A definite highlight for everyone in our tour group was the visit to Paekdu-san (translated White-headed Mountain), approximately a four hour drive from Yanji. So many people who visited this area in the past have talked about this mountain that I really wanted to see it for myself.Nobody mentioned to me that the trip to Paekdu-san would be an adventure in and of itself. Not only did it take three buses to get our group most of the way up the mountain but we then had an interesting jeep ride to the hill station and then hike the rest of the way to the lake. I say interesting jeep ride because the Chinese drivers took pleasure in going so fast up the switchbacks that the vehicles were skidding on dry pavement. Having driven on snow and ice, I wasn't too uneasy about it but some of the other passengers were white-knuckled by the end of the trip. Now if they hadn't installed the green guard rails last year I might have a different perspective on this =)
However long and windy the trip, it was all worth it. I must admit that last hike was a bit of a rude awakening because the temperatures were well-below freezing and the winds almost knocked you over. But what a view!
During my visit, I learned that Paekdu-san is a volcanic mountain that is the highest peak on the Korean peninsula, lies on the border of China and North Korea and harbors a large crator lake called Tianchi (or translated Heaven Lake). My sources say many Koreans talk about visiting this area before they die because the mountain is considered sacred and is the place of their ancestral origin. I retrieved the aerial image from Wikimedia Commons, a good perspective of the 4.5 kilometer (diameter) crator lake.The mountains on the far side of the lake are in North Korea.
Actually, I'm glad it was a little cloudy that day because the mixture of sun and cloud made for some dynamic views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Seemed like every few minutes we got to see a different composition!
