Huang Hua Tang – A Quick Breath

Living in the city seems to be a necessity for the modern individual. The unprecedented volume of opportunity along with the unhindered capacity for entertainment and stimulation make for a forbidden fruit that simply must be enjoyed. But there is such thing as too much of a good thing. And too much of that rich city life left me wanting to chill out before I burned out. So I appropriated a one way bus ticket out of my current abode in Guangzhou China for something a little more rural. Huang Hua Tang.

A friend of mine had quite recently opened up a coffee shop in Huang Hua Tang just outside of Qing Yuan city. She had invited me to come a few times, but as a foreigner in China the trip just seemed a bit too daunting. In retrospect I was wrong. The trip was simple, affordable, and wonderfully pleasant. I’m glad I took her up on her offer.

Now if you’re living in Guangzhou, China you basically have no excuse not visit this metaphorical diamond in the rough. The initial bus ride will run you 50rmb. It leaves from the Luochongwei bus station right next to the Shabei metro station off of line 6. Departures are at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. but due to the uncertainty of travel I recommend getting to the bus station at least 30 minutes in advance. If you miss it like it did, no need to stress, you can take a separate coach bus and transfer at Qing Yuan city. It will cost about the same but add an hour or two to your trip.

Once you get there, a hotel will be about 100rmb a night for a modest room. The rest of you spending is up to you but food is cheap, as are bike rentals

Huang Hua Tang is small. Think ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ small, and the bus drops you off in the dead center. The main street is effectively one large market with dozens of vendors selling various local produce and the like. There are plenty of regional dishes to savor. Homemade snacks, jerked meats or sweetened sesame cookies. They even have meat cookies if you’re interested in a bit of both. My personal favorite is chang fen, a soft variant of the popularized spring roll. I had a plan though and couldn’t meander, so I headed for my friend’s coffee shop.

Mental Rock Café is a modern establishment nesting on the outskirts of town. The front is all glass reflecting the mountainous hills dominating the landscape in this relatively undeveloped part of the world. The roof is still under construction but the bar is finished; good, they have their priorities straight.

It turned out to be a great place to sit and have a few beers while attempting to complete the increasingly creative problems set before us on the bouldering wall at the far end of room. My friends and I really enjoyed our time here and I think my friend is doing really great work with growing her cafe, but I’ll save that for another time.

While Huang Hua Tang might be small enough to bike across in a few minutes, the surrounding countryside most definitely is not. Alluring hills blanketed in vegetation set against a gray mist backdrop leave travelers ever longing to discover what is beyond their senses. You’ll go out of your way just to see. You’ll be rewarded with a small temple or some slightly overgrown natural staircase leading to a forgotten shrine.

In the valleys stretching between these towers of rock, farmers can be seen tending to their fields. Smoke rises in the distance, straw being burned to make way for the new crops. That campfire smell is constant. The air is fresh. The scenery is both still and ever changing as you wander past a largely forgotten way of life. It is surreal and if nothing else a healthy dose of inspiration for an imaginative soul.

It is a farming town though, and as such life could be better. While some people do have motorcycles to get around, others are still carrying bags and shovels by staves hung across their shoulders like oxen.

Naturally, the town is looking to grow. And it will with the surrounding country side is ideal for climbing, camping, hiking, the list goes on. Huang Hua Tang should and will develop, to the joy of travelers and the benefit its people. Still, I recommend you get there before it does. Enjoy this simple place before it blossoms but forever at a loss of its former charm.