Snippets of Tai’an.

Snippets of Tai’an. Shandong Province, China

July 2009.

Should one of the world’s most sacred Taoist and Buddhist mountains ever find itself onto your bucket list, look no further than the prefecture level city of Tai’an in China. Home to around 5.6 million people, it is an intriguing mix of traditional markets, towering shopping malls and the unmissable Dai Temple Complex.

I arrived here in mid July following a string of unforgettable adventures in Tianjin, Jinan and Zhujiayu. As with my stay in Jinan I’d only booked a few nights in Tai’an purely as a gateway. You see the true object of my desire was the fearsome form of Mount Tai (Taishan) that stands guard over the city.

However, after the pleasant surprises of Jinan I made sure to leave a day’s exploring for the city itself. A decision, happily, that I would not regret.

Unusually for me, I arrived in Tai’an without securing accommodation in advance. I can’t recall why this was the case, but what I do remember is making my way down Hongmen Road checking out various hotels and guesthouses. Eventually, I settled on a suite at the amusingly named Roman Holiday Hotel.

Snippets of Tai’an.

Sure, the central location was convenient and the price was right. But it was really the movie reference and the large photo of Audrey Hepburn at reception that won me over.

In that sense, I was such an easy target. Incredibly, the receptionist had no idea that Roman Holiday was an Oscar winning movie. After excitedly providing her with a potted history she quickly download the flick to watch in quiet moments at reception. Truly, it’s travel encounters like these that I cherish.

With a physically and mentally demanding day of hiking ahead of me the next day, I decided to take it easy during my time in the city. Thus I happily wiled away an hour at Tai’an Food Market where local vendors gathered to sell fruit, veg, nuts, spices, meat and fish.

The market certainly wasn’t going to win any beauty contests. Or cleanliness prizes for that matter. But it was fun watching the vendors at work, all of whom were happy to leave me to my own devices. No doubt figuring that trying to draw me in would be a linguistic headache they could do without.

Nevertheless, I did manage to make some purchases with the help of a few clumsy Chinese words and plenty of pointing. In fact, it was the perfect opportunity to put a picnic bag together for the hike up Taishan. My bounty included two peaches, a bag of almonds and a paper cup of banana chips.

Tai’an Food Market.

My main stop that day was at the fascinating Dai Temple, a stunning walled complex built in The Song Dynasty (960-1127). This is where China’s ancient emperors would come to pray, eat and rest before setting off on their own sacred journeys to the top of Mount Tai.

According to legend, it was one of these men, Emperor Wu of Han, that planted a few of the twisting cypress trees that stand in the temple’s grounds. If true this is mightily impressive, as it would make the trees in question over two thousand years old.

I spent several hours slowly exploring the imperial courtyards where there were numerous cypress trees, in addition to a stunning collection of bonsai plants and neatly arranged flower beds.

Moreover, there was the usual spot in which people could come and receive a blessing for good health and prosperity. This time it was an ancient stone, one that several emperors allegedly made a point of embracing before setting off up Tai’an’s unforgiving trails.

Snippets of Tai’an.

By now I was getting used to the constant attention. Old women staring at me with a look of utter distaste. Kids saying hello, families smiling and waving. At Dai Temple two young girls ran over to ask for a photo. Exchanging hugs, they seemed totally beside themselves to bump into a foreigner on their home turf.

It was late afternoon by the time I came across a small city park near Dai Temple. Despite scouring the internet in the hope of finding its name, I can’t be sure what this pretty green space is called. That’s a pity, because it was a lovely moment watching a local man walking his excitable dogs as the sun dropped.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped to observe a card game between local men. These guys had no interest in me at all. Rather, they were glued to the game and with money on the table the tactical battle unfolding was clearly one that held consequences for all concerned.

I rose for my great hike the next morning at the ungodly hour of 04:00. This was chiefly to escape the worst of the day’s summer heat. But also to hopefully enjoy sections of the hike without a zillion people swarming around me. Indeed the city streets were pleasingly quiet as I made my way to the ticket office and the initial trail that leads visitors through Taishan’s gorgeous forested foothills.

Tài Shān

Photo courtesy of Charlie Fong.

Taishan is so beautiful and wonderfully atmospheric. Viewed by many Chinese people as a symbol of sunrise, birth and renewal, some historians claim Taishan is the most scared of China’s so-called Five Great Mountains.

On that early part of the hike I passed bubbling streams, bursts of wild flowers and numerous rock monuments. Some celebrated the great names of Chinese history who’d hiked Taishan, though this one simply pointed visitors towards the cableway.

I’m not gonna lie, taking the cable car was tempting. However, I felt determined to reach the peak purely on foot, especially as legend dictates that anyone who does so is guaranteed to live for at least a hundred years.

As it happened, I got to take plenty of breathers along the way. A veritable open air museum, there were ancient shrines, gardens and temples aplenty, including the pretty and peaceful Palace of the Goddess Dou Mu. 

In Taoism Dou Mu is the feminine aspect of the cosmic god of heaven. I found a statue of her inside the temple, while in the courtyard shaven-headed brown-robed monks busied about the courtyard burning incense and sweeping up leaves.

Palace of the Goddess Dou Mu.

Less impressive, some might say downright appalling, was this young man showing off his chained monkey. Depressingly, he had  attracted quite the crowd of onlookers. And, as the baseball cap at his feet showed, people hadn’t been shy in giving him their loose change.

This was my first Chinese mountain hike. As with most mountains in China there were no dirt trails or twisty paths. Just staircase after staircase after staircase of gruelling stone steps. I think back then an info board said there were 6293, though I have since seen a few pages online claiming they actually number over 7000.

There came a point in the hike when I was really starting to struggle physically. It was at that precise moment that I came across two poor souls lugging a giant refrigerator up the mountain. This was the thing that gave me a shake. The moment which informed me that my situation was far more achievable. What’s more, it’s a memory that inspired me to write a short story, Two Men and a Refrigerator, about my Tài Shān experience.  

The final leg of the climb was so f***ing hard, both from a mental and physical standpoint. First I had to deal with the sudden emergence of crowds. Arriving at the final stretch of the climb in cable cars and air-conditioned buses, they swallowed me up, littering and making as much noise as humanly possible as they went.

Snippets of Tai’an.

As irksome as that closing experience of the hike undoubtedly was, it felt all the more sweeter when… at long last… I conquered the final step to reach the summit, Jade Emperor Peak.

It was equally chaotic at the summit. There were restaurants and souvenir shops galore, along with entrepreneurial vendors flogging all manner of Mount Tai themed silliness. Heck, there was even a 4 star hotel for those who wanted to stay the night and wake up to a stunning sunrise.

But all I wanted was to gaze out over the surrounding landscape and get my breathing back to normal. To quietly congratulate myself on completing the climb. To look ahead to the next adventure on what was turning out to be one of the best summers of my life.

For a deeper insight into my Tai’an adventures, check out my short story Two Men and a Refrigerator. 

You can also have a look at my other reports from around Shandong Province.

Like these? Then why not leaf through my zillion articles from across China.

And I’ve written a short story series called Challenged In China.

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