Few things are worth getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning but, as more than twenty teachers discovered on September 15^th, the bright colors and unusual geological formations of Yuntai Mountain, a UNESCO geological park, are among them.

After transferring to the park's tour buses, the first stop in the park featured three distinct scenic areas. Closest to the entrance, the Macaque Valley is named for the monkeys kept captive in cages back beyond ponds and short waterfalls, but their wild cousins run along the trails and try to steal food thrown to the captive macaques. Stone paths winding through the Tanpu and Quanpu Scenic Areas passed stunning green ponds before reaching spectacular cliffs and waterfalls like focused mist.

The next stop was the Red Rock Gorge. The crowded trail led through caves, past stone outcroppings marked with curved striations, and waterfalls that splashed passersby-- pleasant in the late afternoon sun.

There followed a nerve-wracking ride in a racing bus up mountainous curves-- though it wasn't too fast to catch sight of green wooded hillsides and a rock formation resembling an elephant trumpeting to the sky. The final stop of the day was at the base of a trail to the mountain's summit where small shops sold jade, tea, and refreshments.