Hi all!
My next stop on my trip was Huangshan to see the beautiful Yellow Mountains. Be warned, this post is quite lengthy!
South Huangshan train station is located about 7 hours away from Beijing South station and can be accessed by travelling on the bullet train. The train tickets are available online and there are various class tickets. I decided to go with the seat rather than the sleeper and it was 549Yuan one way. The train is smooth and fast, travelling at 305km/h. The actual trains are really clean and spacious with plenty of leg room and space for luggage. The seats are comfortable and can be tilted back slightly so you are not sat upright and can get some sleep. There were two toilets per carriage and they were maintained by the staff throughout the journey, so they were nice and clean and smelling fresh (unlike the toilets I find on trains in the UK).
The train journey was very pleasant and there was a small shop on board of the train to buy food, snacks, ice cream and drinks. Not really a great selection and It is a long journey, so I would suggest to prepare a bag of goodies for yourself before your trip. A hot water dispensing machine was located in each carriage which was great for making tea or just drinking water.
So, after a 7 hour train journey I made it to Huangshan to start my adventure to the Yellow Mountain. I was super excited but even more so because luckily it snowed the evening I arrived and I just know its going to be even more magical and I’ll be able to enjoy the mountains at their best. Only downside is that it was going to be colder than expected, -10degrees to be exact.
From the train station to my hotel (Cheng Jin Hotel), which was at the base of the mountain was about a 40 min journey via a taxi and cost 200Yuan. As the train arrived late in the evening, I decided to take a taxi rather than faff about trying to find the right bus, but buses are an option if you are on a budget. The Cheng Jin Hotel was located at the base of the mountain and I decided to stay here for the night then start my hike to the top the following morning, after I had a good nights rest and I felt this worked perfectly. If you are planning to stay at the base of the mountain, I would really recommend Cheng Jin Hotel. It is a 3 min walk from the bus station, which you need to go to catch the bus to cable carts that take you part way up the mountain. For the price of the hotel I was amazed with not only the location but the service and the cleanliness. The benefit of staying here was that I could leave my luggage here the following morning and pack a small backpack with essentials for one night for my trip to the top. The lady who owns the hotel is called Chen and is SUPER lovely and speaks EXCELLENT English and I couldn’t believe she’s taught herself by watching English spoken shows. Chen helped in planning the journey (my very own tour guide) to the top of the mountain and suggested the route based on the hotel we were staying at on the mountain (Beihai hotel) and suggested we check out the hot springs which are located approximately in-between both cable cart stations. I am so glad she told us about the hot springs because one thing i didn’t think I needed to pack was swimwear. She had told us that they provided you with everything you needed at the hot springs so not take excess weight. They provided towels, toiletries, flip-flops, hair dryer etc. I thought it would be a lovely treat after all the hiking and cold weather.
So, I set off on my trip to the top of the Yellow mountain about 10am the following morning. A short walk to the bus station and i caught a bus to the Yungyu cable cart station which was 19yuan one way per person. There is an option to go to the Yuping station, all depends on your route and where your hotel is based. I had decided i would go up from the right of the mountain (Yungyu station) and come down the left side (Yuping station), so I could experience as much as possible. From here you will have the chance to purchase some snacks, drinks, snow/ice grips etc. A little tip is that the food at the top is not great and probably cost you about £15-20 per person. I would suggest to take a couple of pots of noodles and snacks with you. The cable cart takes you part way up the mountain and the ticket is 90Yuan each for one way and the entry to the Yellow Mountain is 115Yuan for students or 230Yuan for non-students. The prices can change depending on the season so be aware of that. Also do check the opening and closing times of the cable carts whilst you are there. While I was there they opened at 7:30am and closed at 16:30pm, last thing you want is to go for the day and not be able to get back down. There are maps available on entry to the site and the paths are sign posted really well, so not much chance of getting lost.
About 10 mins into the hike I had my first fall haha. I was being super careful whilst walking down the stairs, but parts of the snow had melted and turned into ice over night. Thankfully I had my Quecha backpack on (listed at the end of this post) which saved me from hurting myself too much, as I fell backwards the backpack took a lot of the shock. I was in so much pain but I think the cold helped numb everything. It took a good 4 hours to get to our hotel. Baring in mind we were stopping off along the way to take breaks and take pictures of the amazing view. Due to the icy weather there were some routes that were closed due to safety reasons. If you want a real challenge you can skip the cable carts and hike all the way up. If the weather was a bit better I would have liked to have done this. Depending on the weather and your level of fitness it can be quite challenging and there are a lot of steps. But don’t worry, there are plenty of areas to stop and take a break, from viewing decks to benches to take in the beautiful views. Be warned, take extra memory cards for your camera, you will be taking hundreds of pics as the views are just amazing, never ending and you’ll want to capture it all. I have to say what you see with your own eyes can never be seen in pictures. As you can see from the pictures below, I did what I needed to do to get the perfect picture, even though everyone looked at me as though I was a maniac. It was worth the dodgy looks because I got the shot I was after.
There aren’t many hotels available at the top of the mountain. Sadly I wasn’t very happy with the hotel I picked (Beihai Hotel). Apart from the perfect location there wasn’t much else to rave about. On arrival to my room there was a horrible sewage smell coming from the bathroom, there was mould around the bathtub and it just generally wasn’t very clean but the bed sheets were, which I was glad about. There was no way I was going to be showering there and decided i would shower the following afternoon when we made it to the hot springs. I did get the staff to change my room and the following room was slightly better but nothing great. Remember you are paying for the location and nothing else, so you will have to grin and bare it.
After a little rest I decided I wanted to go and see the sunset. If you are up for a little challenge I would suggest to definitely go and see the sun setting over the sea of clouds. The views are just breathtaking and no pictures can do it justice. Ensure that you allow yourself enough time to climb to the viewing deck (there are a couple of options) as you will be stopping along the way to take pictures, breaks etc. I would suggest to allow at least a couple of hours. Last thing you want is to get there and just have missed it…it happened to quite a few people. The climb to the top was quite challenging as the steps are quite slanted and if there was snow and ice on the ground making it more challenging. I actually started to struggle to breathe a little and think it was because the air was sooooo cold. Something that scared me was the slanted steps with no handrail as some of them were so icy, I feared that I would slip and there was nothing to stop me. Main thing is to take your time, there is no rush. I preferred if there was no one behind me so I didn’t feel pressured. I finally made it to the top and what a view. I’ve inserted a picture below but honestly i don’t think the true beauty can be captured. I love watching the sunset but this one was a special. Soon as the sun sets it gets pretty dark pretty quick so do ensure you take a torch with you. At the end of this post I have linked the Quechua hike light I took from Decathlon.
After a good nights rest I was ready to make my way down the mountain to the Yuping cable cart station and looking forward to the hot springs. You would think coming down would be easier than climbing up, don’t be fooled, it’s not as straight forward as climbing down a load of stairs. I have to say there are more stairs on the route I took to go down than the way i came up, but it was all worth it. The biggest challenge was the 100 step-ladder, which was a fairly steep staircase. After 4-5 hours of hiking down (many stops along the way) i got to the Yuping cable cart station and made my way down and had hours of relaxation to look forward to when I got to the hot springs.
The bus from the cable cart to hot springs was 8 yuan each. The Hot springs cost 298 Yuan for non-student and 148 Yuan for students and are amazing. I spent a good three hours in the hot springs, taking time to relax and enjoying the view of the mountainsl. I will have a more in-depth post about the hot springs and pictures to follow. I got a bus from the hot spring to bus station which was 11Yuan.
After a short bus journey back to the bus station i returned back to Cheng Jin Hotel to collect my luggage and say goodbye to Chen and say thank you for all her help. Chen had given me an idea of how much it should cost to head back to the station so i headed back to the bus station, haggled with a taxi driver and got a spot in a mini bus to the train station for 30Yuan per person. I finally arrived at the station to make my way to my next stop which was SHANGHAI!! As always I was super sad to be leaving this beautiful place but there are plenty more memories to make. Hope you enjoyed my post.
Here are a few things I suggest that you take on your hike which helped me a great deal:
- Do not forget to take a torch with you. If you are planning on going to see the sunset by the time you descent down from the sunset view points to your hotel its going to get very dark and not all the paths are lit up. I took a Quechua hike light from Decathlon. Its rechargeable and very compact and lightweight. I liked that it had a strap along with a clip and could adjust the position of the light and tilt it down so it lights up the ground in-front of you.
- Decent sized backpack depending on the number of days you plan to hike and stay at the top of the mountain. I took the Quechua F30L ait+ L backpack in black and pink also from Decathlon. This 30L backpack was perfect for clothes, toiletries for 1/2 people for 1 day and 1 night. I packed very light, as I knew I would need to carry this with me with for the hike to the top. This backpack was super lightweight and really comfortable to carry as the straps really helped hold it into place also has multiple pockets.
- Depending on the weather when you are travelling, Ice snow grips (however are available to buy on site) are really handy if it gets snowy and icy. They are available on site if the weather does happen to get bad when you get there. On entry they are 10Yuan a set and at the shop before the start of the hike they are 20Yuan. If you have some of your own and know the weather might get bad, take them with you.
- Depending on the time of year you go, invest in a decent drinks bottle. I would suggest one bottle/flask that can store cold or hot drinks. I do have one but no idea where it was from as it was a gift, so can’t recommend one.
I would also like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Decathlon for providing me with some great products for my trip. I will have more in-depth reviews soon.
(Please note all pictures were taken by myself either with a Nikon D5000 SLR or Go Pro Hero 4).
