Dispatch: Tunxi

If it walks like a duck there is a good chance that it/he/she has just spent 36-hours chasing panorama’s on Huangshan.  Personally, I was not sorry to see the last of the Yellow Mountain. As breathtaking as it is one pays dearly for every magnificent vista. If you aren’t climbing (and climbing and climbing and…) then you are being asked by Uncle Kelby to face the camera for yet another photograph. Late in the afternoon the girls and I were standing on the precipice admiring nature’s miracle when Kelby instructed us to turn around and smile. I briefly contemplated hurling myself over the side of the mountain instead. Truth be told, at the end of the day there will be a payoff for every picture taken and every smile forced because Huangshan is truly unique and holds its own with any of nature’s other wonderments.

With the exception of Old Town, a series of connecting streets that have been preserved in the traditional style, Tunxi is unremarkable. A truly small town with only 150,000 inhabitants Tuxni serves as the gateway to Huangshan, as is reflected in the names of many hotels, banks and restaurants. The curator of a local art museum gave us a private tour and we were privileged to wander among ancient and modern paintings that are sure to deteriorate in the uncontrolled environment which in this case was sweltering heat.  At the end of the tour we found ourselves in a, surprise, gift shop/gallery where we bargained and cajoled some pretty good deals on high quality paintings.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Old Town, resisting the temptation to purchase calligraphy sets, dried mushrooms and hand painted fans. I don’t know if it was the Olympics or the heat, but we were again seemingly alone in a special place preserved by time. Stephanie couldn’t have gotten lost if she had tried. When dinner time came around, which is not necessarily something to be anticipated, Mr. Wang took us to a restaurant that is one of his ‘personal favorites’. We sat at the window table, and as the weather cooled the streets filled with locals and tourists and we had one more front row seat for the promenade of humanity, meandering, working and simply living in a charming little corner of the world. There weren’t any menus so the girls and I trekked to the open kitchen and selected dinner by sight, smell and pure dumb luck. Kelby followed us, taking picture after picture until the manager told him to stop. It ended up being a spectacular meal and a great way to end a perfect day. At least that is what we thought at the time.

We arrived back at our hotel and were greeted by a red carpet lined with formally dressed employees and as much majesty and circumstance as you can imagine. Surprised yet again, we proudly approached the welcoming committee only to be directed away from the red carpet. We were asked to leave the lobby so that they could properly greet the government official whose arrival was imminent. Designated as a 5-star hotel, the girls said that their room was the best that they had ever stayed in. We all took full advantage of the plush facilities, lounging in our robes, soaking in our tubs as we watched the Olympics on the little HDTV’s in our respective bathrooms and thoroughly enjoying the benefits of our 5-star rooms at the end of our 5-star day.