This post will be about a certain teahouse in China. Yes, you read the right: a teahouse in China. You’re probably asking yourself, “What’s so weird about a teahouse in China?”
Nothing. Nothing is weird about a teahouse in China.
“Well is it haunted or something?” you might be asking.
Nope, it isn’t. What makes this particular teahouse peculiar is not the teahouse itself but the journey one must undertake to get to the teahouse.
It all starts at the “heavenly stairs” located at the base of Mt. Huashan. This is a steep staircase carved into the mountain side. There are so many stairs that a few villages even exist alongside them, and believe it or not, the stairs are one of the easier parts of the trek.
Once you make it well beyond the point where you’ve stopped counting those endless stairs feel free to take a breather on a gondola ride across the giant chasm to another peak.
This is where it gets interesting. The faint of heart should probably just turn around and go home if they’ve managed to make it this far. You’re destination is at the top of this peak, but this is the path you must follow:
Yes, those are wooden planks attached to the face of a cliff and chains to hold on to as you go. My question is what happens if someone is coming down while you’re going up? How do you manage to pass each other? Does one of you have to backtrack or do you risk falling and a few moments of awkwardness hugging a stranger against a wall. This is actually probably one of the easier parts of the trek. Next up are some toe holes carved into the wall.
Afterwards you’ve got a few more stairs to climb and you will have arrived at your destination for a cup of tea before making the return trip down the mountain. I wonder how much their tea costs…
Personally, I’d go for the journey. The tea at the top would just be a bonus.
So, who’s up for a cup?
Adam Ickes 