长白山: Part 5

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part four.

After our lovely day on the north slope of Changbai Mountain, we grabbed our shuttle back to the hostel and proceeded to the train station to see what our options were for returning to Beijing. We had actually gone to the train station at 6:30 that morning before we left for the mountain, but the ticket agent said she wouldn't sell our type of ticket until 8:00. Since our shuttle was leaving at 7:00, we had to wait until we returned at 5:00 that evening to see if there were any available trains to Beijing from 长春 Chángchūn.

Unfortunately for us, there weren't any trains available for the next few days. And unfortunately for me, the trains from Beijing to Nanjing were all sold out as well. So by the night of the 31st, all we had secured was one bus ticket to Changchun leaving at 6:10 AM the next day.

长白山: Part 4

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part three.

After finally arriving at our hostel the night before, Barney and I made plans with the hostel staff to take a shuttle to Changbai Mountain's 北坡 běi pò (north slope) the morning of the 31st. Luckily, our day on the mountain, the reason for the entire arduous trip, progressed without incident and ended up being very enjoyable. Since this was very much a visual trip, I'm just going to let loose with pictures and the occasional caption. Enjoy!

长白山: Part 3

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from a previous post.

After arriving at Antu and being directed to the long-distance bus station by a friendly shopkeeper, Barney and I were ecstatic to see an empty bus with the word Erdaobaihe written across its window in huge characters. We went up to the official hovering by the entrance and asked where to buy a ticket for the bus. He gave us a funny look, walked over to a nearby throng of people, came back and said, "没有票了 méi yǒu piào le (there are no more tickets)." He then told us that the next bus to Erdaobaihe was leaving at 5:30 the next morning.

长白山: Part 2

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part two.

After Barney and I arrived at Yanji Train station, we immediately went to the 售票处 shòu piào chù (ticket office) to buy our tickets for the return journey. We could have possibly bought them earlier, but we still weren't sure about the transportation situation waiting for us at our destination, nor were we totally set on our timetable. But, with transportation looking good and a timetable decided upon, we were ready to buy our tickets for the twenty-four hour return in two days' time.

Unfortunately, China was not ready to sell them to us. The ticket agent informed us that there were no beds for the day we wanted to leave - there were seats, but who wants to sit for twenty-four hours? - nor were there beds for the day after OR the day after that. The earliest we could leave was September 4th, which put me in Nanjing on September 5th, the day after I was supposed to have registered. Awesome.

长白山: Part 1

As explained in my previous post, my friend Barney* and I had planned an excursion to 长白山 cháng bái shān, or "Eternally White Mountain," to begin our year in China. Our itinerary was to be as follows:

8/29     Leave Beijing Train Station on the K215 bound for Tumen
8/30     Arrive at 延吉 Yánjí, take the long-distance bus to 二道白河 Èrdàobáihé, check in at the hostel
8/31     Visit Changbai Mountain
9/1       Check out from the hostel, take the bus from Erdaobaihe to Yanji, board the K216 to Beijing
9/2       Arrive in Beijing
9/3       Take the bullet train to Nanjing from Beijing (me alone)