They don't jut out of the cloud like cliffs out of the sea. Well, when I saw Huang Shan, I saw the Chinese paintings in tangible substances. Leaves of bonsai-shaped tress glisten in the mist. When the mist comes, you only see the shadows of the trees silhouetted against a shifting cloak of white. When the mist clears, a sea lies before you, immobile, fluffy and deceptively inviting.
Sharp peaks rise from above the sea of clouds everywhere, as far as the eye can see.
The highest peak hidden behind a mysterious mist calls out to challengers. The tour guide warned us seriously that death toll in Huang Shan is one of the highest in China because of the number of people who fell from it's cliffs. We stayed that night on the mountain. My family booked a small chalet for ourselves. It was an old army barrack which the Red Guards used during the war against the Japanese.