HuaShan

HuaShan is one of 5 sacred mountains in China. This one is Taoist. I think it's 6-7000 feet tall.
If you Google it you will see it listed as one of the most precipitous tourist spots in the world.
Believe it!!
The trails on Chinese mountains are not what we are used to in the US. They consist of concrete. Either concrete and cobblestone if it is flat or at a slight incline, and when it gets steep they are concrete steps. This mountain is very steep, so we're talking a lot of steps. We're talking my calves are killing me! Because it is so steep, there really would be no other way to climb it as a simple trail wouldn't offer enough safety. The steps are confined on both sides (usually) with chain siderails.

I did this hike on Saturday and Sunday, Oct.25 & 26. There were 6 of us in our group - Daryll (our school principal), Chris (English physics teacher), Jake (Denver geography teacher), Jason (Australian husband of Nicole, a chemistry teacher), Skye (Chinese math teacher), and myself.
It was nice because not only did I get to visit a nice spot, but also road the subway and bullet train for the first time. The subway is nice and clean, but we were on it during the morning rush hour (it was Saturday but that doesn't matter in China) and there is literally a person outside the subway doors to help push people in. Talk about sardines... The bullet trains, on the other hand, is all assigned seating, and much more comfortable than airlines. They zip along at 190 mph and you wouldn't even know it - very quiet and smooth. I don't think our train system will every match it...

The idea is you climb up to the East peak (there are 4 or 5 peaks), spend the night, and then get up and watch the sunrise in the morning. The weather was ideal- it only got cold once the sun went down. 3 of us (me included) spent the night in a hostel up there, the other 3 slept outside in sleeping bags. We made the right choice, I think, as it got very crowded outside the closer it got to morning.
I didn't find the sunrise all that spectacular, but it was a good experience.
If this is like the last time I climbed a mountain here, I will be limping for a few days until my calves recover.
It was a nice weekend to get away and we really lucked out with the weather!
Here is a link to the pictures. I dropped my camera and almost broke it but it seems to be hanging in there.
https://plus.google.com/photos/102773079683555477704/albums/6074374747868058945