Climbing Huangshan in March 2011

[maameemoomoo]

Dear all,

I'm planning to climb Huangshan without the cable car.

I have 3 options. If all is well, i prefer to go for Option A rather than B and C.

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Option A -

. take the earliest bus from Shanghai at 6.28am for 5 hours. Reach Huangshan at noon. Rest and hangout. Start climbing at 1pm. Will be taking the shorter route. It is said to take only 3-4 hours?? So if everything goes as planned, we will reach Huangshan latest by 6pm?

Option B - (friend in Shanghai prefer this option as she thinks buses are dangerous in China!)

. take the overnight train from Shanghai in the evening (13 hours ride!!). Reach Huangshan at 6am. Have breakfast and start climbing by 8am.

Option C -
. take the earliest bus or second earliest bus. Hang out at Hong Cun and just chillax. Overnight at the foot of the mountain before climbing up Huangshan the next day early in the morning.

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To those who have gone up to Huangshan, please advise. Thank you very much!

 

[TonyTony]

I just went up to Huangshan last month. I took the afternoon 5pm train from Shanghai Station. (bought the ticket at around 4pm on the same day, but it wasn't the peak period then and it was a weekday). Train ride was reasonably easy. They turn off the lights at 9pm though so you can't really do much afterwards. I climbed up and down without using the cable cars, so I don't even know how or where you are supposed to be the tickets for them. On the way back I caught the bus from the Tunxi bus station and that took about 5 and a half hours to reach Shanghai South Station.

It was reasonably easy to get around (although I must give credit to my friend who was the one asking everyone and planning the trip)

 

[maameemoomoo]

Thanks Tonytony!

How was the bus ride?

Was it scary??

 

[Daoyin]

I took the over night train from Shanghai some years ago. Unless there is a new station at the bottom of the mountain, it will drop you off at Huangshan Town which is some 2 hours by minibus from Tunxi (the town at the mountain base). The short walk up the mountain is about 4 hours.

Early March will be cold. Stone steps when iced over can be dangerous.

 

[jukebox19]

This link give a lot of info on how to get to huangshan and the surrounding. On the right side there're a number of feedback sub-forums from visitors to Huangshan, useful for purpose of planning your trip. The web is in chinese.

http://destguides.ctrip.com/tourism-d19-huangshan.html

 

[maameemoomoo]

I took the over night train from Shanghai some years ago. Unless there is a new station at the bottom of the mountain, it will drop you off at Huangshan Town which is some 2 hours by minibus from Tunxi (the town at the mountain base). The short walk up the mountain is about 4 hours.

Early March will be cold. Stone steps when iced over can be dangerous.

2 hours?!?!?!?!?! :sweat:

Thought it was said to be just 1? *faints*

We'd be there in mid March.. praying for miracle there will be snow on the days we're up!

 

[maameemoomoo]

I took the over night train from Shanghai some years ago. Unless there is a new station at the bottom of the mountain, it will drop you off at Huangshan Town which is some 2 hours by minibus from Tunxi (the town at the mountain base). The short walk up the mountain is about 4 hours.

Early March will be cold. Stone steps when iced over can be dangerous.

If it's truly 2 hours by the minibus (the train still stops at Huangshan Town Centre), then i rather take the bus from Shanghai.

 

[woonsin]

I went to MT Huangshan in Oct 2008 but was involved in group coach so I cannot comment on bus rides. October is best month - cooler and nice weather but never try in March - winter....

I remember we reached at MT Huangshan about 4pm and walked around there and stayed there for 3days 2nights because Mt Huangshan is very big and long climbing. Nice sunset and sunrise.

 

[maameemoomoo]

This link give a lot of info on how to get to huangshan and the surrounding. On the right side there're a number of feedback sub-forums from visitors to Huangshan, useful for purpose of planning your trip. The web is in chinese.

http://destguides.ctrip.com/tourism-d19-huangshan.html

Unfortunately, i can only read Huang Shan! 黄山 and other Primary 1 standard Chinese :embrass::embrass:

 

[maameemoomoo]

I went to MT Huangshan in Oct 2008 but was involved in group coach so I cannot comment on bus rides. October is best month - cooler and nice weather but never try in March - winter....

I remember we reached at MT Huangshan about 4pm and walked around there and stayed there for 3days 2nights because Mt Huangshan is very big and long climbing. Nice sunset and sunrise.

I'll be there for 2 nights as well! Will explore the West Grand Canyon for sure. Did u stay in different hotels for the 2 nights up there?

 

[maameemoomoo]

Temporary time table :

10th March - arrive Shanghai
11th March - Water Town (am thinking either ZhouZhuang or ZhuJaiJiao after combing through the threads here).
12th March - Water town back to Shanghai
13th March - Shanghai -> HuangShan (still can't decide if i will be taking the train or bus)
14th March - Huangshan (ascending via the Eastern route)
15th March - Huangshan
16th March - Huangshan (descending via the Western route), hang around at Hong Cun before taking the bus to Hangzhou
17th March - Hangzhou -> Shanghai
18th March - Shanghai
19th March - Shanghai
20th March - Shanghai -> SG

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If only i have another 2 days!

Am i too greedy to visit Hong Cun right after descending Huangshan via Western route? Worried that i might not have enough time at Hangzhou especially when i'm planning to watch Zhang Yimou's Impression West Lake at night.

 

[jukebox19]

Unfortunately, i can only read Huang Shan! 黄山 and other Primary 1 standard Chinese :embrass::embrass:

Best that you travel with someone who can read/speak chinese/mandarin. The locals will not be able to give help, and regional dialect variation can be daunting even for someone who can understand spoken chinese. Good luck.

 

[ClemC]

I'll be there for 2 nights as well! Will explore the West Grand Canyon for sure. Did u stay in different hotels for the 2 nights up there?

Guess you must be young and adventurous.. West Grand Canyon will take you 4-6hrs to get down and up.. Walking around thge peaks in huangshan will also take you around 3-4 hours.. If you also plan to climb up/down huangshan.. you will be doing a lot of climbing/walking.. Dont forget you have all your gears with you as well...

March may be ok.. but when heavy snow, they will close some parts.. I think it is not the snow-capped huangshan that is beautiful.. it is mainly the "sea of clouds".. that everyone hope to see.. Was there for 4days/3nights, I wasn't lucky enough

 

[clioboy]

check out my huangshan pics will give a very good idea of the conditions..

i was there in Dec 3 2009..

u will be fine, it is a very established route with police/guards at interval..even the quiet and lonely ones..

the silence is deafening!! Beautiful place!!

Hope posting the link will not be breaking any forum rules..as i know posting is not allowed here..

[url]http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=huangshan&w=7866493%40N02[/url]

the rest of the album is from my Shanghai and Hangzhou trip.

 

[Daoyin]

I'll be there for 2 nights as well! Will explore the West Grand Canyon for sure. Did u stay in different hotels for the 2 nights up there?

I think you should seriously consider your options. Unless you have experience walking down and up long, narrow and lonely steps for hours on end, and in winter, your time is better spend on other parts of Huangshan than the west canyon. This is especially since you only have 2 days on the mountain. Try Lianhua or maybe even Tian Du Feng instead.

 

[TonyTony]

The bus ride back was fine.. No complaints. They had I think 2 toilet stops and a sort of 15min quick meal stop too.

The bus driver was not speeding or driving recklessly as far as i remember.

 

[maameemoomoo]

Best that you travel with someone who can read/speak chinese/mandarin. The locals will not be able to give help, and regional dialect variation can be daunting even for someone who can understand spoken chinese. Good luck.

There will be! Heng ah!

 

[maameemoomoo]

Guess you must be young and adventurous.. West Grand Canyon will take you 4-6hrs to get down and up.. Walking around thge peaks in huangshan will also take you around 3-4 hours.. If you also plan to climb up/down huangshan.. you will be doing a lot of climbing/walking.. Dont forget you have all your gears with you as well...

March may be ok.. but when heavy snow, they will close some parts.. I think it is not the snow-capped huangshan that is beautiful.. it is mainly the "sea of clouds".. that everyone hope to see.. Was there for 4days/3nights, I wasn't lucky enough

Adventurous yes. Young? :think: It's subjective. Haha!

Will only lug my D90 and 2 other lenses. I sure hope i wont die until very ugly. Heee. But okie lah.. i'm that not worried. Climbing Mt Rinjani was much more worst! 4 full days x 8-10 hours of climbing a day + 10-15kg backpack and i wasn't aching.

I'm greedy. I want snow capped Huangshan + sea of clouds! :bsmilie: But as long as there's sea of clouds, i'm a happy camper already. Will keep my fingers crossed!

 

[maameemoomoo]

check out my huangshan pics will give a very good idea of the conditions..

i was there in Dec 3 2009..

u will be fine, it is a very established route with police/guards at interval..even the quiet and lonely ones..

the silence is deafening!! Beautiful place!!

Hope posting the link will not be breaking any forum rules..as i know posting is not allowed here..

[url]http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=huangshan&w=7866493%40N02[/url]

the rest of the album is from my Shanghai and Hangzhou trip.[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

Will check out your album in abit. Anything i wanna know, i'll comment there :)

 

[maameemoomoo]

I think you should seriously consider your options. Unless you have experience walking down and up long, narrow and lonely steps for hours on end, and in winter, your time is better spend on other parts of Huangshan than the west canyon. This is especially since you only have 2 days on the mountain. Try Lianhua or maybe even Tian Du Feng instead.

Thank you!

Will look into those 2 places now!