Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)

Many say Huangshan is the best place in China; certainly there are others who would take this much further and say it's the best place in the world. I hadn't planned on going, but when in Anhui Province, Hangshuan is so large, so famous, so all-encompassing, it's almost inevitable that you end up there.


As always in China when visiting a major tourist site, first you queue up to buy your ticket.


Next you queue up for the cable car ride.




Then time to take a photo so as to have a map of the mountain handy.


Snacks are available, but costly. An ear of boiled corn, for example, is about 4 times the normal price.


Huangshan is basically a -- quite astounding -- jumble of granite pillars, and is often seen in Chinese art, including in my room at the inn where I stayed.


Also amazing are the countless cement steps that have been painstakingly constructed throughout the mountain passes.


You'll often see workers on the mountain carrying items like food, tools, equipment.


They'll also carry people, for a price.




Yellow Mountain Fever.

If only all public transport systems were so clearly and simply marked.


Free souvenir -- a walking stick given to me by a woman heading down off the mountain. A few days later when I was on the Beijing subway heading home, a Chinese man spotted the Hanzi (Chinese characters) on the stick and asked me "Huangshan?"