Hiking Mt. Lishan 

Yesterday was beautiful so two friends and I caught the bus to Mr. Lishan for a day of hiking and somewhat by accident, horseback riding.  The mountains were green with dense vegetation and little flower gardens spread out along the paths.  The climb to the top was a bit exhausting and the ride down on a horse a bit harrowing ... we followed a very narrow path / gully that was very uneven and steep but fortunately the horses knew the route and we arrived safely at the bottom.  I was a little stiff today but  it was well worth it to have had the beautiful views cutting through the thick woods.  We ended up on the horses when one of our group decided to just have her picture taken so I decided to also get on a horse for a photo op ... then all of a sudden we were heading out and down a trail.  The 3rd person in our group then realized that we were going down the mountain so she also hopped on a horse and followed us down.  We had a great laugh and walked a little bow legged as we started up another trail.

We hiked to the top of this peek

My horse "jingled" all the way down the mountain

Mt. Lishan is about 45 minutes from Xi'an with the Huaging Hot Springs at the foot of the mountain and close to the Terracotta Warriors.  Its history goes back to the 11th century BC and many imperial villas are found in this area because it was a vacation destination for  the emperors.  Also many legends about the emperors take place in this area.  More modern history includes the capture of Chiang Kai-shek by the Republic of China generals who then forced him to fight against the Japanese during the Anti-Japanese War of 1937-1945.

climbing up the crevice between the rocks was no easy task but a good hiding place  

A Mt. Lishan Sunset is one of the eight scenic sights in Guanzhong and the Sunset Pavilion was built so people could appreciate the beautiful sunsets. From the pavilion you have a great view of the Huaqing Hot Spring, the East Garden and the Wei River. Or as you can see from this picture, the smog over Xi'an.  (today however X'an had clear blue skies and you could see the mountains off in the distance ... beautiful but rare)

brown middle layer is smog over Xi'an

The view from on top of the mountain really was spectacular

pomegranate buds / flowers

jade pool

beautiful hillside gardens

Hiking in China always involves stairs ... no matter how remote the hike, stairs have been carved or created.

I think we were being told to not climb over the fence :-)

Her mom wanted a picture and she was so cute

Check out the criteria from the speech contest last night!