, time was ticking and we were falling behind schedule, according to Dong Laoshi. As we made stops at the Dispelling Peak and passed by the West Sea Guesthouse, our ultimate destination had finally arrived. The two rings of the mountain required a lot more time for a complete exploration, so when we got to the canyon, we only had time to explore the first ring. The tunnels within the canyon were refreshingly cool and relaxing as we made our way around the first ring. As we were approaching the top, we spotted the other part of the our group, that had hiked separately, right across the mountain range on the other side. We were able to shout and pretty clearly understand each other; they wanted to be where we were and we wanted to be where they were. Thus, our group continued to climb our way up as the mountains seemed to get increasingly breathtaking. The thrill of hiking up so high and being able to see all that we were seeing with our own very eyes was definitely worth the tiredness we would be feeling after all this.
The way down was a different experience. I had gotten ahead of my initial group and eventually caught up with some other students. The five of us walked the whole way down together, purchasing ridiculously overpriced cold watermelon slices and ice cream to cool us off on the hard hike down. This part was a lot more strenuous, in my opinion, than the incline because we were already worn out by now; some people's legs were shaking and others were getting cranky from the heat and exhaustion. I on the other hand, was just feeling the Red Bull Extra from my lunch break hit me and was unreasonably wired during our decline.
After some waiting, more ice cream eating and final picture taking, we finally boarded the bus that would be taking us to our and luggage and our dinner, and to the coach bus that had been sent from Nanjing University to take us four hours back to Nanjing.
This long weekend has indeed felt long, but was a time I would never forget. Anhui was the one part of the dialogue I was really looking forward to and I have been fully satisfied with our stay. Being in the country side and seeing the other part of China, outside of the big flourishing cities, was a nice change of pace. It reminded me that China is never easy to define, right when you think you've got a good grasp of the culture and lifestyle, BAM, you're hit with a polar opposite experience. The rural people were very hospitable and there was a widespread sense of sincerity. Being able to relax, play with village children, talk to elderly villagers and live in a 300 year-old village home in China was most-definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we were so lucky to experience it as we had these past three days.
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