2015 China

18 March, Yushan
Pengfa Hotel 100CNY

According to unesco.org, Sanqing Shan National Park “...displays a unique array of forested, fantastically shaped granite pillars and peaks concentrated in a relatively small area. The looming, intricate rock formations intermixed with delicate forest cover and combined with ever-shifting weather patterns create a landscape of arresting beauty.” Access to this “arresting beauty” is made possible via two cable cars and the park’s suspended walkways, which are an extraordinary engineering feat, a wonder to behold and a pleasure, tinged with adrenaline, to walk. We planned to take the southern cable car part way up the mountain then walk a rough circle via the West Coast and Sunshine Coast trails. Both trails comprise several kilometres of suspended walkways jutting from the faces of cliffs. It was misty when we stepped from the cable car, though at this lower elevation we were able to see some of the park’s famed rock formations. As we climbed the stairs to the West Coast trail, multiple hundreds of them*, the mist enveloped us, completely obscuring the alleged beauty below. Now and then we could see towering formations directly above us and on one teasing occasion an enormous gust of wind blew open a window on the world below us, offering us a tantalising, two-second glimpse of heart-pinching splendour. At the end of the 4km West Coast trail, we crossed a spur and entered the Sunshine (East) Coast trail, hoping that on this side of the ridge we would be shown some lenience by the relentless mist. Around 3km later, having walked the suspended trail and begun our descent down endless stairs, the mist began to lift, gifting us with Sanqing Shan’s finery. It was within sight of the cable car that we decided to turn back and redo the West Coast trail, just in case the mist had lifted there too. We counted the stairs back to the cross-over spur (800-odd), each of them taking us deeper into the mist, into a white world populated by excited Chinese tourists taking selfies and photos of each other making peace signs. Every 100 stairs or so, we wondered if we should give up and turn back and call it a day, but in the end we persevered, and were rewarded with spectacular scenery along a walkway made more anxiety-producing by being considerably more visible the second time round. The suspended walkways a mad concept making for a fabulous day.

* We guestimate we ascended and descended around 3800 stairs today.