Another early start - this time to get the bus out to Hua Shan - one of China's five Daoist peaks. It is only 6km to the top of the 2,610m mountain, but this should not be underestimated - at one point it was so steep it took us 45 minutes to walk 200m!!! We couldn't understand why so many people were wearing gloves, but it becomes obvious as you get higher up - many of the steep climbs are on very narrow steps and there are chains to help you pull yourself up - the gloves are for grip and to protect your hands. At many places on the climb, there are bunches of padlocks on chains - these are put there by couples who have their names engraved on them and lock them away on the mountain forever. Unfortunately the weather was a bit cloudy and so photo's weren't great but it's the best I will get as I will never climb it again!! Had to queue for almost 2 hours to get a cable car back down (you can get it both ways but somehow it felt like cheating!) and then for another hour and a half to get a bus back to Xi'an - Golden week is great!!