"Chinese people are not religious. They don't believe in God, they just like going to the temples for fun and the experience", said a chinese guy on the train when we were talking about my plans to go to JiuHuaShan.

It can't be true, I thought. People always need to turn to a higher power for solace. They need to be comforted, need something or someone with a seemingly infinite capacity to lend a ear to their problems. I have this theory about why there are so many pet dogs everywhere in china, but i'll save it for some other time.

I was intrigued, i wanted to go to JiuHuaShan to check it out for myself. That and the fact that i could not get any return tickets to Beijing, made JiuHuaShan the next stop in my HuangShan itinerary.

Two days of being shrouded by the Huangshan mist was enough to dampen my sprits. The lure of hot running water and central heating was too tempting to pass. On reaching Huangshan city, i went straight to the railway station to book my return tickets to Beijing for the next day.

"No" she said.. There were no sleeper tickets to Beijing for tomorrow's train. 

"Min Tien Min Tien ??" I asked.. 

('min tien' being the chinese word for tomorrow.. my question loosely (i use that term liberally) translates to "how about the day after tomorrow??" :)

Nope.. the tickets weren't available on that train either. 

For the Chinese New year holidays i decided to go to HuangShan. I was looking forward for a change of scenery from the usual tibetian mountains that im drawn to. And what better place than HuangShan to get a perfect taste of the Chinese mountain scenery. The Chinese people, and poets alike, never seem to tire of coming up with new ways to praise the HuangShan scenery. And all the photo's i've seen of the place seem to backup their claim. I was a bit circumspect about going there during winter but after a bit of research i found that the winter scenery is supposed to be the best with clear blue skies and the trees and mountains covered by snow. One day before i was due to leave it was snowing in Huangshan...