Waking up at the crack of dawn, we were fresh and all ready to go. That day, the main point on our itinerary was the visit to Huangshan Scenic Area (黄山风景区). Huangshan is a mountain range in the southern Anhui province located in eastern China that is famous for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly shaped granite peaks, Huangshan pine trees, hot springs, winter snow, and view of the clouds in the sky. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China's major tourist destinations, it is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature as well as modern photography. Huangshan is also a well known place for high quality Chinese teas such as the Huangshan Maofeng Tea, Keemun Black Tea and Blooming Tea. 

After a filling breakfast, we headed out for a short 15 minute walk to the bus stop to board a bus that would take us to the cable car station around the foot of Huangshan. At the cable car station, we got into our groups and boarded a cable car which ascended Huangshan's steep and rocky slopes, slopes meant only for professionals to scale. The overall ascend was smooth and pretty fast, with a bonus of being comfortable. However, the air outside that day was relatively foggy and misty, making it hard to see and admire the greenery and nature present outside the cars. Once we got onto the mountain, the cool wind could be felt caressing our skin and faces. The air was definitely much cooler than that at the foot of Huangshan, where we started off. Being from a country that is hot and humid practically all year round, it was a refreshing change that felt great.

Before we set off on our actual hike, we were briefed by our guide and teachers about what to look out for while on the mountain, most of which were part of nature while others were of tourist or man-made structures. With that, we started on our hike. Uneven steps were aplenty and we walked up and down them for what seemed like an eternity. It was definitely tiring, but worth it. Not only did we get to burn calories, we also got to breathe in fresh air and admire the stunning scenery of our surroundings. There was also quite a lot of people that day, everybody eagerly taking pictures of the breath-taking views. The entire hike was basically cycles of walk, stop, listen, repeat. Indeed, though full of arduous walking, through this cycle, we did learn much from the guide's explanation of the different plants and rocks, just to name a few, on Huangshan. It was a pity, though, that the weather this particular day was not all that good. Though we did not experience heavy downpours, the sky was filled with dark clouds and fog, making it difficult or even impossible to see some of the infamous scenic rocks on Huangshan that we were there to see. Despite this, we did try to make the best of our visit by appreciating the nature that was everywhere around us. Though not as exciting, it left us feeling as though we were in another world.

A particular episode that happened on the mountain was, and still is, significantly unforgettable to me. We had scaled to one of the highest peaks of the mountain and were faced with a rather slippery surface that we had to cross to get down. At that time, many of us panicked. However, we held each other's hands and led each other down slowly, one by one. This episode really showed the true spirit of the teamwork of our class, a value that can only be truly tested when faced with a hurdle or obstacle, something that I really did not know we had. It really brought us closer as a class, making us come together with the same goal in mind. Hopefully, will have this spirit when overcoming challenges together in the future. Only if we do have it then can we succeed together. 

After the continuous walking and hiking up stairs and slopes, we were all tired and famished. It was then that we headed to a restaurant in a hotel located on Huangshan. The fact that there were hotels on Huangshan did surprise me a little. Wouldn't building these kinds of buildings be harmful to the environment? Besides, with greenery, wildlife and above all, nature being all around, wouldn't many living creatures fall ill and die? These questions sure have straightforward yeses to them, but the real question is whether the harming of such precious living things is really acceptable or not. With different opinions from different people, it has proven to be a debatable one. While businessmen see the building of such buildings as opportunities to earn money off tourists, botanists and animal lovers see it as huge threats to the wildlife they love so much and want to learn more about. There being two sides of a coin is inevitable, however, I would have to stand on the side of the botanists and animal lovers. I personally feel that nature is extremely important to preserve. Plants provide food for us and could have medical abilities, while animals are lives too, and every life is precious. I could go on and on about both their rights and importance, but this line is enough to say it all. Anyway, coming back to the meal. The food was just like the food in any other restaurant in China, except probably a lot more expensive. This is due to the fact that the extra labour force required to carry all the ingredients up the mountain has to be paid for, and due to the bulk and weight of them, the amount is not small. However, there are plenty of visitors to Huangshan, hence, the restaurant need not worry about losing customers. After all, whether on a mountain or not, humans still need to eat.

When we were done with lunch, we started to descend Huangshan, this time also by cable car. The cable cars we took this time were much larger and could fit much more people. However, the journey was less smooth than the first one as there were a couple of bumps along the way. After successfully getting down to the foot of the mountain, we once again headed for the bus and braced ourselves for the upcoming 3.5 hour long road trip. Overall, this trip to Huangshan may not have been the most informative one, but it has definitely allowed us, a class of teenagers who spends most of our time staring at our mobile devices, to appreciate nature and take in the beauty it has to show.

The time spent on the bus, being an exceptionally long one, was used partially for resting and partially for discussion. We had discussed about the things that we had seen and observed at Huangshan and the purpose of them. This helped hone and sharpen our observation and evaluation skills, two skills vital to our lives. Even though it would take forever and be irrelevant for me to type every part of our discussion out, this discussion should not be belittled as it's importance is greater than one would think.

After our discussion, we also had a short debate on a mind-numbing topic: Does tourism preserve or destroy Mount Huangshan? Using the Paul's wheel was required of us when answering this question.The class was split into two sides, one taking the stand of preserve and the other taking the stand of destroy. My side was given the stand that tourism preserves Mount Huangshan. However, I cannot say that I agree fully with this statement. Although tourism does preserve Huangshan in ways like letting tourists learn more about the nature of Huangshan and teaching them the importance of preserving it, it also does destroy it in the sense that it encourages businessmen to construct buildings on the mountain for tourists to conduct activities in which would be harmful to the nature on Huangshan. Hence, this question is mostly based on a person's opinion of what is most important and what is least important.

After the long bus ride, we ended the day off with dinner and a drive back to hotel for some well-deserved rest. In conclusion, although we did not learn much about the many aspects of China besides cultural ones from today's visit, it did allow me to further appreciate the beauty nature has to offer.