Adventures in Guangzhou!

We got dropped off and once again checked into the first place we came to. It being the weekend for the big national holiday, most people were not yet out and about and thus we bargained down a triple to almost nothing--there was no need to look elsewhere. We dropped our stuff and went to find food. As usual in China, we picked a random restaurant along the street and had a delicious feast. You can never really go wrong when you ask the wait staff what's good, what's fresh, and what the cook does best.

After that we picked up a map and chose a random sight to hike towards. It was immediately apparent that there was much more of an actual town up in the mountains than Huangshan and it really changed the dynamic. There were taxis, shops, supermarkets, schools, parks, and everything else you'd expect from a small town, all in addition to the spectacular hikes and views.

Though it took us a few tries, we finally found the walking path to the "cloud watching pavilion," a pavilion at the edge of one side of the mountain. It was deserted and beautiful but it made us laugh because not only was the path hidden behind the gate of a private hotel, but it was also unmarked and without any rails preventing you from going over the edge of the cliff.

Back to the main path, we decided to ignore the drizzle and go down to the lake in the middle of the resort area. It was all so tranquil (other than the occasional tour group with bullhorns) but what I really couldn't get over was the quality of the air. It was so fresh that I felt like I could taste it--it reminded me of Spaceballs the movie when he has the canned "Peri-air." It suddenly didn't seem like such a ridiculous idea, after living in Guangzhou for two years.

On the way to a different walking trail, we randomly stopped into a tea store. We had originally stopped in because of it's shelter from the rain, but we were all ecstatic to have found what turned out to be a highlight of the trip. It turns out that the family running the place was growing green tea in the land behind the small house and processed everything right there. They not only picked the leaves, but they also dried them out out there through a process of using a brick oven and a wok, both of which we saw in action.

It was really interesting to talk to the family about what made their tea (and other teas on Lushan) different than others around China. First of all, few Chinese people drink green tea, mostly because it's not as easy to grow. The damp climate on the top of the mountain enabled them to grow the bushes there and they use a certain type of drying process to keep the leaves in bigger pieces, while eliminating stems. It was incredible to see the guy drying leaves out in the firing wok with his bare hands.

We eventually found the walking path along the ledge and slowly wandered along the side of the mountain, taking in spectacular views. In addition, there were a few humorous signs along the way with silly English translations, e.g. "Caution! Cliff!" My favorite, though, was the sign about the danger of the falling boulder, which appeared to be supported by a handful of twigs. Huh.

Right around sunset we made our way back to the main drag in town and were convinced to get dinner at one of the local restaurants. I gave her points for both persistence and humor--as we were considering our options, she came up to me and gave a slight wave of the hand toward her competitor followed by the comment (in Chinese), "Naww, you don't want that place. Much too expensive. Tastes like crap too." I don't know if she was right about the other place but her restaurant was definitely cheap and tasty! After the meal we made our way back to the hotel and all crashed around 9:30pm, exhausted from the hike.