China, Day 6: Hiking Hua Shan
Fine Chinese breakfast of pork dumplings in the Muslim Quarter.
I awoke this morning to an extremely hot and humid day in Xi'an. I immediately headed to the Muslim Quarter for a hot Chinese breakfast of pork dumplings before making my way to Daqingzhen Si, aka The Great Mosque. Outside of the mosque was a long alleyway of local Muslim vendors selling their wares, everything from the ubiquitous jade bracelets and silk handbags to Mao Tse Tung playing cards. Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to fill my bag with more souvenirs before finally entering the holy mosque grounds.
Antique Street outside the entrance to the Great Mosque.
The mosque is one of the largest of its kind in China. It is beautiful, as it was built in the traditional Chinese architectural style (sans the big round dome). I walked through the gardens for a bit (not being Muslim, I was forbidden to enter the mosque) before being drawn back onto Antique Street for some more shopping (this time for some of those yummy baked goods to which I have now become addicted!).
The gardens at the Great Mosque.
This morning I talked two fellows at my hostel into venturing a couple hours outside of Xi'an for an afternoon hike up Hua Shan Mountain. The plan was to meet up around 1:30 pm, take the bus to Hua Shan village, and make our way up the 6km climb to the North Peak before sundown. Unfortunately, our messages continued to get mixed, and I found myself waiting outside the train station for two hours. Finally, before allowing myself to give up on the hike altogether, I found the waiting bus, and an hour later was headed to Hua Shan.
Hua Shan Village.
By the time we arrived, it was 6:00 pm...much too late for my plan to be at the top by sunset. However, the "Chinese Way" is to start the climb up this holy mountain around 11:00 pm, reaching the second summit by 4:30 am, just in time to witness the sunrise. I tossed all reason aside and asked a group of five Chinese guys I met on the bus if I could join them. We imbibed in a carb-loaded dinner, and one of the guys bought me a padlock, explaining to me that it was for making wishes. A man inscribed my name on the lock, along with wishes for health and happiness for myself and my family in Chinese script. Soon after, we began our hike up Hua Shan around 9:00 pm. Fortunately I had remembered to bring along my flashlight.
Pre-hike Chinese pow-wow!
The first couple hours of the hike were very easy-going (the guys I was accompanying were extremely out of shape, so we had to stop every 1/2 km or so). However, my lack of mental and nutritional preparedness began to show just after midnight...the sad news was that we were only halfway to the first summit. A light rain began to fall around 1:30 am, so we took a very extended break, and it took everything in me not to find a bush to crawl under to catch some much-needed Zzzz's!
One of the many vendors along the climb.
As for the hike, it was ridiculously difficult. The entire first 2km of the climb was a steady, paved incline. Then we hit the stairs...3999 in all, to be exact. The entire remaining 4km consisted of these stone steps, many so steep that we climbers had to grip onto heavy chains to pull ourselves up with the little strength we had remaining. I consider myself to be in fairly decent shape, but by 3:00 am, I was cursing stairs forever and wishing I could die right then and there.
My vision at this point of the climb was just as blurry as this photograph...
Finally, 6 1/2 hours, 3999 stairs, 6km, a few cookies and an iced coffee later, we reached the North Peak. We were joined by over a hundred other Chinese around our age (keep in mind I was the only foolish foreigner to make this climb...fortunately one guy in my group knew a wee bit of English...mostly I just laughed when they laughed and tried my hardest not to pass out). While most everyone else took naps, I had to entertain numerous random Chinese college students hoping to practice their English skills at 3:30 in the morning.
Finally, we set out for another fun-filled time of climbing stairs, eventually reaching Central Peak just after 4:30 am. This peak was freezing cold, and jackets were being rented out by the truckloads. I opted to wrap up in my fleece blanket and immediately passed out on a cold, hard stone on the edge of a cliff......
Antique Street outside the entrance to the Great Mosque.
The mosque is one of the largest of its kind in China. It is beautiful, as it was built in the traditional Chinese architectural style (sans the big round dome). I walked through the gardens for a bit (not being Muslim, I was forbidden to enter the mosque) before being drawn back onto Antique Street for some more shopping (this time for some of those yummy baked goods to which I have now become addicted!).
The gardens at the Great Mosque.
This morning I talked two fellows at my hostel into venturing a couple hours outside of Xi'an for an afternoon hike up Hua Shan Mountain. The plan was to meet up around 1:30 pm, take the bus to Hua Shan village, and make our way up the 6km climb to the North Peak before sundown. Unfortunately, our messages continued to get mixed, and I found myself waiting outside the train station for two hours. Finally, before allowing myself to give up on the hike altogether, I found the waiting bus, and an hour later was headed to Hua Shan.
Hua Shan Village.
By the time we arrived, it was 6:00 pm...much too late for my plan to be at the top by sunset. However, the "Chinese Way" is to start the climb up this holy mountain around 11:00 pm, reaching the second summit by 4:30 am, just in time to witness the sunrise. I tossed all reason aside and asked a group of five Chinese guys I met on the bus if I could join them. We imbibed in a carb-loaded dinner, and one of the guys bought me a padlock, explaining to me that it was for making wishes. A man inscribed my name on the lock, along with wishes for health and happiness for myself and my family in Chinese script. Soon after, we began our hike up Hua Shan around 9:00 pm. Fortunately I had remembered to bring along my flashlight.
Pre-hike Chinese pow-wow!
The first couple hours of the hike were very easy-going (the guys I was accompanying were extremely out of shape, so we had to stop every 1/2 km or so). However, my lack of mental and nutritional preparedness began to show just after midnight...the sad news was that we were only halfway to the first summit. A light rain began to fall around 1:30 am, so we took a very extended break, and it took everything in me not to find a bush to crawl under to catch some much-needed Zzzz's!
One of the many vendors along the climb.
As for the hike, it was ridiculously difficult. The entire first 2km of the climb was a steady, paved incline. Then we hit the stairs...3999 in all, to be exact. The entire remaining 4km consisted of these stone steps, many so steep that we climbers had to grip onto heavy chains to pull ourselves up with the little strength we had remaining. I consider myself to be in fairly decent shape, but by 3:00 am, I was cursing stairs forever and wishing I could die right then and there.
My vision at this point of the climb was just as blurry as this photograph...
Finally, 6 1/2 hours, 3999 stairs, 6km, a few cookies and an iced coffee later, we reached the North Peak. We were joined by over a hundred other Chinese around our age (keep in mind I was the only foolish foreigner to make this climb...fortunately one guy in my group knew a wee bit of English...mostly I just laughed when they laughed and tried my hardest not to pass out). While most everyone else took naps, I had to entertain numerous random Chinese college students hoping to practice their English skills at 3:30 in the morning.
Finally, we set out for another fun-filled time of climbing stairs, eventually reaching Central Peak just after 4:30 am. This peak was freezing cold, and jackets were being rented out by the truckloads. I opted to wrap up in my fleece blanket and immediately passed out on a cold, hard stone on the edge of a cliff......
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 9:07 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
It probably doesn't seem like fun, having to command all your will not to give in to what you "think" your body wants, but that sounds a blast to me! Then again, I'm biased... I like mountains. I can be empty when climbing.
you go girl!
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