(Almost) The only foreigner in HUANGSHAN, China

by Aina Matamoros Bosch (Spain)

A leap into the unknown China

“60.000 steps? That is no obstacle for me!” I answered when my Chinese friend told me we were going to climb the Huangshan Mountain. I traveled to China in summer 2018 to visit one of my best friends, who is Chinese and had just moved back to Shanghai. I was going to be there for two weeks and I wanted to see authentic China, not just the amazing modern city of Shanghai, with its tall-above-clouds buildings, its super hot humid weather (even though I love the extreme heat) and its successful attempt (in my opinion) to become the Asian version of New York City. Our quest began catching an early morning three-hour train to the city of Huangshan, followed by a one and a half hour bus to get to the first stop of our trip: the village of Hongcun. The bus was full of Chinese people and the guide talked during the whole ride, like a robot, and, of course, I did not understand a word. Hongcun is said to be the village appearing in Chinese paintings. It was full of local tourists, but not even one foreigner, apart from me. Actually, at that point in the journey, I had not seen any foreigner. We wandered through its narrow streets, decorated with red Chinese lanterns and surrounded by water. We found tourists sitting together painting the prettiest spots and kids and old people from the village selling typical toys and food like fruits, tea, spices, and dried mushrooms. There was also a lake full of blossomed pink water lilies. At night, the lanterns lit up and it was magic. It was the perfect real-life image of a traditional Chinese village. The next day was THE DAY. We took a car and then another one-hour bus to get to the starting point of the climb to Huangshan Mountain. Huangshan, literally the Yellow Mountain - in honor of Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor) -, is located in the Anhui province in eastern China. The mountains were formed in the Mesozoic, approximately 100 million years ago, when an ancient sea disappeared due to uplift. Later, the landscape was shaped by the influence of glaciers. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990 for its scenery and its role as a habitat for rare and threatened species. We started at Yungu point, at the front mountain. More than 60.000 1.500-year-old steps and 3 hours of climbing were waiting for us behind a magnificent bamboo forest (never seen one before and it was really impressive). As we began climbing, I was amazed by the shapes of the mountains, the type of trees, the clouds under the summits; the atmosphere was unique. The all-steps way was hard for us but harder for the men who carry resources up the mountain on foot, hanging their cargo from long poles balanced over their shoulders or backs. I found it quite inhumane. Also, no foreigners found along those thousands of steps. We went up and down through lots of steps, we crossed bridges that were a little unstable, we saw some of the famous summits like the one called dog howling the moon and stopped at the little shops selling provisions (the most curious one: whole cucumbers). It was so tiring that at one point we decided to stop talking to save energy. It was all worth it. After two and a half hours (less than what it was supposed to be), 10 km, thousands of steps, (it was like going up 300 floors according to my iPhone) many liters of water, some nuts and fruit and lots of sweat, we reached the top. I stopped, looked down at the whole landscape of Huangshan Mountains and took a deep breath. It was so beautiful… I had one of the best feelings I have ever had: I felt powerful, accomplished, free and alone, even though I was surrounded by tens of people. I then looked at my friend and said: “Thank you for bringing me here, I learned so much about your culture in just two days and by only looking carefully around me. WE DID IT!”