The minibus stops at Zhongtianmen and I get off. I show my admission ticket and pass through a gate allowing access to the top half of the mountain. Inside the gate visitors must make a choice: either hike a trail to the top of the Mt. Tai or take a cable car. The cable car station is only a few steps from the gate; one-way tickets cost 45 yuan per person, expect in the case of children under 1 meter, who are free. (Opening hours: 7:30 am-5:30 pm. Closed during inclement weather.)
 I choose to take the cable car. When researching my trip, I learned the Mt. Tai cable car system is imported from Austria and is only 2 or 3 years old, so I feel quite safe in making my decision. But truth be told, when the huge rotating wheel finally brings one of the giant cable cars to a rest in front of me, I am a little scared. This is truly a case of trusting technology with your life. I step in and wait for the other riders. I notice that the door to the car closes very slowly, which helps me feel a little more secure.
A sudden feeling of weightlessness causes me and my band of cable car brothers and sisters to burst into excited screams, and a second later we are flying through the air.
Each cable car carries a maximum of 8 people. Sitting in our car are 3 boys and 5 girls. We are all thrilled. One minute our ascent is almost vertical; the next it is as if we are traveling on a flat plain. Scary creaking sounds are made every time we pass a cable tower, but I think they are normal.
Sometimes our car is just a few inches above the treetops. The mountain landscape is beautiful, but I believe it would be better if we came later in the season ¨C when there is more green. Looking into the valleys I see some tiny patches of yellow mountain flowers that are most eye-catching. Looking back at the winding mountain road my bus took, it looks like a silver ribbon tied around the cone-shaped mountains. Occasionally I see a stone path, ant-sized humans, temples, pavilions, or calligraphy on a stone cliff face. I wish I had brought my binoculars.
It takes the cable car 11 minutes to reach its terminus at a point near the mountaintop. Getting out, the first thing I notice is the temperature difference. No wonder heaven is so cold in Chinese fairy tales I think.
 I finally get some exercise by walking the remaining 50 ¨C almost vertical ¨C meters to the top of Mt. Tai. Looking back down the mountain, I see the path from Zhongtianmen to here ¨C like a ladder bridging earth and heaven. If I had done that climb, my pride would be swelling. Oh well. I strike poses like I have been climbing strenuously all day for the camera.
When I reach the top of Mt. Taishan, I am greeted by a strange sight. Our ancestors have created a scene from a big city on the mountaintop: 1,500 meters above sea, they've built a street lined with buildings.
The street is called Heavenly Street and is lined with a number of temples and viewing pavilions. At the west end there is Tian Jie Fang ("Heavenly Step Arch"), Wang Wu Sheng Ji ("Viewing the State of Wu Stele") and Yue Guan Ting ("Moon-Viewing Pavilion"). At the east end of the street is Bi Xia Ci ("Azure Cloud Temple"), Da Guan Feng ("Grand View Peak") and Yu Huang Ding ("Jade Emperor Summit"), half hidden in fog.
Click here to see photo gallery of Mt.Taishan.
Click here to see photo gallery of East China's Shandong Province
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Producer:
Chu Daye & Peng Ran 
