On Top of Moon Hill

Matt and I rented bikes (of the non-motorized persuasion to avoid disaster) to head out into the countryside. Getting out of town might have well have been a big game of Frogger. Traffic laws, especially right of way and the existence of laned traffic, seem to fall by the wayside over here. At one point, there was a truck protruding from the side of the road so Matt tried to go around, only to be greeted by an elderly woman on a moped carrying a 2 meter long bundle of sticks coming right at him on the wrong side of the road.

Once out of the city, it was smooth sailing, breezing past rice terraces and weaving through the Karst. We parked our bikes, paid a 1 yuan ‘bike watching’ fee to guarantee our bikes weren’t stolen, and ascended a steep set of stairs to the top of Yueliang Shan (Moon Hill). The steps reportedly number over 1100, but I think that’s just communist folklore. At the summit of Yueliang Shan lies a massive natural stone arch, giving the illusion of a hole in the peak from afar, hence the name. We climbed up to the top of the arch, revealing a full 360 panorama of the dozens of gumdrop hills in sight, most enveloped in a slight haze in the overcast afternoon light.