Hua Shan and Xi'an

Finally, I got out of Beijing to do some hiking. I met an awesome girl at Ultimate who was looking to hike Hua Shan (Mount Hua) as well. Hua Shan is one of five sacred Taoist mountains in China. Before leaving Canada, I had it in my mind that I would do a lot of hiking. Regrettably, that hasn't been the case, but I can't complain because I've been on some serious adventures since I've been here.

We left Beijing Tuesday evening on the overnight train and arrived in Xi'an at around 830am on Wednesday. From Xi'an, we hopped on a bus to take us to Hua Shan, which is a two hour commute. We began our ascent for the North peak at around noon and made it there in just under three hours. This was much faster than we had anticipated. There is a section of the trail called Golden Lock Pass. It is a literal name, as the path is surrounded by iron chains that are covered in golden locks and red ribbons. You can get your name, and anyone else's name, engraved on the lock and then attach it to the chains. Once it is locked, it allows for family and friends to pray for your health and safety. 

Before we reached the North peak, we could hear massive chatter. It was inevitable that we wouldn't be alone on our quiet, peaceful hike, we are in China! Even on mountain tops, you can't escape the masses. How did all these Chinese people make it to the top do you ask? Well, for 200 yuan, you can take a gondola to the top. These conditions were not ideal, so we quickly ate our lunch and continued toward to East peak. This leg of the trail seemed to drag on because there were so many people. 

To best way to pass time was to observe others. I read that I might encounter Chinese people making their way to the top in heels, skirts or slippers, but it didn't register until I actually witnessed this with my own eyes. If you look closely enough, you can see the girl in the pink pants wearing wedges. She had to take them off part way because it was too steep to continue with them on. I also saw a family carrying a two month old baby in their arms to the top and an 81 year old man steadily climbing the steep stairs. When I was complaining about being tired I looked up and saw this man carrying propane tanks to the top - I stopped  complaining. 

We originally thought we would stay the night on the East peak, but after arriving we decided to make our way to the West peak. According to Lonely Planet, the people at the 'hotel' were friendlier. I wouldn't call our accommodations a hotel, rather, a concrete room. The bed were dirty and it was chilly, but we were protected from the rain. We ate a local dish of cold noodles followed by some milk tea in an attempt to warm up (it worked). We set our alarm for 430am and were on our way back to the East peak to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy morning and we weren't able to see the sunrise.

This was our scenery at 5am. It might not be the sun but it certainly was beautiful.

We got an early start Thursday morning and made it to the South peak in no time. The conditions weren't ideal but it certainly wasn't the worst weather. It was raining at the top and quite windy, but as we made our descent, it started to clear up. The best part about starting so early is that there were very few people on the mountain.

We managed to hit all five peaks and were on a bus back to Xi'an by 1030am. Unfortunately, the buses don't leave until they are full; this meant that we had to wait an additional hour before departing. When decided that walking to our hostel was a good idea, until the sky opened up and poured cats and dogs on us. We were prepared for rain so we opened up our ponchos and covered up our bags. 

We found our hostel with ease and took a much needed shower. If you are ever in Xi'an and need a place to stay, I highly recommend this hostel (Han Tang Inn Youth Hostel).The staff was friendly, it was very clean and always something to do. It was the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in.

Our adventure through Xi'an was great. We spent most of our time in the Muslim Quarter exploring the antique market and eating delicious local food. The most famous local dish is yangrou paomo, which is a lamb meat soup that is poured over bread cubes.

I was extremely tired at this point. I don't sleep well when I travel and although we had a sleeper, I didn't sleep well on the train. I slept like a baby at the hostel and was up at 730am. We showered, found some breakfast (5 bean beverage, mmm) and made our way back to the Muslim Quarter where we shopped and explored more outdoor food stalls. I am trying to purge some of my items so I don't have so much to take back to Canada, but I seem to have accumulated more things.. Oh well, they are mostly gifts so that is how I am justifying my purchases.

After grabbing a bite for lunch, we made our way to the City Wall. We rented bikes and took a stroll around the city. The wall is 14 square kilometers. I got a sunburn, but it was worth it. Before catching the train back to Beijing, we had another bowl of paomo, bought some red bean buns, dried kiwi and walnuts for the train ride back. We made it with plenty of time to spare.

Some might ask if we saw the Terracotta Army, just 28 km outside of Xi'an, and the answer is no. The Terracotta Army could be considered the highlight of a trip to Xi'an, but we decided not to make the trip. My highlight was Hua Shan. A few of our friends that lived in Xi'an said we would be disappointed with the site and it wasn't really worth a visit. I've also been told that it is worth the money if you hire a tour guide to walk you through the history, but we decided to save our money and not go. So if you're thinking that we're crazy for not seeing this historical site, you might be right. If you ask me, it sounds like a great reason to return to Xi'an :)

Allison and I at the North Peak.