Russia and China

 Resting in Nanning. My hostess’s home on the 4th floor of an apartment building in the city has a huge vegetable garden, yet a lot of mosquitoes loving my blood. I am well fed each meals, while avoiding heavy travel traffic everywhere.

 I took two high speed trains to arrive around 10:30 pm at Nanning after 10 hours rides. I had instant noodles and bread during the rides. My hostess treated me seafood rice noodles 海鲜粉。 The National Day holiday is also called the "Golden Week" when everyone in China is either traveling or hiding at home. I will be hiding in Nanning to avoid the travel crowds.

Yungu Temple 云谷寺 Trail Climb up the mountain - Shixin Peak - Xihai Grand Canyon - Outside the ring - Mengbi Shenghua - Qingliang Terrace - Monkeys watching the sea - Guangmingding 100-step cloud ladder - Welcoming pine - Yuping cableway (see map) Shixin Peak 始信峰 is 1,683 meters above sea level, surrounded by cliffs on three sides and an empty valley facing the wind. There are many pine trees nearby, so there is a saying that "If you don't go to Shixin Peak, you won't see Huangshan pines". It is a representative landscape of Huangshan. There is also the Shuguang Pavilion here. About 200 meters away from the Shuguang Pavilion is the famous Qingliang Terrace, which is also surrounded by the sky on three sides. On the opposite mountain is the "Eighteen Arhats Facing the South China Sea". One of the ten famous pines in Huangshan, it grows at an altitude of 1,650 meters from the Baieling Cableway Station to the fork in the road at Shixin Peak, and has been listed

Tiandu Peak 天都峰 is located in the southeast of Huangshan Mountain, about 1 km away from Yuping Peak. Together with Lianhua Peak and Guangmingding, it is known as the three main peaks of Huangshan Mountain. Tiandu Peak has a five-year rotation period. On May 20, 2024 the closed rotation period of Tiandu Peak ended and it was reopened to the public. Tiandu Peak opens at 7:00 every day and is limited to 3,000 people per day. Therefore, many hikers come for it.  I and a hostelmate were lucky enough to hike Tiandu Peak today, by walking up instead of taking a cable car, and then taking the new route. It was raining so many people cancelled the hike such that we got the slots to hike it. The main drawback was no view in the clouds and fog. We were docking wet and decided to take the cable car down around noontime, then go back  to the mountain tomorrow to hike the other parts and taking photos. Tiandu Peak is 1,810 meters high and is also the most precipitous peak among the three peaks of Hu

 I took the cable car down Mt. Lu then two high speed trains to Huangshan 黃山Scenic Area which has 72 spectacular peaks, lifelike strange rocks, misty and floating sea of ​​clouds, and year-round hot springs, which constitute the famous "Four Wonders of Huangshan". I joined two hostel mates to shop for hiking food and gears, had a big feast at a local restaurant, then 8 pm briefing about hiking plans at the hostel.  We tasted Stinky Mandarin Fish 臭鳜鱼 also known as Stinky Mandarin Fish, Barrel Fresh Fish, Barrel Fish, pickled fresh fish, is a traditional Han Chinese dish and one of the representatives of Huizhou cuisine. In the Huizhou area of ​​Anhui Province (now the area of ​​Huangshan City, Anhui Province), the so-called pickled fresh fish means stinky in the local dialect of Huizhou. This "flavored Mandarin Fish" smells stinky but tastes delicious. The meat is tender, mellow and refreshing, and the original flavor of Mandarin Fish is preserved. It is commonly kno