In spring, he observes the sprouting of pine needles. In summer, the mountain is stunningly verdant. The morning and sunset glows are the most impressive in fall, and he likes snowy days the most. He also sees stump-tailed macaques stopping along the way from time to time.

"On top of the mountain, it's like you travel through years in the blink of an eye," Shi says.

Shi's father passed away two years ago. Sometimes he feels the pause of time on Huangshan. It reminds him of the days when the two of them would take the earliest cable car onto the mountain and wait at Shixin Peak for several hours for the mist and clouds to clear away, or huddling on the top in — 30 C to shoot the frost.

He thinks he has taken on the mantle of his father, although he jokes he's not as devoted as his old man.

"Well, at least, I'm no longer fooling around and I am taking it seriously, which is what my father would have wanted," Shi says.

Wang Kaihao and Zhu Lixin contributed to this story.