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Lovers leave padlocks on iron chain railings on Mount Huangshan to mark their auspicious union.
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Wreathed in mist and pine trees, and boasting dagger-like rocks, Mount Huangshan in southern Anhui province looks just like a traditional Chinese ink painting.
It has inspired two of the country's greatest artists to produce some of their best works - poet Li Bai (AD 701-754), and director Ang Lee, who filmed scenes from his martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu Canglong) (2003).
It has turbo-charged cable cars, an ATM machine on one of its peaks and a presidential suite that costs 8,000 yuan ($1,170) a night, in the Beihai Hotel, where former president Jiang Zemin stays on visits.
The only thing Huangshan lacks is a kungfu theme park and a well-planned international marketing campaign to put it on China's main tourism circuit, alongside the Great Wall, Beijing's Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an in Shaanxi province.
Huangshan lives up to its billing as the country's prettiest rock face due to its vertiginous and razor-like outcroppings.
Although it has competition from Yunnan province's snow-capped mountains, Sichuan's Jiuzhaigou park, and the five sacred mountains of Taishan in Shandong, Huashan in Shaanxi, Hengshan in Shanxi, Songshan in Henan and Hengshan in Hunan, none of these are said to match its visual grandeur.
"In terms of scenery, you can't compare them," says Shanghai tour operator Li Xuesong. "Huangshan wins hands down."
This year, by the end of last month, some 2.2 million tourists had forked out the 310 yuan ($45) gate and cable car fees to find out what all the fuss is about, 15 percent more than last year.
Located some six hours by bus from Shanghai, the four-hour ascent requires superhuman stamina en route to spine-chilling mountain paths and poky corridors hewn from rock.
That is why our group elected to ride the cable car on its way closer to heaven. Although there were voices of dissent - some said we were cheating, pointing to figure-hugging jump suits and trendy hiking boots - the views from the top were breathtaking enough to warrant spending our time up there in digital-camera-snapping reverie.
Like any good drama, Huangshan builds up slowly to its final act. In other words, expect crowds and pleasant views until you edge your way toward Beginning-to-Believe Peak, a shock of granite that can turn the most cynical of tourists into devotees of the magic of the mount.
Weather-wise, we were fortunate that, on the most superstition-plagued day of the year, Halloween, the forecaster got it wrong and the sun lit up the landscape.
"Today was supposed to rain but Mount Huangshan always puts on a good show when he has important guests, especially respectable guests," a local woman surnamed Xu told me.
The name Huangshan ("yellow mountain") derives from a Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) emperor who came in search of ever-lasting life. Before that it was known as Yishan, in reference to how dark the trees look in their winter blanket.
Today, it is a national treasure and a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, festooned with over 3,000 forms of plant life and inhabited by short-tailed monkeys.
Much of the enchanted mountain's folklore and iconography is represented by strange-looking trees and can easily be lumped together into a one-day pilgrimage of the pine.
Kofi Annan thought one of them looked like an umbrella symbolizing the UN, of which he was the former secretary-general. It is now officially called "The Umbrella Pine".
Others include "Black Tiger Tree", which casts a spell on unmarried women, turning them into nags after they are wed; Longzhuasong Pine, with its roots resembling the ossified remains of dragon's claws; and Lianlisong, or "couple's pine tree", which has two trunks branching out from the same stem. Lovers leave padlocks beneath the bridge to mark their auspicious union.
Despite the obvious fear of falling off 1,700-m precipices the biggest danger facing tourists when planning their trip is the weather.
They say it is overcast here on two of every three days. While patches of hovering mist make for sublime views as you ascend through them, it is usually a case of all or nothing.
Xu Xiake, a famous tourist in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) said: "Once you have seen the views of Huangshan, the five sacred mountains no longer seem attractive."
"For me, it can be changed to, 'After Huangshan, you never need to see the fog anymore'," said engineer Xia Bing of Xi'an province, presumably having missed the turn for Beginning-to-Believe Peak when he visited last September.
Local officials suggest that you come in the September-May period to catch the best of the cloud, especially on a clear day following rain (or snow, in winter). The period just prior to, or after, sunrise (currently 4.50 am to 5.20 am) affords the most hauntingly beautiful sights and glows, although this would entail booking into one of the mountains' eight hotels the night before, which is also highly recommended.
By Matt Hodges
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