6-days winter solo backpacking in Mainland China
january 26 - february 01, 2013 saturday to fridayAs per my researched, taking a bus has much shorter travel time than train so I decided to inquire also on long bus terminal which is located just beside the train terminal. It took me some time to know the bus schedule because it was very hard to find local english speakers even the counters who sell the tickets. Since winter is off peak season there was only one bus sked of around 1400H departure and will arrived in Huangshan at midnight. Afte knowing this, I went to shanghai train ticket booth located 300 meters outside from the train station. they told me there is only 1 train departure for the day which was 2124H and I purchased the hard sleeper which is composed of 6 passengers per compartment.
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
how to go to Mt. Huangshan;
from Shanghai city, just take a night train or bus going to Huangshan downtown. Travel time from bus is much shorter (and even cheaper) compared to train. Then, take a bus going to Tankou town (terminal is just infront of Huangshan train station) with an hour travel time. This bus will bring exactly to the foot gate main entrance of Mt. Huangshan. finally, there is a shuttle bus (operates at 0630H-1730H) that will bring on the eastern and western part trail and cable car entrance.
Here's how I traveled (2100H to 1100H)....
step 1: night train from Shanghai (146cny @ 2124H to 0900H)
- waited 30mins before the departure time in shanghai station due to the massive crowd
step 2: bus from Huangshan downtown to Main entrance gate, Tankou town (20cny @ 1hr)
- shuttle bus with streamer/banner outside with Mt. Huangshan print
step 3: shuttle from main gate to trail entrance (19cny @ 30-mins)
- shuttle bus station will just park very near to the trail entrance gate
step 4: pay entrance fee and cable car (telpher) fare (if you don't like to trek)
- be warned if you don't like to feel the trek adventure, just spend money for telpher
step 5: trek to very nearest peak @ 2-3 hours normal pace
- a very tiring but awesome experience with countless stairways
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
For me and based on my research, it is better to use the cable car going to the peak on cloud screen (yungu) as their was not picturesque to see on the trail. I decided to take one-way cable car, amazing views on the way indeed.
For the summary on coming to Mt. Huangshan entrance trail from Shanghai city, it took me an almost 14 hours travel time.
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
"The
walking option doesn’t offer much, just a pavilion and a rock called
Immortal Pointing The Way, and the company of local workers manually
transporting bedding and other goods up and down the thousands of
steps."
http://www.chinahighlights.com/huangshan/yellow-mountain/
I
did not know that the cable car transpo will close at 1630H, and the
park at 1700H. No choice but to trek down jade screen trail as fast as I
can due to the pitch black surrounding and wild monkeys nearby. Good
thing i have my flashlight function on my mobile phone and monkeys did
not come. I arrived the trail exit gate at 1830H. A lady employee
call for a taxi for us with 100 cny fare going to main gate.
By
the way, this day was my birthday, what a painful legs and tiring body
but with marvelous, fascinating, adventure priceless experience
I gained.
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan east, cloud valley (yungu) trail |
Mt. Huangshan western part, jade screen trail
go back to main page
belated happy birthday. and i totally agree, the view you have from those cable cars were better than on the ground. that big rock with a tree on top is such an awesome scenery.
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