Well it’s been a while since I’ve been here and it’s usually the bus that takes me here but now that Sissi has her driving licence we got there in style. The roads are so busy, the driving is atrocious, the Chinese just don’t have a clue. They are dangerous, they pass on the left or the right on a single laned road with hard shoulder. I gave the finger to more than one that tried to come up beside us to push through and that seemed to slow them ever so briefly. They are a bunch of selfish BASTARDS when they get behind the wheel and the biggest culprits seem to be the Tesla drivers that use the speed and performance to pull off some really crazy manoeuvres.

We went for a couple of Baozi for a snack before beginning our ascent and then made our way to the edge of the village before we headed through the fruit trees to the 24 bends which is the main challenge of the walk where so many people reach the top gasping for air.

This time however is was busier than Sauchiehall on a Saturday night. As usual everybody had been shopping at Decathlon sports shop and they had bought every conceivable item needed for a stroll. Walking sticks were very popular but this hill is no Everest and so the sticks were just another thing to lug up and down again. Mind you there did not seem to be much thought put into the footwear, most were wearing shoes that you would wear for a stroll in the park, not really designed for off road.

At the top of this section we headed onto the road to head back to 东山 and we seemed to be the only ones heading in this direction. Today was very warm, it got to over 20C which for winter is tropical and it caught many by surprise including myself. By the time I reached the top my back was soaked. On the road thankfully there was plenty of shade. There were also a lot of motorbikes flying around this twisty road that crosses 东山 so you had to keep your wits about you, these guys haven’t an understanding of road safety either because they don’t give you a wide berth, instead they hold their line and you just have to make sure you are not in their way.

I like it here, however usually I came during the week and it was very quiet and so it was a very different experience today. I might have time to come back.

The horse was just the right size for Sissi 😄

A very hazy day, the air quality was not good. My throat can testify to that. 😝