The bridge shoots straight as an arrow into the mist. As I pass the first pillar, the surrounding landscape starts fading out of view. A quick glance to the right reveals the faint outline of an enormous temple complex – must be Fo Guang Shan – backlit by a hazy sun. Soon it disappears into the mist behind me, and with that the last landmark is gone. I can see from the GPS th...

One of the things I enjoy the most when I’m out hiking are the sections of trail that require you to do a bit of actual climbing. Compared with flatter trails, which feel like going for a walk in the forest, those sections fill me with a sense of adventure. The thing is, they don’t need to be particularly difficult to be fun; you can have a route which, by climbing standards,...

A couple of years ago I hiked all five peaks of Five Finger Mountain (五指山). At the end of that hike I came to the conclusion that the ring finger and little finger peaks are only worth hiking if you have the explicit go...