March 16-18 Tunxi & Mt.Huangshan, Anhui

It's a bit of a rush getting off the train and stepping out the door at the station. Streetscape hits you all at once. Scanning for a way out of the crowd, fingers gripping the map, eyes locked on a mode of transportation, or lack thereof.
It's early afternoon when we arrive at Tunxi. Strangely,  we're approached by and haggle with a middle-man before we even see the rickshaw driver. As we load up, this overwhelming feeling of discomfort and guilt for even attempting to haggle swells over us... Our driver is a man half my size and keeps pedaling super hard to pull our weight (plus 60 lbs in backpacks) on his old rusty single-speed machine. Crazy.  It's hard to believe that's even physically possible. I'm not even sure tipping him at the end amounts to a fair exchange.

LaoJie (Old Street) has plenty of old world charm

for good luck

mao feng, green tea

always charming

 

Unlike surroundings of the train station, Tunxi's main street (LaoJie) in the historic part of town, transports us in time. Smell of tea and fresh sesame caramels permeates the air.

Yet again, we haven't made prior arrangements and have to 'settle' on a suite in a historic mansion turned hostel. Bummer ;).What an amazing room with a view of densely packed rooftops below! The buildings lining the area date back to the Ming dynasty and have been painstakingly restored and later converted into shops and restaurants. Many of the houses boast a decorative "horse head gables", which originally had a practical use as fire baffles. Seeing them from above reminds me of scenes from 'Raise the Red Lantern'.
Smells nostalgic around here.

tea galore

'horse head' gables

local specialty items - ink stones and brushes

hammering out sesame treats

Old Street Gate. 

The great urban sight of that evening was something else entirely - bare baby bottoms! Courtesy of baby pants especially designed to allows kids to 'go' without diapers whenever and wherever they like. 

Squat-n-Go! 

Mt. Huangshan was the main reason we visited this region, surreal image of mountain tops buried in mist and clouds imprinted on our minds. That postcard driven expectation flipped on it's head once we arrived at the park - hordes of Chinese tourists with flagpoles and megaphones were inching their way up the 4000 steps to the top. With the best trail sections (those more isolated and challenging) closed for maintenance, we push ahead of the groups as much as possible to experience a moment of silence every couple hundred feet. The entrance fee ($35) comes sans trail closure information, we get to read about details past the gate.

Running short on time, we're forced to take cable car down. A bit of a heated/creepy situation arises during the ride when a group of five men starts taking photos of me with their cell phones, inches from my face. One of those awkward and uncomfortable travel moments. Usually worth a laugh, but we're tired and get defensive instead. Stuck in a tiny space up in the air, we make the best of it and glue our faces to the window. Spectacular views all around.

Back in town, feeling craaazy adventurous, we stop at a tiny family restaurant that looks like it's run from a living room and pick out dinner produce from a fridge. Very hands-on menu approach. Mushrooms and a whole bunch of greens we've never seen before disappear in the kitchen with our hostess. At that point we don't have a slightest idea what's cooking, but cheers to culinary surprises! Pre-packaged spoon-cup-bowl combo in plastic wrap for two. Dinner soon arrives: greens cooked two ways, mushrooms with butter, and soup with some strange bits of meat floating about. Hefty bill seems like double or triple what it should be, but who's to argue now? Thank you Ma'am. Then time to hit instant ramen stand.

local twist on a pretzel - tiny rounds with minced mushroom and onion filling

a must for any train ride

Night train to Guilin. Killer music again. Metal trays meant for spitting scattered along the hallway. Smell of instant ramen and mass pilgrimage to hot water stand minutes after boarding. Constant urge to move about. Everybody's forced to go to sleep and wake up at the same time. Group activity here, like anywhere we've experienced in China so far, is presumed to be the key to happiness. Forget all your urges to read in peace or listen to your own music. Nevertheless, linens are spotless and squat toilets are fine -nothing smeared on the floor. Any urine odor is quickly absorbed by clouds of smoke drifting from both ends of the carriage and constantly sneaking their way deep into crevices of your nostrils. Most importantly though, it's a bug free environment.
Good night then.