Spring has finally arrived in Shanghai so I have been trying to enjoy every minute of it. Apparently we get two weeks and then it turns in to summer, so I'm not wasting any time. And I have been celebrating like anyone would...going to two pop concerts and hiking an insane mountain.
Up first was Katy Perry. It was her first venture to China and she put on a great show. Unfortunately I dropped my phone in one of the massive beers they were selling and now have to deal with a bunch of water damage. You win some, you lose some I suppose.
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| Fans at Katy Perry |
The following week I went to see my favourite band from 1997, none other than the Backstreet Boys! A few girlfriends and I went out for a few cocktails (which we certainly couldn't do before the Millennium tour in 2001) and headed to the show. BSB was actually pretty decent. They sang all of their hits and still had some dance moves, even though most of them are in their 40s. Two of them were clearly on drugs and they all looked a little rough, but all in all it was a great night out!
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| Obviously we dressed up like the album cover for Millennium |
That brings us to this past weekend. The one where I climbed a million stairs. Okay--maybe not quite a million, but it certainly felt that way.
A friend of mine invited me to go hiking in Yellow Mountain, about 6 hours outside of Shanghai. She said the hiking would be tough, but it would be worth it. I'd been with her to an amazing series of waterfalls in August and had a great time, so I agreed to go. I knew it would be challenging, but nothing prepared me for what lay ahead.
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| What some of the stairs look like from afar. |
We were a group of 8 and almost all of them were really fit. For some crazy reason, we decided to walk up the mountain, hang out and do small hikes over the weekend, and then take the cable car down.
Here is the breakdown of the walk:
Distance: 12.5-13 kilometers up hill, mostly stairs (it was paved, at least)
Time: ~7 hours
Steps: Roughly 15,000
Difficulty: Endurance wise, very hard. Technically, no problems except for one section where the stairs were so narrow it was tough to squeeze through with a backpack and it was STEEP.
I am not joking--this is one of the hardest things I have ever done. We got about 3km in to the trip and I was ready to turn around, but there were already about 10,000 Chinese people trekking down from the cable car and it was insanely crowded. (They had the right idea...cable car UP and walk DOWN the stairs.
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| It may be hard to see my face, but I was not happy about more stairs. |
Even they were struggling though. I saw countless ladies with no shoes on or small children crying as their parents dragged them along. One lady had clearly been wearing heels (Chinese people like to hike in heels, who knows why) and was walking down in her bloody stockings while her husband prodded her along. There were even old men and women huffing and puffing their way down.
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| For $20 you could have porters carry you. I seriously considered it. |
Once we got about 1/2 way, we realized how much work we actually had to do and I almost broke down and cried. It was hot. The stairs were steep. There were so many Chinese people coming down they almost knocked us off the path several times. You get the picture.
Miraculous I pulled some strength out of nowhere and motivated my friend and I to keep moving. (We got separated from the really fit people for a bit, but we were only 40 minutes behind them!)
It was worth it. The views at the top of Huangshan were absolutely amazing.
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| Love Locks--Like in Paris or London you secure a lock here and throw the key away and it is supposed to help your love stay strong forever. |
Our second day on the mountain was rainy and misty, but I don't think any of us minded too much. We played cards and drank a few beers, gearing ourselves up for a sunrise walk the following morning.
The "hike" wasn't that bad. It was only about 700 stairs from our hotel and there were amazing views of the mountains. It was a little crowded, but we were able to find a good spot eventually.
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| Everyone wanted to take a picture of the sunrise. |
This view was worth those 15,000 stairs.
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| How amazing is this?? |
We were smart and took the cable car down, which was nice since we got to see a different section of the mountain.
Overall it was a great weekend, but I am glad it is over. With the crowds and difficulty of the walk I can comfortably say that I will not be climbing Huangshan again, but I am certainly glad I did!
