Mountain Climbing

Today we got a unique opportunity - to climb the heavenly ladder and spend time on Mount Huashan. Shaped like a lotus flower the mountain has five peaks, and is regarded as one of the five holy mountains of China. Our climb started at 7:30 A.M., with a fun wake-up call. At least we are finally starting to adjust to the ‘through the looking glass’ effect of the time change. Anyhow we gathered our stuff, got on the bus, and drove off into the distance. Distance being one and a half miles (ed. Its late and I want to sound dramatic). The base station was a cable car lift – instead of hiking up the whole mountain, which while no doubt epic is also long, we took a rather nerve racking ride. It makes one thankful for the well known Communist emphasis on safety… in any event despite a little rocking we got to the top. Only pictures can really describe the view. The mountainside was covered in trees, and the sheer rock face was lit beautifully by the noon sun. The rest I will leave to pictures. An interesting group of people greeted us on the top of the mountain. I will never be able to get over how every attraction in China is merchandised. The sight of it all was pretty ridiculous. Any flat ground had a stand on it. After a two hour free climb (where everyone summited at least one peak) we took another ride on the cable car and returned to our hotel for lunch. After some standard Chinese fare we got back on the bus and headed into Xian to watch a recreation of Tang dynasty in music, song and dance. In the Shanxi opera house a troupe reenacted ten different acts. While I am not one for theater, I have to say it was incredibly beautiful. In particular the spring festival dance was extremely impressive. Following the show we had a dumpling feast. Emphasis here on feast. About seven courses of dumplings, ranging from ones filled with (and shaped like) ducks to pumpkin dumplings. It was delicious. We also got some weirder food. The jellyfish was surprising in that it was edible, and also surprising in that everyone tried it. So finally after every piece was finished, most of them eaten by Colin, we returned to the hotel and we are settling in for the night.
-Ben G.