Continuation of the 2024 Summer Vacation Trip — Red Yan'an

Actually, I hadn't planned this trip to Yan'an at all. It was only in early June that I discovered Spring Airlines' summer promotion on the Shanghai–Yan'an route, with round-trip single-leg fares just over 200 yuan. After checking my nephew's summer schedule, I booked a trip for early July. Following a two-day stay in Foshan, it made for a north-south travel week. We departed for Yan'an on a Thursday evening flight, but the weather was unfavorable, so it was delayed. Originally scheduled for just after seven, it didn't take off until after nine (later I applied for the credit card's flight delay insurance and received compensation for the fare, an unexpected bonus). At first, it was a bit tight to check in and go through security, but thanks to the delay, we had enough time to hit the airport lounge for some food and drink. Every time we go to the airport, the kid looks forward most to eating and drinking. He usually just has soda, snacks, and instant noodles. Since I normally restrict his diet, it's probably a bit of compensation psychology. After landing in Yan'an, I asked the airport staff and learned that the airport bus to the city had already left due to the delay, so we had to take a taxi to our booked hotel — 7 Days Inn (Yan'an Baota Mountain Branch) [5th Floor, Dongsheng Building]. Since we were checking in late and just needed a place to sleep, I chose something affordable. The next morning, we woke up after nine. The hotel location was great, right in the city center with plenty of food options nearby. We found a close noodle shop, Che Mian Lang (Jialing Building Branch) [West Side, 1st Floor, Section B, Jialing Building, Baimi Avenue], where my nephew often asks for oil-splashed noodles, so he got his fill. Next door was a roujiamo shop, and we bought a few lean-meat roujiamo; they were delicious. After eating, we picked the nearby Qingliang Mountain to continue our mountain-climbing adventure — it feels incomplete to travel without climbing a mountain. Pagoda Mountain, Qingliang Mountain, and Phoenix Mountain are all clustered together along the Yan River. Pagoda Mountain is more famous, but we chose the less well-known Qingliang Mountain, since it's free of charge 😄. It was scorching hot at noon in early July, the sun blazing down. We walked along the shade of the trees by the Yan River toward Qingliang Mountain. The Yan River was nearly dry; compared to the south, even the irrigation ditches in my hometown have more water. The riverbed was largely exposed, overgrown with weeds and blooming wildflowers, quite eye-catching. After just a few steps up the stairs, I felt exhausted — maybe it was the heat or just poor physical condition. My nephew looked even worse, but the kid was energetic and kept talking. Northern mountains are different from southern ones. Southern mountains have large trees that shade them lushly, but here some paths were lined only with newly planted saplings, so we were directly exposed to the sun. We climbed a bit, rested, and constantly drank water. Fortunately, we had brought several bottles of water from the hotel, and we bought more at the foot of the mountain. While climbing, I suddenly envied those coming down — they were finally free from this suffering. Luckily, the mountain wasn't too high. When we reached the Taihe Mountain Taoist Temple at the top, all three of us were panting. But on the way, some sections of the trail had unexpectedly cool breezes, living up to the mountain's name — Qingliang (Cool). At noon, the temple was almost empty, providing a rare peace. We had finished all our water on the way up, so we bought a few more bottles of mineral water at the temple's small shop, costing only two yuan each — very affordable. Taoists indeed seem indifferent to money. In the temple, besides some elderly Taoist priests, we also saw young people in Taoist robes, possibly volunteers or retreat participants during the summer. Though small, the temple had all the main halls: Zhenwu Hall, Medicine King Hall, Niangniang Hall, Wenchang Hall, and so on. In Wenchang Hall, I noticed something interesting: the shrine displayed photocopies of exam admission tickets. Out of curiosity, I flipped through them — there were college entrance exams, teacher certification exams, and even requests for overseas study credits... I encouraged the kid to pay respects at each hall. At Medicine King Hall, we met a young Taoist on duty who kindly pointed out that the kid's kneeling method was incorrect and taught him a set of Taoist worship rituals. The kid applied what he learned, and the priests in each hall responded by striking a bowl. Having seen many temples solely focused on selling incense, encountering this refreshing attitude made me instantly appreciate Taoism's quiet simplicity. Beyond the temple complex, there was a small shrine and a pavilion at the highest point. My nephew had to attend an online meeting, so he found a spot near the small shrine. The kid and I climbed up. In the pavilion, two local elderly men were resting; they seemed curious that someone would climb up at noon and started chatting with the kid. We sat on the ground in the pavilion. The top was very cool — Qingliang Mountain truly lives up to its name, but the climb in this heat was torturous. We descended the same way. On the way down, we passed those fortune-telling booths again. A man dressed as a Taoist was calling out, "Don't miss me if you're destined!" Going down was much easier than going up, and we made it back to the hotel before 3 PM to check out. After checking out, we stayed in the hotel's lounge area for a while, ate some snacks, enjoyed the air conditioning, and planned the rest of the itinerary and car rental. After booking the car, we had to pick it up at the train station. We drove to see the Ganquan Grand Canyon, but when we got there, we found many mountain roads. The map didn't look far, but we couldn't go fast. It was already past seven when we arrived, and the locals told us the canyon was quite large; it would be dark soon and not worth seeing. So we rushed back to the city. On the way, we booked a hotel — Lavande Hotel (Yan'an Baota Mountain Branch) [No. 2 Shuangyong Avenue, next to Minsheng Department Store]. It was nearly ten by the time we arrived. Next time, I need to consider transportation and uncertainties. After checking in, we went out to Erdao Street Night Market, recommended by the taxi driver from the airport. It wasn't far, but crossing some roads was inconvenient with underground passages. The food street was still lively at eleven-something, but we weren't very hungry after a tiring day. I didn't see many unique snacks — mostly the usual barbecue. We had some tea and a little barbecue and returned to the hotel. The hotel was quite nice. My nephew teased that it was the best place we'd stayed on this trip. 🙂 The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel's rooftop restaurant, we checked out and drove off. The original plan was: Qiankun Bay — Hukou Waterfall — Nanniwan — Airport. We sang along the way, so time passed quickly. We arrived at Qiankun Bay after one o'clock. The scenic spot required my nephew's student ID certification via Xuexin.com screenshots to buy a discounted ticket, which was quite strict. (Actually, we later realized that the Qiankun Bay area is huge; we could have driven in without buying a ticket and still seen plenty of beautiful Yellow River views, but the main viewing platforms — Qiankun Bay, Qingshui Bay, and Huifeng Fortress — required tickets.) Since we had tickets, we had to visit them all. We went to the main area first. Walking out of the parking lot, it was unbearably hot. There was a large, uncovered square that felt like a heated electric griddle under the scorching sun. We couldn't stand there a second longer and walked along the edge's shade to a rest pavilion above the viewing platform. The pavilion was packed with tourists who didn't want to go out. But since we'd come this far, we had to go all the way. With a look of "tragic determination," the three of us stepped out of the pavilion and walked to the lower viewing platform. There was absolutely no shade on the platform, but the view was great — the Yellow River made a huge bend right before our eyes. In spring or autumn, it would be a feast for the eyes. But now, we just wanted to take photos and leave. I took out my phone, snapped one or two shots, and it warned me it was overheating and closed the camera... I had so many complaints. No wonder it felt scalding against my leg when in my pocket. I managed a few more photos, then quickly moved to the next spot. We hadn't eaten lunch because of the rush, so we had some noodles at a noodle shop in the area. I saw a freezer with cold drinks, worried about my phone, so I put it in there for a while to cool down. At Qingshui Bay, we walked a bit more, following the wooden boardwalk to the middle of the mountain. Most other tourists had already turned back. Due to time, we didn't go all the way to the Yellow River. We'd seen enough of the Yellow River. We'd seen it in Lanzhou before, now in Yan'an, and earlier at Dongying's riverbanks — we've left our footprints up and down. By the time we came out of Huifeng Fortress, it was getting late. We decided to skip Hukou Waterfall, as we were satisfied with the Yellow River at Qiankun Bay. We headed straight for Nanniwan. At nearly six, we realized we couldn't make it to Nanniwan in time, so we went directly to the airport. We had planned to eat at a Nanniwan mushroom noodle shop near the airport, but the navigation showed we'd pass through the city anyway, so we went back to the same roujiamo shop and bought all five remaining roujiamo to go. We also saw a Ziyan Baiwei Chicken shop on the roadside and bought a whole chicken. So we had dinner at the airport. When we returned the car at the airport parking lot, we were just on time. Since the flight had been delayed, we couldn't check in yet. There were massage chairs in the airport, so we lay down, rested, and ate the food we'd brought. By the time we boarded and took off, it was almost midnight. We arrived in Shanghai after 2 AM. Unfortunately, the delay was just half an hour short of the insurance compensation threshold; otherwise, both directions would have brought a windfall 😄. Later this year, my nephew will go abroad to study, so opportunities to travel together will be rare. The days when I can take the kid out will also start to dwindle. But faithfully recording these experiences is a great comfort.