Once at the summit of Taishan, visitors are suitably rewarded with unforgettable scenery - temples perched among venerable pine trees, literary allusions to the mountain's peerless beauty carved onto cliff faces, sunrises that leave one speechless and a sea of clouds below that stretches into the silver ether.

What I find most apt to cap off my climb though, is the "Gongbei Shi" or North-pointing Rock - a natural, lifeboat-sized outcrop on the edge of the peak.

"Go North", it seems to entreat.

As for that 3-yuan ($40 cents) bowl of dumplings in steaming hot broth? Five times cheaper than what I'd pay back home, and the best I've ever tasted.

(China Daily April 22, 2008)