Q's wandering...: [35-Days Trip 2010] HuangShan, a trip late for nine years

Nine years ago, I was so close to HuangShan, one of the most famous and legendary mountain in China, but I missed it. I did think about going back some day, though after near a decade and flying all the way back from the other side of the world was not exactly what I planned then.

This was the third day since my flight landed on Shanghai Pudong International Airport after one week travel in west coast, and this was the first working day after Labor Day long weekend, when I scheduled the whole morning in General Consulate for a new visa stamp.
But neither of the reasons seemed giving me a second thought about booking the train ticket for that same night. When I lay in the middle-level bed, listening the "click, click" from the rail, that summer in 2001 felt like not long time ago.

It's a really nice day after a sweet dream (ok, that sounds a little dramatic, a tight sleep probably enough to cover my good mood), but like lots of other transportation hub towns in China, blue sky and fresh air wasn't around until miles away from downtown and the huge billboard of "Welcome to 5-star National Tourist Destination - UNESCO World Heritage Site" started to show up along the highway.
Again, like most of the other buses picking up tourists from train station, we have a conductor/guide on board. Aparently according to her, "today is a lucky day for tourists", because the aniversary celebration for "awarded as UNESCO WHS" offered half-price ticket for the main scenic site (North Sea area). However, due to this incredible deal once a year, all three lines of tram car will be packed with tourists in one-day tour, so she suggested those who plan to spend night in the mountain start the trip from "East Sea area", which I never heard of before.
Let's say she did a very good promoting job (or more likely I was just not used to their marketing strategy anymore plus I secretly held that good feeling - I was on vacation with dollars coming, not much, but enough to transform from that poor student nine years ago), because by the time we got off the bus, half of the people had decided to take her advice.

Not as famous as the main site, this morning as warm-up did provide remarkable peace, which was proved later so valuable but hard to achieve. We didn't make complete routes in any of the three scenic spots, considering the tight schedule to catch the last tram up the moutain.

Relax, was the theme here before real climbing work.