Sunset and sunrise atop China's peaks

Dad, my sister and I decided to climb to the top of Lotus Peak, with Mom opting for a shorter trip on lower trails. With our own water, snacks and short breaks, getting to Lotus Peak and back was no problem. With a little jockeying and a quick trigger finger, you can snap a quick photo next to a marker to prove you made it to the top before another tourist jumps into the frame.

We got lucky with a sunny, clear day and temperatures in the 70s and saw a thick sea of clouds.

After climbing down, we hiked up more steps to the Heavenly Sea, a wide flat peak with dips in the rock, and Brightness Peak. There's plenty more hiking to be had, but my family rode a cable car on a 2.8-kilometer path down the mountains so we could head on to Taishan.

From Huangshan, it was 14 hours on a train to Shandong, stuffed in a six-person sleeper car shared with other travelers. We looked longingly at the four-person private sleepers other travelers had managed to book. The private cars are worth the extra money, if any are available.

Taishan is the eastern peak among five holy mountains that played a role in the cult of the 6th century BC philosopher Confucius that Chinese emperors throughout the centuries supported. The five peaks represent the directions - north, south, east, west and central - and Taishan is considered the holiest because it is to the east, the direction from which the sun rises. Confucius supposedly visited, and a temple has been built there for him.

"Confucious is the Taishan among men, and Taishan is the Confucious among mountains," says a plaque at the temple.

A bus dropped us off at the bottom of 6,600 or so steps to the top at the South Gate. Four or five hours could get you to the top, but we opted for the cable car as sundown rapidly approached. At the top was a pathway of shops and restaurants on the way to a temple and a lodge.

Like the Huangshan lodge, it was a "green" hotel that limited energy use. Instead of heating the hallways, the lodge stocked rooms with winter coats to keep guests warm. A couple hundred of us bundled up in the same coats the next morning and watched on a rocky perch for sunrise. Alas, it was too cloudy to see much.

There's always next year.

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