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Last weekend we flew to the yellow mountains to discover why people say that once you climb Mt. Huangshan, you never want to climb another mountain again. It turns out that Mt. Huangshan is the single largest stairmaster in the world, if not the universe. From the moment you pay your 230RMB entrance fee to the moment you check into your 4 star mountain top hotel, there is neither the necessity nor the opportunity to leave the steep granite stairway that stretches 10 miles from bottom to top.

The views from the mountain are truly striking and changing all the time as the mist flows through the slender peaks. We kept the trigger on our camera cocked at all times because the perfect photo could be completely swallowed by mist within seconds. We expected to trade the noise of Shanghai for some peaceful time in nature. Unexpectedly, the mountain stairway was packed so full of people we had to sharpen our elbows to push past the crowds like we were forcing our way out of a Shanghai subway car.

We prepared for the hike by packing a full day's worth of provisions, which turned out to be totally unnecessary, because, at predictable 15 minute intervals we would come upon well stocked stands selling water, beer, hot noodles, frozen popsicles and all the tchotchkes you desire. (It's important to note here that everything, including the full-size freezers are hiked up the steep granite stairway. There are no roads whatsoever.) Whoever designed the mountain path had no illusions about respect for nature in China because they stationed stone trashcans every 30 or 40 feet. Even so, many of the hikers could not wait that long to toss their bottles and used cigarette packs. (Smoking on a mountain hike? Yes! And there's even engraved "Smoke Here" signs on the walkways.)

The mountain is shockingly developed. We were surprised that all the food stations are equipped with TVs, radios, and refrigerators, but even more surprised that the highest peaks of the mountain support several hotels and local offices for the police, bank of china, china post, and china telecom. (Again, remember there are no roads or helipads.) How do these establishments get supplies, you may ask? Well, one could conceivably use the cablecars at night to shuttle supplies to the hotels but from what we can tell, everything that goes in or out is carried by a steady stream of laborers with bamboo yokes. Among other things, we saw them carry food and vegetables, used laundry (going down), fresh laundry (going up), bags of cement, steel rebar, floor tiles, tanks of fuel, and crates of waste.

Thanks for the report!

"the single largest stairmaster in the world" - LOL! But 10 miles?!?! And I'm not totally surprised to hear about the development. I don't think appreciation for nature as wilderness has arrived in China (and with all those people maybe it never will). Nor has the idea of leaving things alone - I remember being surprised to see big Chinese characters carved into the rock at Stone Forest, tastefully picked out in red...

This is obviously too strenuous for aged pandas. The pictures were magical. Thanks Liz.

Gpanda -- There are several cable car lines going up to different areas which carry tourists in the daytime, then there is the sedan chair carried by the laborers, terrible idea. The villages on the flats around the mountain are achingly beautiful, Seth and Liz went to one where the big pond scene in "Crouching Tiger" was filmed.

I leave the tough hikes for the younger set. They enjoy reminding me how old I've become.

Shanghainese --- Was the pond scene filmed in Hongcun? We had a great time traveling around the surrounding villages. Though, we could have used a better map. Our locally purchased tourist map was not drawn to scale, it was not topological, and the airport was not on the map. I suggest finding a better map online or in a guide book before heading to Huang Shan.

Yes, like the water towns near Shanghai, the villages surrounding Tuxi have UNESCO status. The maps of the mountain are ok but not of the villages, totally off scale.

I've always wondered why some people like to use "_" in their screen names. Perhaps "Summer_in_Shanghai" can inform us.

_s are all the rage. Don't knock it till you try it.

I noticed that a lot of the online poker players use "_" in their screen names. It may be a generational quirk.