Huang Shan

From Hangzhou, we left and drove what should have been 3 hours but actually took us closer to 5 hours due to getting lost. Tuesday night we checked into our hotel room, got some food and collapsed into bed. Wednesday we were up bright and early and ready to tackle the mountain. As we were leaving the hotel Josh asked if we were going to climb all the way up the mountain. I explained that we were going to take a taxi to the bus station, a bus to the cable car and then a cable car up the mountain. Sounds a bit complicated, doesn't it? Getting up the mountain wasn't too complicated, but coming down is another story (and actually another blog entry). The day was beautiful - blue skies and good climbing temperature (mid 60s). We had heard horror stories about how National Week was the worst possible time to climb Huang Shan (The Yellow Mountains) for various reasons: crazy crowds, long lines, no chance to enjoy the scenery. Even with all of this in mind, we decided to brave it when planning our trip. While the crowds were at times overwhelming, the breathtaking views made up for it reminding us a bit of Yosemite. The kids were troupers trekking up and down the steps. We had only two meltdowns (which for an early day with no naps is pretty good I think). Tori flat out refused to put on her coat and was demanding to be carried everywhere. Finally, I won the battle of the jacket and lunch brought back our happy T. Josh's feet started hurting in the afternoon, so to distract him we started counting the steps. We would alternate counting one set in English and the next in Chinese (much to the amusement of the Chinese around us). What a great, tiring day!

The view from the bottom

Riding in the cable car - the ride up took almost 20 minutes

Tori was determined to climb this ledge. Can you see the safety chain before the great precipice? We were spotting her and demanding she hold our hand all day long (which she did  NOT always like).

There were these crazy stone mushrooms and the kids enjoyed climbing on them.

The day started out sunny....

but before long the mist rolled in. The kids were intrigued to be walking in a cloud. 

The stairs that never end! The kids counted these and there were 225! And Tori was determined to climb ALL of them (by herself).