The following morning we rose at 7:30am, had breakfast in the hotel, and headed for Southern Peak. At 257.2 meters above sea level, it is not particularly high, but the steps are steep - almost 45 degrees all the way up.

What held me in awe that day was not the steepness of the steps, but the sight of a young man with a lame leg. As we were coming down we passed him making his way to the top, very slowly, but very determinedly, inch by inch.

After checking out of our hotel we headed for lunch in a gorgeous farmer's restaurant on Santaishan Road called Linghuju (House of Listening to the Lake). It is so popular that Hangzhou locals regularly frequent the place at weekends.

A cup of tea and a big bowl of boiled home-bred chicken make for a perfect afternoon. When you eat in the open, you see leaves falling from the trees into your dishes. But who cares? It's the flavor of nature.

As we booked tickets for a return train at 8:41pm - the last bullet train from Hangzhou to Shanghai - we had plenty of time to stroll along West Lake which was much quieter after the departure of most of the other visitors.

We had dinner at the famous Lou Wai Lou restaurant on the Bai Causeway at 5:30pm (you won't get a seat if you arrive after 6pm), then walked along the causeway to Beishan (Northern Mountain) Road where we took a taxi to the railway station and headed for home.

So ended our Hangzhou mountain adventure. But we enjoyed the trip so much that we went to walk in mountains for a whole day this past weekend - on yet another unbeaten track. This time though we took some drinking water.

(Shanghai Daily April 28,2008)