Tai Shan

This weekend was the first weekend that I did not have class on Sunday evenings, so I took advantage of it and decided to go visit the mountain Tai Shan. 

(Side note: I didn’t have class because it was International Workers Day.  I went to arguably the most famous mountain in China.  On Labor Day.  In a Communist country.).

Taishan was amazing.  There is absolutely no other way to say it.  The climb up the mountain took about two and a half hours at least which sounds long, but it was worth it.  There were tens of thousands of people climbing the mountain the same day as me and absolutely none of them were foreigners.  I felt like I was in “Real China.” 

Along the way up the mountain there were incredible views.  I was able to look out over the entire mountain range and see for miles (or kilometers as they would say here… stupid metric system.  Dumb.).  There were huge rock formations and some of the formations even had characters on them, though I was unable to read them because my Chinese skills are somewhat limited. 

After getting to the top of the mountain, I needed some water and ice cream.  I have never felt more relieved in my entire life after getting water and ice cream after the treacherous climb up the mountain.  After walking along the top of the mountain for a bit, I got some food at some random restaurant.  Fried rice, potatoes, and noodles were all we got.  It was also one of the most filling meals I have eaten since I have been here because I was so exhausted.

The top of the mountain is a lot bigger than I thought it was when I was climbing.  Walking around I quickly realized that there were tons of smaller sites to see on the top.  There were famous rocks (it sounds boring, but its not) and famous vistas.  I even got to climb up and stand on the Immortal Bridge, which is exactly as cool as it sounds.  I don’t think I was allowed to climb on top of it because I quickly drew a crowed of Chinese people who began to point at me and speak quickly.  Nonetheless it was still awesome (see my photos to see me on top of the bridge.  It’s the picture with me standing on the three rocks over a ravine).

As I mentioned earlier, there were no foreigners at Taishan.  Also, many of the Chinese people that were at the mountain were not exactly the most traveled people ever, so many of them had never met a non-Chinese person before.  Many Chinese people would randomly come up to me and ask if they could take their picture with me.  I obliged, and then got a picture for myself with them because I found the situation funny. 

Getting down the mountain was quite difficult and that will be included in my next blog post that will be all about traveling. 

I’m looking forward to seeing all of my friends that are coming to China this summer!  See you all soon!