“Oh, god,” I told my friend, “I have no strength anymore and must go down.” Though I wanted to just let go, I followed my friend’s advice: “Hold the rope tightly and recede step by step. Do not open your eyes.”

    I do not know how I gathered the power to go down, but I was then under the Cloudy Ladder, squatting on a steep rock and watching my friend climb up and disappear. I wanted to try again, but my body refused to listen. My body shivered, hands shook and legs were no longer mine while my mind imagined I was walking on a cloud.

    I looked at the time, 5:55 a.m. I must have missed the sunrise. I wanted to cry.

    I could have taken another path to the top of the mountain, but what was the point?

    When I called Fen she did not see the sunrise either and was hiking back to me. I started to ask people who were back from the mountain top, “Did you see the sunrise?”

    “No,” they replied and added, “you don’t know it was raining?”

    “Then did you see a sea of clouds?”

    “No, it is not even a cloudy day.”

    But just then I saw a fabulous view. Mountains after mountains stretched out in the sunshine. The sky was different hues of blue. I thought that the view in front of my eyes was a hallucination as nobody saw the sunrise, but surely I did see the sunshine shining all over the mountains.

    Fen showed up and encouraged me, “You know we only marched half of the way. The West Peak has free souvenirs and the South Peak is the highest peak on Huashan. It is impossible for us to experience them all at once. I know you are tired and I am ready to ride the cable bus with you and leave.” I thanked her.

    Then we will just leave the imperfection to perfect them next time.