Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Forbidden City and back to Shanghai


Wednesday we went to the forbidden city. It was amazing. Imagine a town of red walls and gilded ceilings, incredible wooden wealth and gardens designed to take you to the mountains of your birth. Imagine doors only used by the son of the sun and great rooms filled with waterfalls of silk and stone. Imagine water pouring through the mouths of a hundred stone dragons. This would get you closer to understanding how the phoenix and the dragon lived in ancient China. Go there if you can, and if you can't, read a good book about it.


That night we took another sleeper to Shanghai to see if we could then get to Huang Shan, the Yellow Mountain. Thursday morning we found a travel agent who got us on a bus to Huang Shan leaving at 3:30. Other than the seven hours, smoke, vinyl seat covers sticky with sweat, honking horns, and bumpy ride, the journey to Huang Shan was absolutely miserable. We stayed in the town for the night and woke up Friday, got on another bus, and rode to the base of the mountain.

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