Over the long weekend (Mid Autumn Festival) the crew and I made the long trek from Beijing to Huangshan. A whopping 7.5 hour, high speed train ride.
We stayed in an Air BNB in the Dongcheng District the night before, to be closer to Beijing South Railway for our early morning departure. I’ve heard quite a bit from various sources, and did my own research on what to expect at Beijing South. I heard 30 minutes to 3 hours of lines and overall, chaos.
With 5 ladies, 1 who had a touch of food poisoning and others who had ventured out the night before, we were lucky to grab a Didi and made it to the train with 1.5 hours to spare.
Like any other experience in China, I expected the worst… Long lines, being pushed and pulled in every direction, loud “barking” (megaphones, megaphones, megaphones), and lack of efficiency.
Fortunately, for a holiday, peak weekend, it went very smoothly. I still would recommend 1 to 1.5 hours to gather your things, get through security, pick up tickets, and find your gate. Lines can get long, but it was organized chaos. The ticket office and gates are easily located, as signs are in English and Chinese.
There are also many small shops and familiar restaurants within the station, to pick up a meal before the lengthy ride.
If you have, pack your noise cancelling headphones and slip those bad boys in once you settle in your seat. Between screaming children, rude people, and the workers chanting to buy whatever meat is in their cardboard box, you’ll be glad to tune it all out.
However, once in Huangshan the weekend was a dream. We stayed at the Cheng Jin Hotel, and if you reach out to them prior to arrival, they will arrange pick up for 180¥- 200¥. The ride to the hotel is approximately 40minutes. If you are looking for a stay before/after the Mountain, or are only planning to visit the Mountain during the day, you absolutely MUST stay here. Accommodations were clean and spacious, and the staff absolutely incredible. They do have staff who speak English beautifully and they will do whatever they can to help you, from outlining your hike on the Mountain with you to walking you to the bus— they are fabulous. After a night on the Mountain, you can arrange a masseuse to come to your room for 138¥ Or you can order bottles of wine or Baijiu and watch American movies in their lounge. Surprisingly, that was one of the best evenings I’ve had in China thus far… Nothing beats watching “Bad Grandpa” (In ENGLISH!) on your 3rd bottle of wine with your gal pals…
The hotel is also centrally located, with a plethora of shops and restaurants… The food and drinks are dirt cheap. Approximately 20-25¥ Or $3-4USD for a meal… Just keep in mind, some restaurants were smellier than others 🍜🥟🍚🍺 I’ll be honest, the 2nd day I ended up at KFC because I just couldn’t do it anymore.
Huangshan offers many activities, but only being there 48 hours we chose 2: The Hot Springs and the Cable Car/Hike up the Yellow Mountains.
Just a forewarning: to get to these areas you must take a bus (11¥ To the Hot Springs, each way & 19¥ Each way to the base of the Mountain). I recommend not looking down, on your way up or down, or you may feel faint. These drivers are cray cray, zipping around corners, on roads that are much too narrow, especially when going neck to neck with another coach bus…. all while driving on the ledge of a frickin’ Mountain! The only thing that got one of my gals through it, was the paparazzi and a bottle of Baijiu 🙄
At the Hot Springs, the view is breath taking, and you can take it in while soaking in a tub of hot red wine… Yes, red wine. Amongst others, are Vitamin C, Ginseng, and Rice Oil… I know, I lost you at red wine. Day turned to night very quickly after arrival which only added to the aura. Lights strung on trees, glowing lanterns, and lit bridges and pathways added to the beauty of this attraction.
It was so relaxing, that after an hour and a half, we were all exhausted and ready to head back to the hotel to sleep… and what a wonderful sleep it was! It had been a long day for us, but you can definitely make a day of it here. They have a spa, restaurants, and lounge chairs throughout the property to relax in. The original price for the Hot Springs is 298¥, but most hotels offer a discount. We paid 198¥ Each. They offer complimentary sandals (on average a size 6 🤦🏼♀️) and towel. If you would like to upgrade to a robe, or rent a waterproof case for your phone, it is an additional 15¥ Obviously, I upgraded, because I’m fancy like that 🙂
The next morning, half of our crew woke up much earlier to get a head start on the Mountain (6am). The remaining 3, left around 10am for the bus to the base. Being a holiday, the lines were not particularly long and actually very easy.
Outside of the hike, the whole thing reminded me of Disney… from the lines, to the sounds, to the souvenirs. If you’re hungry, don’t worry. While waiting in line, they have “barkers” selling ramen and corn on the cob. No one goes hungry in Asia.
“Notice: Congratulations for your children growing taller.”
— (Image of Blue measuring stick next to ticketing booths)
Once at the Mountain we waited about 10 minutes to purchase tickets (230¥ To enter the park, and 80¥ each way on the cable car. If you don’t want to take the cable car and would prefer to hike both ways, you’ll save yourself the cable car fees 160¥ and the approximate 30minutes+ in line for the cable car). To save that cash money ¥, you’re looking at a 2.5-4 hour hike- each way, consisting of mostly flights of stairs… Start training on that stair master now.
Regardless, I would spend the 80¥ At least one of the ways. You won’t get the views from the hike, that you can the cable car… or the experience.
Once on the Mountain… It’s like being in Heaven amongst the clouds. It is truly a remarkable view… a sight to be seen. I kept thinking of the song title, “Breath of Heaven” throughout my hike.
Parts of the hike were a bit terrifying— thankfully I had the help of my gals or a random stranger to lend a hand. There were signs to not climb the cliffs, but of course, we’re in China— who actually reads the signs and abides by the rules here?! Jokers.
We spent half the day on the mountain, from start to finish 5 hours (taking the cable car both ways), & for the other gals about 8 hours (hiking up and cable car down).
There are other activities to take part in after your hike, or if you’re fit, you’ll want to spend the whole day or days on the Mountain. I, once back at the hotel… face planted on my bed for a 4 hour nap. Out. Cold.
You can ask the staff to hook you up with a massage as I stated earlier. As there were 4 of us, we chose to go to the shop. A staff member personally walked us over and helped translate. I expected an actual massage. What we got was a beating.
All 4 of us, were led to a semi small room, with a TV blaring a Chinese sitcom. We initially thought this was the waiting area, however in came our massage therapists… if you dare call them that. We laid fully clothed in a golden velvet recliner as they went to work. It was intense. There was a lot of pounding…. At the end of the 50 minutes, and our massage over, we just looked at each other, thinking the same thing: “What the f*ck!!!!” And burst out laughing.
For $20USD, as my Dad often says, “You get what you pay for!”
We were driven back to Huangshan North, and embarked on the 7.5 hour return to Beijing South. We were tired and miserable… We swiped on Tinder…. We tried to start a dance party within car #2… And alas, we were home in Beijing.
Was the grueling trek worth it? Most definitely.
Bearer of Blonde News 