One of Ten

China is a place that likes numbers, statistics, and rankings at least as much as the United States, maybe more. This comes from a place where bureaucracy is king and nothing can be done with a form or dozen. The bureaucracy of China should be a subject for its own post trying to elucidate the hazy intricacies of the Chinese government. There is the state and the Party, central and provincial, and the rule of law versus the rule of man. A lot of our class time and readings try to do just that because, as it is more and more apparent, no one really knows what is going on over here.

We are currently on our own spring break. During Carleton's actual spring break, we were flying over the Pacific and starting our wanderings of Asia in Thailand. China is a huge, huge place and within the hour after our last class, many of us were boarding planes and trains (but, hopefully, no automobiles) for distant destinations. My trek set off with a 21 hour train ride south to Anhui province. Southern Anhui is home to Huang Shan or Yellow Mountain, which is one of China's ten most beautiful landscapes. I am not certain what the other nine are, but when speaking with other Chinese tourists, they are usually certain that Huang Shan is very beautiful but only so beautiful. The rivers around Yunnan, for example, are obviously even more beautiful than Huang Shan, 'the most beautiful mountain in China.'

The mountains are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and rightly so. They have drawn tourists, poets, immortals, and enlightened ones to their peaks for two-thousand years. In a stark and wonderful contrast to Beijing, Huang Shan is covered in pine trees and even bamboo at lower elevations. The air is clear, the sky is blue, and it is actually possible to feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Vendors sell locally grown tea on shaded, breezy streets. All of these feelings combined gave me a real sense of relaxation that I had not yet truly had in China. Huang Shan's greatest downfall is its relative expensive services based on the huge numbers of native and international tourists that come every year.

After spending so much time in place that seems to have forsaken its environment, it was astounding to see such a successful example of eco-tourism. Once inside the gates that surround the area, there are no roads as far I could tell, only staircases that lead a few thousand feet up one peak and then down the next. At the top of four or five of the most scenic peaks are hotels catering to hikers wishing to spend the night and morning there. In order to move supplies up and down the mountain, scores of porters with huge calves and strong abs carry down loads of trash and waste in bags balanced on bamboo shoulder supports. I never saw a porter going up the mountain, and I assume that most supplies are brought up via one of the three cable cars. Every few meters or so, a cleverly disguised trashbin has been installed, and the stairs and lush forests surrounding them are wonderfully clean. The park has even banned smoking in outside areas which, for a country that has more smokers than the U.S. has population, is a big deal.

We spent an extraordinarily pleasant day ascending the peaks in time to reach the summit by night fall. A rather common thing to do at the peak is wake in the early morning and stake out a claim on a peak to watch the sunrise. We did just that and found our place near atop some boulders and trees. Huang Shan in at predawn is covered in rolling clouds, split at intervals by thin majestic cliffs. After spending a magical hour watching the sun wake up the top of the world and clouds melt away, we continued our hike to tallest of the peaks. From there it was easy to see valleys, rivers, and boulders that had been moved by glaciers some few million years ago. I could wax on and on about the steep staircases and incredible vistas, but I find myself in Xi'an now and exhausted by attempting to travel during China's May 1st holidays.

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