The Huang Shan post you've all been waiting for (or maybe just my mom)

Huang Shan (黄山) is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. Period. It just barely edges out Maui. Mind you, Maui is probably still my favorite place... Huang Shan is just better-looking. Imagine granite boulders shooting up from the tops of jungle peaks like roused giants from the blankets of sleep. There isn't an actual "huang shan peak". The whole area is called Huang Shan. To pick a peak and call it Huang Shan would be like picking a single hair on my head and saying that THAT is his hair. ____On a completely relevant note, I finally gave in and got my hair cut today. I'll describe it and you can name the price you think appropriate. I got a 15 minute (kid you not) head massage/shampoo (it was by a dude...Greg's hair person was this super-hot asian babe, but I'll take what I can get), the world's most meticulous stylist (he never took off more than an eighth of an inch at a time, I swear on everything precious to me, and had his eyes approximately 2 inches from my head for the duration of the 25+ minute cut...for reference, it usually takes about 10 minutes for a professional to cut my hair), ANOTHER washing of the hair...shorter this time, but still satisfying, and a final touch-up by the stylist (who, by the way, was wearing the coolest pants ever...like faded army fatigues but with zippers and buckles all over the place...very urban. I'm gonna buy some first chance I get) in which he first blowdries my hair in the direction he wants it to go, then puts a fat glob of texture cream in his hand and sculpts my very first faux-hawk (I chuckled, but let him keep going) and finishes off with hairspray. To be frank and honest, I look like a sexy beast.______Well, now that I've gone off on that tangent for long enough, back to Huang Shan! PS-if it bugs anyone that I can't put returns in these posts, you're not alone in the universe. Anyway, our trip to Huang Shan---> We met Thursday afternoon at the building in which we usually hold class (mom's gonna go get on google earth the first chance she gets, so it's the Zeng Xian Zi building just to the East of Shanghai Road at the western edge of Nanjing University campus) at 1 o'aclock and it took about six hours to get to Huang Shan City. The city's just one continuous street of hotels, so I'll skip it. It was pretty boring. The next morning (Friday), we hopped on a bus and drove to the base of the mountain. Then the torture began: approximately one point four billion steps up the mountain. There were no dirt paths, no switchbacks, and no hikers with the good sense to carry water (except for foreigners). I saw young ladies with heels walking up the stairs like they were on their lunch break. They've got the WHOLE MOUNTAIN covered with hand-made stone steps. So while every single one of the native chinese was carrying nothing but the clothes on their back (and even that was optional!), here we were, a bunch of americans walking up the stairs all decked out in hiking gear and toting our camelbaks (people thought these were the coolest things they'd ever seen!). Anyway...I can't do justice to how beautiful this place was, so take a look at the pictures. We hiked up to the top of one of the peaks and around to two other peaks and finally took the cable car back down. I'd recommend the cable car up and down to anyone going. There's nothing to see on the way up, really...just lots of trees. I wasn't able to upload as many pictures as I had wanted on this website, so you'll have to check out my new albums on my facebook profile. If I'm not your friend yet on facebook, you'll have to request it. Maybe I'll consent. Maybe I won't. Kind of exciting, isn't it?