Enshi Grand Canyon

Sunday, May 16th, 2010 in: News, Travel

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEMdJ15dqqg

Up until now, I’ve spent most of my time in China in the cities; a relatively unvarying landscape of buildings, shops, people and smog. They’re interesting in their own right, but it’s a far cry from the Chinese countryside I imagined. From my first day driving through through one of Wuhan’s five thousand construction sites to flying over the endless urban sprawl of Shanghai, I began to wonder if China had been swallowed up by one metropolis after another, creeping over the landscape and blanketing everything in the same grey haze. I would get my answer on the bus ride to what’s known as “China’s Grand Canyon.”

A “small” city by Chinese standards with a population of “only” 100,000, Enshi slowly melted away like a lifting layer of fog. The buildings gave way to residences with ever-widening gaps between them, until the Earth exploded with wide open space. Rice fields and orchards now elbowed impressive mountain ranges to fill our view. I immediately began to climb the cliffs with my eyes and camera. The logistics of the approach were enough to discourage an attempt, but on a 2 hour bus-ride, what else is there other than to daydream? Small towns intermittently interrupted the landscape, revealing the common themes of small towns. Small storefronts on the ground floor of living spaces, lined up on the main road, overflowing with people all selling similar goods, and very few people buying.

One small town after another, the bus winded through the mountainous countryside towards its final destination at the base of some impressive-looking cliffs. A dirt road led to a dirt parking lot at a fairly new visitor’s center. The land is all government-owned and rented by a private company which maintains the trails and runs the local tourism industry. The same company runs the Teng Long Cave, so we bought our tickets for both at the same time for a discount rate of around $40. Outside the center was mayhem as the snaking queue was only half filled with a huge crowd of people elbowing to get to the entrance of the queue, only to be blocked for some reason by some employee. The situation lost its humor as no one in the disorganized crowd realized that pushing wasn’t going to get them ahead in line for the entire 45 minutes we had to wait.

Finally in the bus, we drove up first a dirt road which led into new pavement. “Looks like they put in something to catch falling rocks to protect the trail,” Jim said pointing to a thin line hugging the contours of the cliff halfway up. “Actually, I think that’s the trail itself.” I said, snapping a photograph.

From the very beginning, we realized I was the only one capable of hiking the trail. We originally were going to get sedan chairs for Grandpa and Jim, but when we arrived they said they were all on the other side of the park. The long uneven stairs were well-maintained but far too much for my older companions. Even Ben has a bum knee. Grandpa made the first flight and took a seat next to a girl selling snacks and drinks. We discussed our options. Ven said the total hike is about 4 hours long, but there was enough to do to occupy them while I make the trek. Ben and Jim went up a little higher before turning back, and left me to hike alone through the mountainside.

The breathtaking views only became more and more impressive. I went through a narrow passage in the rock and emerged to see the suspended trail Jim had spotted from the bus. Halfway up a 600 meter cliff, I couldn’t help but marvel at the work that must have gone into constructing the cantilevered walkway. A smattering of people stopped to pose for photos against the distant landscape. I stopped occasionally to do some low traversing on the cliff. The rock here is pretty good.

The trail is dotted with little snack stalls, and halfway through is a new “rest area” being constructed to replace the small retaurant currently there. It looks like they’re putting in a new hotel. The private company is clearly pouring a lot of money into developing tourism in the area, and it’s apparently just started to pay off. Up until a few months ago, very few people came to Enshi. Now we’re making a point to leave before the holiday crowd gets in town. The crowd is already a little overbearing for my taste, throwing away their garbage wherever  they want, despite the ample supply of wastebaskets. Lacking the language skills to say anything about it, I picked up their garbage and threw it away in the proper receptacle a few meters away.

The beautiful cliffs spoke for themselves, with some really interesting shapes and formations, including the “incense stick,” a massive free-standing column. Although it was dwarfed by the surrounding formations, the incense stick stood out among its big brothers.

I descended from the other end of the trail into the bus stop near the visitor’s center just as the guys were finishing their lunch. On the ride back, I shared with Grandpa my photos of the views he wasn’t able to see for himself.

---