Came for the Warriors, Stayed for the Mountain: Huashan

The next day, we got up early and made our way to Xi’an North train station to get the 40-minute train to Huashan Mountain. It must be said here that this train station is AMAZING. It is brand new, and boy you can tell it! It is the last stop on the in-progress subway line 2.

***note here that the ticket machines sometimes work and sometimes don’t when it comes to taking bills, so have some 1Y coins on hand if you want to take the subway. Starts at 2Y and if you want to go pretty much from one end to the other, it will cost you 3Y. You can get change from the ticket booths, but the lines can be long, so best to have some on hand so you can use the auto-ticket machines.***

Xi’an North is also the biggest train station in China. It felt more like an airport than a train station when we arrived. Once on the train we could not stop commenting on how nice it was. We were sad that this would be our shortest and cheapest train ride (35Y) probably the whole time we are here.

Which way do we go George, which way do we go?

Good eye Steve. Look out!!

In 40 short minutes, we arrived at Huashan train station and got our rip-off of a taxi ride (30Y, but he started at 40Y) to the west gate to start our climb. After some debate as to whether this was in fact the way we really wanted to go and some help from an English speaking parking attendant, we started our hike around 1pm. We reached the first peak, North Peak, around 4:30pm. After a break, we began making our way to West peak for the sunset.

Made it for sunset

We made it just in time! It was beautiful. As dusk set in, we began our trek towards South Peak. It was dark, the path was unlit, and it was cold when we finally reached what we thought was South Peak and a guesthouse to stay in for the night. They had no beds, but we could sleep in a tent for 100Y (about 35US). No thanks. It was COLD! So we kept going. But we made a wrong turn and ended up not at South peak, but back at the fork in the path from West, to East and South.

The "hotel" by daylight, after a not-so-restful night

After asking another hiker, we found out that South Peak was not safe to be hiking at night, so best to head to East Peak and find shelter for the night, then get up for the sunrise and try for South Peak after the sun was up, so that’s what we did. We got a bunk for 100 yuan p/p at a “hotel” just before East Peak, facing east. Though it wasn’t late when we arrived (maybe 8:30pm) we were so tired from all the hiking of the day, so after some hot water and hot ramen, we turned in just after 9pm so we could wake up at 5am for the sunrise. The mattresses were rock hard though, so though we went to bed early, we didn't get much rest at all and 5am fell harshly upon weary, unrested bodies.

Dawn

We were mislead as to how long the hike would be to get to East Peak from where we were, as well as what time the sun was actually coming up. So between the two miscalculations, we were about 25 mins early to East Peak…which might not sound bad, but with 30mph wind gusts and just barely above freezing temps (ok, maybe it was closer to 40 than 32, but whatever) 25 mins seemed like an eternity! But it was well worth it. We ended up getting a sweet spot, above the assembling masses, so we could very clearly see the sun come up. It was beautiful. I can say, this was my first sunset and sunrise viewing on a mountain peak, back to back.

There it is! We've been waiting for you!!

Well, that was worth it.

Still rising.

The day has fully begun now.

After a bit of a warming up time back in our bunk, we headed out to South Peak, the highest peak. We got some photos, took in what we had just done and seen in the last 20 hours, and then we began our decent. It only took about an hour or so to get to North Peak from South Peak, but our legs were shot and we were tired, so we opted for the cable car down. Then it was back to the train station and on our way to Xi’an. Needless to say, we slept really well that night! Which was good because the next morning brought with it yet another train, this time to Lanzhou. We weren’t quite ready to leave Xi’an, but this train would mean that we would officially be on the Silk Road; a very exciting prospect.

At the top--South Peak

Gold locks & Red cloth strips for good luck

Made it! The highest peak--South Peak

Gold locks for sale

Special tree tied with red cloth for luck

Another tree growing out of the rock

To sum up Xi’an I would have to say, what we came there for was the Terra Cotta Warriors. What we found was a beautiful mountain hike and a lovely city, much slower and kinder than Beijing was for us. The mountain topped the Warriors, and even the Great Wall in beauty and awe-inspiring effect, hands down, making Xi’an and Huashan, our highlights of the trip thus far.