Canadian World traveller Winter 2017-18 Issue

In the meantime, you can just rest in
this mountain paradise hotel until we
finish our journey and return. “It’s a
deal,” I said, as I breathed a sigh of relief.
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There are no roads that lead to the lodge.
Everything, starting from when the hotel was
being built to everything used in the lodge at
present, is brought up by porters - according
to our guide, to give the unemployed work.
Items from cement blocks to furniture, and
from drinks to all types of foods are all delivered
in this manner. Porters carry up everything
needed to operate the hotel.
I sat on the balcony of the hotel, enjoying the
cool, invigorating, soft winds, until about two
hours later, when our group returned. At the
same time, my chair with two porters
appeared. Climbing into the chair carried
by the two men, I sat above the heads of the
crowd, which had gathered around.
Cameras began to click and I felt like the
ancient emperors of China must have felt
when they were carried above the masses.
scape is immersed in colour and life; and in
Winter, a world of magical frost and ice is
created from the mountain.
The Yellow Mountain can be compared to a
large botanical garden with some 1,500
species of plants, shrubs and trees. Here too
are found at least 300 medicinal herbs – a
huge natural pharmacy. The mountain is
also the habitat for a wide variety of wild animals
and rare birds, such as the oriole and
the silver pheasant.
Seeing that I was having trouble in my
WT Library Image
descent and feeling sorry for me, a young
lady in our group took my hand and helped
to steer me down the steps. It then became
easier to look around and admire the seducing
mountain vistas, while the cool breezes
caressed my now tired body.
Dodging tour groups as we moved along
was, at times, dangerous. The steps were
manmade and offered sure footing, but the
twists and turns made our descent somewhat
precarious. The feeling of apprehension did
indeed take over me, at every turn.
After about an hour, our group stopped to
rest near the mountainside and was engulfed
by the cool mountain breezes. Now, feeling
worried about the return journey, I again
asked the guide about the route of return, “Is
the return route steep? Are there steep steps
to climb?” He nonchalantly answered, “Of
Course! More than those you have descended.
If you think you cannot make it, we will
arrange for a chair to carry you back. It will
only cost you 500 yuan (about 75 dollars).
WT Library Image
Shouts could be heard from many in our
group and numerous others, “Doesn’t he
look like an emperor! Look! He’s acting his
role! Down with the emperor! We want
equality!” Men and women cheered the
porters on as they made their way up the
steps between the clicking cameras of the
climbers. I was somewhat ashamed to be
carried by other men, but relieved that I did
not need to do any more climbing.
I felt sorry for the porters as they huffed and
puffed climbing the steep mountainside,
tamed by the steps built by man. However,
the men carrying me, being used as beasts
of burden, moved my very soul.
The last part of the walkway upward, consisting
of some 500 steps or more, was the most
difficult for the porters. They would stop
every few minutes to rest. Still breathing
heavily, they set me down by the cable car’s
uppermost cable lift station. Strangely, they
were smiling as I tipped them and we said
farewell – a happy ending to my extraordinary
mountain adventure. I would not forget
the Yellow Mountain called the loveliest
mountain in China, for years to come.
www.tourismchina.org
Canadian World Traveller Winter 2017-18