Day 2 in Huangshan 黃山

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  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 Huangshan Mountain. After passing the Penglai Three Islands, we saw a narrow stone staircase from the thin sky, which is attached to the cliffs, as if a cloud ladder descended from the sky. This is the famous ladder on Tiandu Peak, which is 1.5 kilometers long, with 1,664 stone steps and iron chains for protection along the way.

Crucian Carp Back 鲫鱼背 is located on Tiandu Peak. It is the most dangerous part of Tiandu Peak and is famous for its strangeness and danger. Climb 1564 steps along the ladder from the foot of Tiandu Peak to Crucian Carp Back at an altitude of 1770 meters. This is the only way to reach the top of the peak. Crucian Carp Back is more than 10 meters long and only 1 meter wide. There are cliffs on both sides. It is deep and unfathomable. It looks like the back of a crucian carp in the waves, hence the name. The stone steps are steep from top to bottom, with a slope of about 85°.  Xu Quanzhi of the Qing Dynasty wrote a poem to record its danger: "I have no intention of swallowing the boat to return to the North Sea, why do I want to borrow the water to jump to Kunming. In 1937, the Huaining Stonework Team in Anhui Province went through hardships and opened this road, and protected it with stone pillars and iron ropes.

After climbing the mountain from Ciguang Pavilion, passed Tiandu Peak, and crossed Duxian Bridge and Penglai Three Islands, we saw the famous Welcoming Pine 迎客松.  The Welcoming Pine is 10 meters high and 800 years old. It is a landmark of Huangshan and even Anhui Province.

We ate out in a local restaurant to try Mao tofu 毛豆腐 which is a traditional dish of the Han nationality in Huizhou area (now Huangshan City, Anhui Province). It is made by artificial fermentation to grow a layer of white hair on the surface of tofu. Because the plant protein in tofu is converted into a variety of amino acids after fermentation, it tastes like spoiled tofu for me. I don’t recommend it.