Qingcheng Mountain (6-16)

Saturday and Sunday Megan and I went to Qingcheng Mountain, which is about an hour from Wenjiang. We had planned to take a bus from Chengdu. Then we decided to take the train from Chengdu. We also decided to take the more expensive bus from the Wenjiang bus station instead of the city bus because it goes to a station near the train station. Then we decided to ask at the bus station if there was a bus directly to Dujiangyan, the city near the mountain where we would spend the night. We were very happy to learn that there is a direct bus. That saved us 2+ hours, since we didn’t have to go to Chengdu and then retrace some of the route. It also saved us money. So this was a great start to our adventure.

The hotel we stayed at does not have an English name; so I correctly figured that there wouldn’t be much English spoken there. Our original choice listed on c-trip does not have a license for foreigners. When I made the reservation, a woman called with this information and found a hotel for the same price. I had the name and address printed in Chinese for the taxi driver. This was also handy when we were checking in to confirm that it was the correct hotel. The receptionist wanted to charge us 100 yuan more for a room with a queen-sized bed than the price I was given. So I called c-trip and spoke to a woman who speaks excellent English. She talked with the receptionist and resolved the problem; she didn’t know about the online promotion. This was the second time I’ve used c-trip, and both times they were very good about resolving problems. But the receptionist still wanted 80 more yuan. A young woman we had chatted with briefly when we arrive had returned and explained that the extra money was the deposit. So all was fine.

The young woman had returned to invite us to go to the mountain with her and her boyfriend in their car. Of course, we took them up of the offer. Thus we met Karen/Gan and Zhu, with whom we spent the whole day. She is 25 and is just finishing her master’s degree in international business and will graduate at the end of the month. She has a job with an international company based in Wenjiang. He is 32 and works, but I didn’t learn what he does. The two of them have been dating for only half a month but seem to get along very well. They are both very nice and treated us extremely well.

Qingcheng Mountain is one of the major sacred Taoist mountains in China. It is said to be the birthplace of Taoism and has many Taoist temples on the front side. The oldest were first built in the 7^th century. An interesting factoid I learned from one Internet site is that the mountain is the one Kung Fu Panda went to in KFP2. It is 1260 meters/4134 feet high and has 36 peaks. This means that you walk up and down and around the various peaks on the way to the top.

Megan and I had planned to take the cable car up the front side of the mountain, our destination of the day, and then walk down. However, Karen and Zhu planned to walk both ways; so walking is what we did. The path is lined with trees, and the mountain is known for its gingko trees. 

There were thousands of steps up the mountain. Most were stone, and some were uneven and different widths; so climbing up the steps was not easy. Some sections were very steep. I missed the bamboo walking stick I had on Emeishan.

We walked for two hours and then stopped for lunch. On the way up, Zhu bought us each a fan because we were sweating. Later he bought us a cucumber. (They are snacks here.) He also bought lunch for everyone. Megan and I enjoyed having someone who could order food, as we ate better than if we had done it ourselves with our very limited Chinese.

At the temple where we had lunch there is a 2000-year-old gingko tree. 

After lunch, we headed up the mountain for two more hours. 

Then we finally reached the top. It was an overcast day, so we didn’t have stunning views. That seems to be my fate so far when I’ve been on the top of a mountain here.

Megan and I had decided that we would take the cable car down and pay for Karen and Zhu, as we were both tired and hot. We could have walked down if we’d had to, but it would not have been enjoyable after the rigorous trek up the mountain; so the riding option was much more appealing. Zhu and Karen drove us back to the hotel and then returned to Chengdu.

We decided to eat dinner before going to our room. A woman I asked about a restaurant pointed across the street. There was a whole street of small cafes. A group of people were eating in one; so we went to look to see if they had anything we might want. They were delighted to have us look and kept pointing to some of their dishes. Along with several meat dishes, they had a soybean dish and an eggplant dish that we ordered. I’d never had a meal of cooked soybeans. It had a little too much pork sauce for me, but the beans out of the sauce were good.

When we got to the hotel, the electricity was off in the area. But the mall across the street must have a great generator because their music was playing loudly and women were doing their aerobic dancing outside the mall. The electricity came on again after an hour and a half.

Sunday morning we checked Megan’s bag at the bus station and headed to the back side of the mountain. Megan’s friend had said to line up for the gold bus, but we didn’t see any and didn’t see any signs. So we asked. The first man pointed. Then we went to the information desk, and the woman pointed to the ticket-purchasing area. Shortly after we got in line, a man ran over to us and asked where we wanted to go. We pointed to the map on the wall where it said “back side of Qingcheng.” He took us out of line and up to the window and said “money.” I gave him the money, and he purchased our tickets and took us to wait for the bus. When it arrived, he took us over to it. We felt fortunate to have such good assistance.

We had read that the back side isn’t as crowded as the front side, that the path isn’t as rigorous a walk, and that the path goes along a stream with lots of waterfalls. I think it’s been discovered, as there were about as many people as we encountered on the front side and the path along the stream was packed with a steady stream of people. Qingcheng is an hour outside Chengdu and is the closest natural environment to the city. So many people seem to have driven out for the day. As for being an easier path, it was for the first hour along the stream, which makes it cooler. 

But then it ascended up the mountain steeply. However, the path is paved and the steps are even and are paved steps, not uneven stones. Since our calves were tight from the walk on Saturday, the uphill climb was difficult. It was farther and took more time than we had realized. 

After walking two and a half hours, we reached the cable car down. Since we needed to pick up Megan’s bag before 5:00, we were on a time crunch; so we asked how much farther it is to the top of the mountain and were told that it would take another hour or two. 

And since we were tired and the day was overcast—so no stunning views from the top, we decided to call it a day and take the cable car down. But first we had an ice cream and relaxed in a soft chair for a bit. 

On the ride down, it was fun to look down and see the stream and path we had walked along on the way up. 

At the bottom of the back side there is an ancient town. It’s mostly shops selling souvenirs. 

Many shops sell the meat that Karen had said is a specialty of Qingcheng. It’s pork that is smoked or something and is similar to bacon when served.

Back in Dujiangyan, we purchased our ticket home. There was a line to Wenjiang; so it was about 40 minutes till we got on a bus. We were glad to have a seat on a bus returning directly to Wenjiang, not to Chengdu. After arriving, we crossed the street and hopped on a bus that would bring us back to the school. Unfortunately, it broke down, but it was close to the school and we knew where we were. We took a taxi the rest of the way.

All in all, it was a good weekend. But we agreed that doing both the front and back in the same weekend was too much. Perhaps if we’d taken the cable car up the front, as planned, we would not have been so tired and had aching calves on Sunday. I think it would be nice to return in the fall when the leaves are changing. So I may get there again now that I know how to do it.