Personal discoveries trekking on Cui Hua Shan
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Blurry eyed and still half asleep, I heat up some water and stand impatiently waiting for it to come to a boil. I'm up early, much earlier than usual and honestly…I didn't even knew the sun came up at this hour. The water comes to a boil and I throw in some tea leaves, taking a sip, I sigh, squint my eyes and look outside.
It's 8:30 in the morning and I guess my day has begun. I'm up today because I want to get out of this city, the noise, the crowds, the streets. It's all been adding up lately and I need a break. I was told of a great place that has exactly what I am looking for, I'll head there for the day and get some of that "fresh air" that I hear others talking so much about.
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Cui Huashan in the northern Qinling Mountain of Chang'an District, Xi'an |
It's called Cui Huashan in the northern Qinling Mountain of Chang'an District, and it's about an hour south of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. As I sat thinking about the beautiful trees, fresh air, and relaxing atmosphere my tea has gone cold. I pick myself up, look down at my tea, shake my head and grab my day pack. Now to be honest I did a little research into where I was going before waking myself up at the early hour of 8:30 am.
Cui Huashan is different from Hua Shan (Hua Mountain), they are not the same place, the same environment, or even look similar. They are different parts of the same mountain range, the Qinling Mountains, but that is about all they have in common. In fact in Chinese the name Cui Huashan actually means Prettier then Hua Mountain, so really they are competing with each other. Another point is that Cui Huashan doesn't involve much climbing, as it's not much of a mountain trek or even a hilly trek. And that's good because let's face it, I'm lazy.
Out the door I head to the south gate of Xi'an, and I am amazed at the number of people on the street at this time of morning, I wish I knew if it was a weekday or not but as it is, I'm just happy to not have forgotten my house key.
From the inside of the wall I get onto a south bound number 600 bus, a double decker that costs me 1 yuan. I still feel like half my body is still cozy and sleeping back in my apartment, but luckily the ride is about 20 minutes and allows me to wake up, but unluckily it seems that half of Xi'an's population has decided to ride the same bus as me.
At Dien Shi Chang (TV Tower stop) I get off the bus and quickly find bus 905. I hop on, pay my 4 yuan, and settle in to watch the scenery change from big buildings and wide streets, to country stores and rural roads. It takes about 45 minutes and drops me off on the main street of a small town at the base of the Qingling mountain range.
This small town only has a college and Cui Huashan, so looking around all I see are things for college students and things for travelers. At every turn there are the motorized pedicabs calling out to me to hop in and they will ride right to the gate of Cui Huashan for 4 yuan per person. But I don't feel like jumping into yet another vehicle and so I begin to walk.
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