华山 (Mount Hua) Day 1

Reversing back to Xi'an...
Today, we bring you to 华山 (Mount Hua).

Mount Hua has 5 peaks, with the highest peak at 2154m.

Our trusty, crumpled map which got us up the mountain and back.

There's a saying that goes "自古华山一条道" (zigu huashan yitiao dao).
I was puzzled - it's such a huge mountain, why is there only 1 way through it?
Apparently, it means that Mount Hua is so dangerous that there is only 1 safe route to climb.

We heard of people climbing Mount Hua at night - not for the thrill of it, but because it's less scary as you can't see the steep cliffs.

Here's where it began!

Our target - the West peak. We were aiming to get there in time to see the sunset!

Doesn't it look like something that came out of a Chinese painting?!
Well, actually, I got it the wrong way around - the Chinese painters totally captured the beautiful scenery in their brush paintings.

The climb started off pretty well with 2 happy climbers.

Let's go! Yeah!

Then, one of them started getting tired...

So tired...

After a while, it became 1 happy climber and 1 sulky climber. Guess which is which.

After some rest, it became 2 happy climbers again.
It was after this trip that I realised what an energizer bunny my husband is.
I've only ever seen him really tired once - in Singapore after playing half an hour of Frisbee, because he wasn't used to the heat and humidity!

百尺峡。You can't see it here in the photo, but this flight of steps was really steep! So steep that each step wasn't even deep enough to fit your foot.

The first peak we conquered - the North peak! 1614m.

So happy! After 5 hours of hard work!

 

天梯 （Stairs to the sky)

 And we keep climbing! 75 degrees up to the sky!

 Doesn't seem very dangerous so far, but the thrilling part (苍龙岭）is coming right up!
See that cliff face I'm pointing to? It's practically a wall with 2 vertical sides. Take a really close look, a flight of stairs has been cut into the top of the wall for people to walk up. The stairs are really narrow, you have to stop if someone passes you in the other direction.

爬华山人人都说走路不看景，看景不走路。 When climbing Mount Hua, when climbing, don't view the scenery, when viewing the scenery, don't climb.

This is 苍龙岭 （Canglongling) close-up.
Again, the photo doesn't do justice to Mount Hua.
The camera cannot show how grand and formidable Mount Hua is, you can only see it with your own eyes!
Can you see how tightly I'm grabbing on to the railings? It's a long way down if you fall off!
The stairs were at about a 60 degree angle up!


Hooray! We caught the sunset in our hands!

But we didn't reach our West peak target, we were still a long way off!

It was starting to get cold.

We came to the 金锁关 （Golden Lock Pass), where it's believed that if lovers secure a pair of locks there with their names engraved on them, and throw the keys down the deep mountain valley, the lovers' relationship will last forever. So there we left a Daan Lock and a Kar Lock :P

Daan placed the locks where they wouldn't get wet, to prevent them from rusting.

As it was getting late, we decided to climb to Central Peak (2037m) to rest for the night.
When we got there, you can't imagine what a disappointment it was!
There was nothing there at all!

We had to head for the East Peak where there was a hostel to rest at.
It was dark by then and we had our headlamps on.
To get to the East Peak, we had to climb up the 云梯 （Stairs to the clouds).

We didn't snap any photos, but you can see how steep it is (almost vertical!) in this link.
Climbing up a vertical staircase cut into the side of the mountain in next to total darkness (except for our headlamps which only pointed to the spots right in front of our faces) is as scary as it can get. There were times that the staircase sloped backwards!
It was only the next morning that we found out there was a steel staircase just a few metres to the left of the 云梯! It was built for old people :)


That's all for now, will share day 2 with you soon!

束河古镇 (Ancient town of ShuHe)

Jumping from Xi'an, Shaanxi, to Lijiang, Yunnan.
We stayed at the ancient town of 束河 （ShuHe) for 2 days.
ShuHe is a town along the 茶马古道 （chama gudao, tea trade road) with a 1,600 year history.

Tea was exported from China to other countries along this route.
The one-way journey could take up to 2 years. Normal tea leaves would lose their fragrance after such a long time, so compressed 普洱茶 （pu'er tea）, was exported.
For pu'er tea, the older the better. Pu'er tea leaves are usually compressed into discs the size of a plate.
The tea was transported on horseback or carried by men, in leather bags.

The hostel we stayed at. 60RMB per night - quite a deal!

At ShuHe, you're supposed to relax - 发呆 and 聊天。

We tried... but we weren't as good as the experts...

This is how you're supposed to do it!

And this, is how you should relax!

You can still find horses in ShuHe now, but they don't transport tea anymore, they transport tourists!

The layout of ShuHe town isn't in a grid pattern like modern cities. Houses and shops are built along the little river that runs through the town.

 The river is surprisingly clean. People use the water for washing and cleaning.
A guide from the 纳西族 （Naxi ethnic group) told us that children are taught from young to respect nature - they are not to pee in the river nor poop in the streets, otherwise they'll develop piles and/or boils!
Many of the natives are from the Naxi ethnic group.

Traditional Naxi meal - huge pot of 腊排骨 （LaPaiGu, preserved ribs) with mushrooms.

Traditional Naxi attire. Married/older women have a special cloth worn on the back that is used for keeping warm (summer temperature is ~20 degrees). It can also be used to strap a baby to the mother's back.

Ladies from the 摩梭族 （Mosuo ethnic group) weaving scarves.

Another ethnic attire.

A rose!

Good night!

Terracotta Army

We visited the Terracotta Army Museum while we were in Xi'an.


秦始皇(QinShiHuang, 259BC - 210BC) was the first emperor of unified China.
He believed that life continued under the ground after death, so over 38 years, he constructed a massive underground palace with all the necessities of daily life, statues of rare birds and animals, entertainers and, of course, the famous terracotta army.

At the terracotta army museum

According to the guide, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was the first Asian leader to ever visit the museum.

This is pit number 2. The terracotta warriors that you see in the foreground have all been restored. Those in the back are still undergoing restoration.

Life-size jigsaw puzzle

Newly restored horses.

Notice how the horses' tails are bundled up at the ends. Daan joked that it was for maintaining hygiene when the horses had to poop. In fact, it's to prevent the tails from getting tangled up together when the horses
trotted next to each other.

Remains of bricks.

Before the time of the Qin dynasty, bricks were only used to lay the ground. Walls were made of timber and clay. During the building of the terracotta army, bricks were used to mend the breaks in the dividing walls. So began the use of bricks for building walls instead of only floors.

This is pit No. 2

Wonder why you don't see any terracotta figures here?
 In order to ensure that the artifacts in this pit are preserved, they are being carefully excavated under controlled conditions.

Now for a close-up look at the figures!

All the figures were coloured when first constructed. The colour disintegrates rather quickly once the figures are unearthed.

This is my favourite - the kneeling archer. This particular figure is the only whole figure excavated so far, which needs no restoration.

Look at the detail! Hair and plaits were hand-sculpted.

High ranking officer. Every warrior's face is hand-sculpted and looks different.

 
This is a standing archer. Farmers called out to war from the fields had no standard uniforms, they wore their own clothes.

高车 （gaoche, high chariot)

This is a bronze chariot to be used by the emperor for inspection tours.
It was cast in perfect 1:2 proportion.

Base of canopy of High Chariot. The canopy had a very intricate system of locks and levers that allowed it to be tilted in different directions to provide maximum shade.

安车 （anche, Comfortable chariot)

All that QinShiHuang did - it was an amazing feat.
He did all this as part of his search for eternal life, but could not find it in the end.

Jesus tells us that He can give us eternal life.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that bread of life."
[John 6:47-48]