Peak attraction

Scaling the steep slopes of Huashan is not easy.

Like most tourists, I take the path of least resistance and shorten the ascent to the North Peak to seven minutes by cable car.

Vertigo is the price I pay for looking down while whooshing over the deep valley.

Slogging up the slope on foot is no easy task.

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Consequently, Huashan's management committee offers trekkers free drinking water. If it rains, it passes out free rain parkas, and opens temples and public spaces as shelters.

Many visitors purchase golden locks that vendors engrave with blessings to make wishes for friends, lovers and family. They tie the locks with red ribbons printed with auspicious words and hang them from the chains of Jinsuoguan.

My travel-mate buys one "to lock her boyfriend's heart". But I can't find the one another friend and her ex hung years ago. It has disappeared, like their love, I guess.

I arrive at Eastern Peak and spend the night on the mountain in Dongfeng Hotel.

The word "hotel" might be a bit of a stretch in this case. Chatting in the tiny dorm takes me back to my university days. I try not to drink too much water because getting to the restroom requires a 40-meter slog through biting winds.

A sudden rainfall blocks out the sunrise. But I'm not that disappointed.

I lose myself in the thick alpine fog to the point I don't notice the cold.

The descent is made easier by porters, who haul my stuff down the slope for a fee. They're much stronger than I am and don't tire as easily, even when burdened by my cargo.

At night, I visit a theater at the foot of the mountains to enjoy Laoqiang Opera, one of the country's oldest musical genres. It was traditionally passed down by men only, but some practitioners are now training women apprentices.

I decide to soak my aching body at the city's Huashan Yu Hot Spring Resort. The compound houses more than a dozen kinds of hot springs, with fragrances, such as rose and coffee. The hot water melts away my exhaustion.

After scaling one of China's steepest mountains, I realize it's something I'd never try again without knowing there are hot springs waiting at the bottom.

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn.