We left Chang’de at 8:00 to go to the nearby, and genuinely strange looking, peak that looks like a thumbs up. The Chinese understanding of hiking is somewhat strange, almost as strange as their understanding of stairs. To me hiking involves things like trails and dirt. To the Chinese even what is virtually a long driveway up to the top of a hill counts as 爬 or climbing. Our 爬 to the top was reasonably exhausting but was predominantly paved and staired. Which brings me to my second point, what is the purpose of Chinese stairs? The concept of evenly spaced steps (both vertically and horizontally) seems to be well within the capacity of what was the most advanced civilization in the world. Also, what good are steps that only take you up half an inch? It’s puzzling. To be fair, the hike was great. Chang’de is built in the valleys between rocky summits and the frequent glances back showed the city at its most vulnerable. The sprawl and disorder of the city looks grasping and delicate from the mountains above. Zhao Laoshi told us that if we touched the bizarre thumb-like rock we would live to be 103. The rock is just as strange looking from the top and the small railings at the crowded peak seem like less than reassuring trip lines. I also hiked with Peter, Zach, and Brenden to another rock that the sign claimed if you climb through the tunnel you will live your life without disease. 103 years without disease, I’m still waiting for the rock that when touched grants one 3,000 concubines, but still for one days work not bad at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment