Reception Counter at the Huangshan Old Street International Youth Hostel 黄山老街国际青年旅社
The 13 hour train ride from Tai’an to Huangshan was a rather uneventful ride and neither was it bitingly cold. What I did notice were that the passengers on the train were a bit different. There were more than a few who looked a little more well to do. In fact, I was surprised to see someone pullout their Macbook Pro and start watching videos. These are probably kids from the big cities like Beijing or Shanghai.
Outside the Huangshan Old Street International Youth Hostel 黄山老街国际青年旅社
I spent the night moving from one seat to another since every so often a passenger would come to claim my seat. Seating is a mess in economy class trains in China and it won’t be a surprise to see you get kicked out of your seat since you are already in the wrong seat since someone else took your seat. There were a lot of seats so it was not a problem to move around. My stuff was all on the overhead storage and I didn’t think it was not safe to keep them there.
Going Up the Stairs
Soon daylight came and I found myself in the busy streets of Huangshan City 黄山市 or Tunxi 屯溪. I tried to figure out how to get to the hostel I booked in but I got lazy and just hailed a cab. The hostel turned out to be quite near the train station but I needed to stop at a corner near it since it is in a pedestrian street. Just tell the driver to bring you to Laojie Diyi Lou 老街第一楼. He looked at me funny since it turned out to be a restaurant and he told me it was closed since it was around 8 in the morning.
Hallway at the Huangshan Old Street International Youth Hostel 黄山老街国际青年旅社
From the Laojie Diyi Lou it was a short walk to the Huangshan Old Street International Youth Hostel 黄山老街国际青年旅社. The pedestrian street is called Old Street or Laojie 老街. The hostel was right in the middle of this attractive little street. Upon entering the hostel, I was immediately impressed by the nice interiors typical of Hostelling International members. It was actually nicer that the previous ones I have been to. The counter was a served by a couple nice and cute ladies who spoke very good English. Obviously they meet a lot of foreigners here and they get to practice a lot. At least the girls do. There was one guy who couldn’t speak it well.
Common Area with Restaurant and Play Area
The ladies were very friendly and quickly got me a room. It seems they have a practice to putting foreigners in the same room as I ended up with a few of them. The rooms were just as nice though the floor was rotting a little bit probably from getting constantly wet by the nearby bathroom. The dorm beds was large and comfy. This time I got the bottom bunk for a change. The bathroom was attached too, making it very convenient for the guests. Best of all it was really cheap at CNY 40 a night.
The hostel has a common area where guests can meet and eat. There is a pool table to relax after all of that exploration. It seems I arrived a bit early here so I could get a few minutes to rest a little. Chinese train rides are always so exhausting. Anyway, I was glad this place was so nice. Among the hostels I have been to, I liked this one the best.
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