I don't know if it made much sense to you, but for me, I certainly had difficulty believing in it. Still, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is still a very popular tourist attraction all year round, and its name came about because the shape of the mountain looks like a dragon.
One day after we came back to Lijiang from Lugu Lake, we got the hostel person to arrange a minivan (面包车) to drive us to Jade Dragon early in the morning. There was a rule that only 6000 people are allowed up the mountain everyday, and because it was summer, a lot of tour groups are clambering to go. Also, Joyce's research said that we could buy cable tickets in the Old Town of Lijiang, but we didn't find any ticket booths for that around, to our immense frustration.
At 6am, we were up. The driver came at 7am, and she was this kind middle aged lady. Upon seeing that we were going up the mountain with nothing buy cardigans and thin jackets, she drove us to a shop that rents those thick windbreakers and oxygen tanks. She told us the one time she went up, she could feel the air thinning and got a mild bout of altitude sickness. She was so worried for us she insisted we carry 6 oxygen tanks up. (These tanks were as small as air fresheners.) So, we carried 2 opened oxygen tanks and 4 sealed ones. The sealed ones could be returned later, if we didn't use them. Since these tanks were way expensive up in the mountain, we thought it was a good idea.
On our way in the vehicle, we had to pass through a station to buy entrance tickets and pay a preservation fee. The preservation fee was fixed by the government and was a must for every visitor. Our driver, though, having driven for quite some years, told us we can try to hide one or two persons among the stack of 6 windbreakers, so the station master cannot see, and would not charge for that person. Crazy idea it was, and an even crazier thing was that we did it.
Yours truly hid in the stack of windbreakers for 5 minutes. I felt the vehicle come to a stop. Soon, I heard the conversation between Felicia and the station master. "5 people." Felicia declared. In the darkness, I could feel Keon put his hand on the windbreakers nondiscretely. The station master counted aloud. But, seriously, the windbreakers were quite thick that it was horribly suffocating for a while. Then I heard the car door close and off we went. Keon hurriedly removes the windbreakers on top, and so I could breathe again. We saved RMB120 that day.
The time period between taking the cable car and reaching the place was a whopping 2 hours. At 1o plus am, we had only reached mid-mountain via the park's bus. A long line for the cable car was snaking, and the whole area was still cloudy, therefore there was no sign of the peaks.
But things have a way of unfolding when you're on holiday. We noticed a tall man in only a polo tee queing right in front of us. Everyon else was in winterwear, but there he was, in his white tee with thin black stripes. Afterward, a smokers' gang decided to light up, to my dislike because they were standing right in front of me. These balding 40 year old men who looked like they were having a mid life crisis started smoking together. So I took a piece of paper, and fanned. As wildly as possible, as sulkily as possible- I fanned. "IT STINKS" I kept repeating. I fanned so hard that Cathy and gang were quite afraid.
The only person in front who noticed my fanning, to my disappointment, was not part of the smokers' gang. It was the guy in the white polo tee, and he said with a smile,"Can you stop fanning? I'll be cold if you keep fanning."
And that was how we met Hui Qiang, this tall army guy who would later join us in Kunming. We had some conversations while queuing and he said he was traveling alone. All of us chatted about Singapore and China, and his resistance to the cold.
Come to think of it, while I was happy we made a new friend, it was funny how my tactic still didn't stop those fatty 40s from smoking. Hmm, maybe it wasn't elaborate enough.
We finally got on the cable at 11am. 6 of us squeezed in one cable car, and off it went, higher and higher. Steeper and steeper. Green grass gave way to rocky mountain surfaces. We could see the earth beneath us getting further and further away. My dad chose that time to call me. All I could remember was shouting into the earpiece, saying that I was on my way to a snow mountain, and it was going terribly high.
We passed mountain ridge after mountain ridge, then a huge white blanket of clouds covered the entire cable car. We could see nothing for a good 2 minutes. But when it cleared, my goodness, there was a working cable car station on the edge of the mountain, and right behind that station was a breathtaking series of greyish white jagged peaks. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
4000metres above sea level. That was how high we were. There was no snow, but it was still greyish white. There was a platform constructed by man, where people could walk around. There was staircases leading up to the peaks, and on these staircases were a colourful array of windbreakers and jackets. We slowly made our way up because we were afraid of altitude sickness. There were people around us who used their oxygen tanks happily, and people who looked sick. A lot of them were like us. They would walk a bit, then sit down to rest. The air was significantly thinner, plus there were so many people. I, for one, cannot phantom how I was feeling exhausted after a few steps. My heart was racing and I was really tired.
So Felicia, being the mother, gave me the oxygen tank. Nah, Deanna, use it, she said. Okay. So I did. I didn't feel anything though, although I could feel a gush of air when we squeezed the tank's nozzle. Slowly, I trudged up.
Staircases gave way to rocks. Soon, I felt like some mountaineer as I had to make my way up by stepping on the uneven rocks and all. Sir Edmund Hillary! But he probably suffered much more than me. And saw more too.
Finally we are on the uppermost part of the constructed platform. 4680m above sea level. The winds howled loudly as we posed for the camera. Felt like an expedition. I was at the top of the world.
Sadly, the day's weather didn't allow us to see the highest peak in the mountain. However, we were already lucky, because Samuel didn't see any peaks at all when he came. Out of nowhere, the clouds also parted and we could see to the bottom of the mountain. Magnificent.
After a long time up there, we headed down. Along the way we saw Regina and Ming Yuan, who were coming up with only their thin jackets. They said it wasn't very cold though, so they were quite fine. By that time, I was feeling out of sorts. Climbing felt exhaustive to me. Cathy and Keon felt a little dizzy, but the other three were still robust and full of life. Altitude sickness isn't fun at all.
While waiting for the cable car, I witnessed a worker stand on a makeshift "cable car". There was no interier, just a platform and a pole. He hopped on the platform, and down the "cable car" went, with the wind blowing in his face. I was in quite a bit of a shock. What is worst is that the cable car service stopped halfway, and it was only 10 minutes later that it resumed service. Can you imagine that man clinging onto the platform, with nothing else around him but that platform? Very scary!!
When we got down, the driver was already waiting for us. We had a quick tour of the surrounding areas (saw 牦牛!) before going back to deposit our rented stuff at the shop. By then, I was already feverish. The driver brought us to a famous and cheap place for dinner, then drove us back to the hostel. That night, I headed to bed earlier than the rest. After eating some fever pills, I went right to sleep.
When I closed my eyes though, I can see the snow mountain. Standing there, on its own, peaceful and white.
The guys trying to make condensation out of their breathes. Notice the white polo tee guy behind us?
Queuing to go up the cable car. It was a long queue. We spoke to Hui Qiang, the white polo tee guy.
Up, up and above!
We're there!
Look Ma, snow mountain! Cathy never told her mum she was going to go to a snow mountain. She herself thought she would be going to cities to play.
A trail of people heading up and down the mountain top via man-made stairs.
We meet Hui Qiang once again!
Using the oxygen tank.
We're really climbing a mountain here.
At the top!
Picnic-ing in the mountains.
We meet Regina and Mingyuan on the way down.
Down, down we go.
牦牛!
A cheap and filling dinner.
The old town where we rested, before going to Tiger Leaping Gorge the next day.
End of Part 8.
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