Hiking Huangshan – China’s Yellow Mountain

From some of our earlier posts such as hiking in Hiroshima, trekking in Busan, and scaling the Great Wall you may be of the opinion that Dave and I are hardcore outdoors-men.

Or maybe not.

The latter group is correct – we’re really novice hikers who are trying to get in something resembling “in shape”, in the hopes of being able to attempt more difficult climbs later on (cough Everest cough).

Our first major test hit us like a ton of bricks when we arrived in Tangkou, China to climb Huangshan mountain. Though I knew the road would be difficult and the journey long, I was insistent upon getting to climb China’s Yellow Mountain. I had read that this was truly a beautiful mountain and worth the effort. I needed no further convincing – though Dave did.

After a lengthy bus ride from Hangzhou, we trudged our way from the bus station to relax for the day at Tangkou hotel. The semi-soft beds were a warm welcome as compared to the usual rocks we sleep on. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and saving our energy for the mountain trek ahead of us.

I spent the majority of the evening plotting our route and kicking myself for not booking a hostel for one night at the top of the mountain to spend an extra day on the mountain. Huangshan is famous for its sunrises, but without a night at the top of the mountain (albeit an overpriced and less than desirable accommodation) you can’t witness it. I was panicking that we were missing out on the best part and to top it off we wouldn’t have anywhere near enough time to hike to the top and around the summit.

This was beginning to look like a failure before it even started.

After a lengthy back and forth with myself it was decided. We would climb up the Western Steps, walk around the summit, and take the cable car back down.

Phew – something resembling a plan.

Hiking The Eastern Steps

We woke up around 5:45 AM to grab a quick breakfast and hop on the hotel shuttle to the bus station, which would take us to the foot of the mountain. Before leaving the hotel, something in us prompted us to change things up a bit – we would climb up the significantly shorter Eastern Steps. A more reasonable way to start the hike.

The foot of the mountain was swarming with Chinese tour groups, but as they opted for the cable car directly to the summit we quickly (and thankfully) parted ways. How can you proudly say you hiked up the mountain if you took the cable car the whole way right? To each his own I guess. As for us, we took the steps, and for the first time in China, we were the only Westerners in sight for the next two hours.

Step after step we slowly dragged our measly legs. On our way we passed several middle-aged porters, whose skin could barely contain their leg muscles. These guys carry up what I can only imagine is 50 kilos. Unbelievable.

If the cable car isn’t adventurous enough for you but you don’t want to walk up you could always take the sedan chair up – though I don’t imagine there are too many takers.

Two hours later (an hour ahead of schedule) we reached the top. Instead of solitude and fresh mountain air were greeted with hordes upon hordes of Chinese tourists and the squeaking loudspeakers of their guides. Not exactly the summit atmosphere we had hoped for.

The Summit Of Huangshan

We hopped around from lookout to viewpoint trying to find a way to escape the tour groups. With narrow passageways and staircases at one point it literally felt like we were just standing in line – a neverending line for that matter. Dave started to throw a temper tantrum going as far as to say that the whole trip to the mountain wasn’t worth it because of all the people at the top.

We had to break away, and fast.

Finally, we found Lotus Peak, the true peak of the mountain and an additional hike up from where we were – enough so to scare off the tourists.  We could finally be alone with nature, for the most part.

When we made it to the top the view was truly breathtaking. With all the limestone cliffs opening up in front of you it’s right out a fairytale. Even with the massive amount of tourists on the mountain, this was hands down the best hike I have ever been on. I could not tear my eyes away from the view. The pattern and formation of all the mountain peaks look so different, there just wasn’t enough time to properly admire each one and give it enough attention.

Nature really does work in wonders.

Descending The Western Steps

With plenty of daylight hours to go we decided to climb down the Western Steps instead of taking the cable car down. All of a sudden we were greeted by these friendly fellows.

Friendly, of course, until one guy got too close, and then Master Monkey (as I shall call him) went into attack mode and almost clawed our faces off. We all ran back up the stairs at the sound of monkey screeching and hissing and it took more than a few minutes for my legs to stop shaking. If my bladder had been even half full I wouldn’t have been surprised if it just emptied itself at that moment. Apparently the sign at the beginning of the mountain indicating not to flirt with the monkeys was not kidding around.

The rest of the walk down was tame. Aching muscles, gorgeous views – the usual. I kept thinking about how it would have been great to have such beautiful nature in America, and then I realized – there is! We just never got out to see it. Don’t make that mistake. If you’re in DC, check out Old Rag in Shenandoah. If you’re in the Midwest, why not try Colorado vacation rentals and hike the Rockies?

By 3pm we were at the bottom, ready for our bus back to home base. We couldn’t have been happier to jump right into our semi-soft king-size hotel bed.

A perfect end to a perfect mountain hike.

Logistics:

From Hangzhou there are buses that go directly to Huangshan Scenic Area (the town of Tangkou) or the ancient town of Tunxi which is 1 hour away from the mountain. The buses to Tangkou leave at 9:50 and 10:50 and take 3-4 hours.

From Tangkou bus station you can take a 20yuan cab to the hotel or walk 25 minutes. From the bus station take a left onto the main road and walk 20 minutes. When the road splits off down to the right you will see the Tangkou Hotel, follow the sign to the hotel.

In Tangkou our hotel arranged a 5 yuan shuttle to the bus station to go up to the mountain entrance.

For 19 yuan the mountain buses take you to either the Eastern of Western Steps entrance/cable car.

The Eastern Steps walk up takes 2 hours. From there you can walk around the various peaks on top of the mountain (Bright Summit Peak) and make your way to the Lotus Peak (the highest peak on the mountain at 1864 meters).

Directly from the Lotus Peak if you continue walking down you will pass by the Western Steps cable car and can make your descent down the Western Steps route. From the top of the Lotus Peak to the bottom of the Western Steps route it took us 2 hours.

The views are better on the Western Steps route than the Eastern Steps.

Our entire route took us from 7:30am-3pm (7.5 hours).

If you only have one day on the mountain we recommend following our route – climb up the Eastern Steps, walk around the different viewpoints and make your way up to the Lotus Peak and then down the Western Steps route.

There are many public bathrooms facilities (bring your own toilet paper though) around the mountain and many stands selling food and drinks.

From the bottom of the Western Steps you buy another bus ticket for 19 yuan to take you to the bottom of the mountain.

The bus ride takes about 20 minutes.

Tickets to the mountain cost 230 yuan with a 50% discount for students.

From Tangkou there are direct buses back to Hangzhou at 6:30, 7:40, 14:15, etc that take around 4 hours.