Hiking the 2 Yuan Mountain-First Round Pics

There are a LOT of pics from the 2 Yuan mountain. The Mountain is called Bai Yun Shan- White Cloud Mountain. First off it turned out to be a 40 Yuan mountain, but only because we spend 25 Yuan on the tram to get most of the way up, accidentally went through a 10 Yuan part, then the other 5 Yuan charge was if you actually wanted to go to the top. Apparently the price of 2 Yuan only gets you MOST of the way there, if you really want to say you "climbed the mountain", you've got to pay another 5 Yuan! I have to say though, all of it was money well spent! We didn't get started until 10 am, so it was already quite warm. The tram saved us probably 3 hours of hiking, which in the heat, was quite nice! (Remember I still have this upper-respiratory-whatever-infection going on too...) So off the tram we went & onto the "trail". Turns out the trail is more of road, with so many things to see all along the way. We accidentally paid another 10 Yuan & went through the Guangzhou Steles- I still don't quite know what Steles are, but it seemed to be some sort of Monuments. We found there these amazing pillars- there were two of them carved with 9 dragons each:
There was also a memorial wall with raised releif carvings that was a dedication to people who have passed away. I think it must be to specific people, I'm just unsure of who they were.
We met a group of college students when we were looking at the memorial stones. All of the stones you see in the background are each for an individual person. Some are etched in very old traditional Chinese, even Tita had a difficult time to read them! These students were studying "mail" Tita told me, I think that meant they were training to go into the postal service. They were all very very sweet! Tina seemed to be their leader- so everyone found it quite funny when we introduced ourselves & we said "We are Kelli & Tita", Tina said, OH! Tita! I am Tina! okay maybe you had to be there. At any rate, Tina has my Blog address so I promised to put the pictures up!
This was the view of Guangzhou from the top. (yes, we paid the 5 Yuan...) I think you can see how bad the pollution is these days. It was very nice & clear at the top, but looking into Guangzhou you could just see the haze of pollution. It's really sad actually- since most of this pollution is caused by the huge influx of industry that has moved in from the US & European countries to supply goods for Export from China. We send the production to China, and get the consumer goods back, but leave the Pollution in China. Such a shameful thing to do to such a beautiful country. I do hope their environmental regulations get stricter soon.
This was the marker letting you know you made it to the top. I have a funny look on my face because it was SO HOT. My hand was burning!
This was just a fantastic sign on the way down. Even though we took the tram up, it was still about a 5 hour endeavor going from the bottom up and then back down again. This sign was for people buying tickets on their way up. I'm sure it won't be very easy to read on the blog, so here are the key points:
1-5: Information about discounts for the elderly, children, service soldiers, disabled soldiers, and retired workers.
6: Open Hours: A Whole day.
7: Favorable treatment not available during festival and holiday season

Tita could not understand why I was laughing so hard. Finally I explained, it sounds like they are saying "we don't have to be nice to you during festival season." She told me it actually means "no discounts for the elderly, children, etc. during festival season." Too funny!

The white part of the sign says "Service Slogans for Gate: Customer First, Happily Served, Neat Appearance, Warm and Polite, Friendly Words. Patience Effective and Convenient. Satisfaction Guaranteed." Wise words that a few Americans I've seen would do good to take heart to!!! There are many more pics, but for now, I'm off to Shamien Island & the white swan to do a bit of baby spying! (And maybe a bit of shoppy-shoppy while I'm at it!)