The Way to the Top

TAISHAN, China (AP) — Taishan, or Mount Tai, is China’s most sacred mountain. For centuries, emperors climbed it to pay homage to heaven and earth. Philosopher Confucius is said to have stood at the towering top, looked down and pronounced the world a small place indeed.While it isn’t one of China’s tallest mountains, the way to the top is still a challenge consisting of more than 6,000 stone steps, with the option of taking a cable car halfway. Walking the whole way can take anywhere from three to seven hours.I’d heard stories about elderly groups and others resolutely marching up the mountain in the dark and arriving in time to see the sunrise, but I decided, with some friends, to start in the afternoon and see the sunrise after spending the night in a hotel at the top.We entered through the Red Gate at the south foot of the mountain, stopping to look in temples with burning incense and at some of the hundreds of stone tablets that dot the way up. We were surrounded by serene greenery, punctuated every so often by a rousing round of mainland or Taiwanese pop music from tourists carrying personal stereo systems for all…