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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek
Summer of 2007 in SiChuan - Part 3 I have in the previous month written about my summer trips to Macao and LeShan in Sichuan, and today, I will continue the story of my trip, by relating a little of my experience in climbing Mt. Emei in Sichuan. Mt. Emei is 3000 metres high, and one can avail oneself of several or all of a variety of methods of ascending and descending the mountain. From a hard slog hike, to an easy access bus ride and from being carried in a cable car to being carried in a 'jampan' (sedan chair) by locals, there are a variety of ways to get around. One has access to a certain part of the mountain without paying any fee, but thereafter, depending upon whether you want a one or two day access, one must pay. (120 RMB for 2 day photographic ticket.) Whilst all of it is beautiful, it is the Summit that just takes the breath away.
Welcome to the Golden Summit Scenic Area of Mt.Emei! The re-construction of the Golden Summit cable-car may have given you inconvenience. We are truly sorry for that. From Jieyin Temple to Golden Summit, you can choose two ways to get there: one is to ride the small cable-car to the top (up 40 RMB Yuan per person, and down 30 RMB Yuan per person) in 20 minutes. On the way, you may enjoy the sea of clouds, sunrise and the fog and mist around Leidong Plateau. If the cable-car slows down or stops on the halfway, do not panic. It slows down for the old and the disabled to get on and off the carriage. For safety, the cable stops on very rare occasions like thunderstorms. The other way to get to the top is to walk up the step trail about 6 km (walking up takes about 2 hours, and down about 1.5 hours). If you couldn't bear the steep steps, then you can take a jampan instead of walking (carrying up 250 RMB Yuan per person and down 220 RMB Yuan per person). And you can pay the jampan porters according to the distance if you catch a jampan half way to the top. If you have any question or problem, please dial 0833 5098074 to the Golden Summit Management Office, where you can get timely help. This area is a primeval forest at top fire prevention level, so in order to protect the precious world natural and cultural heritage, please don't smoke, make fire, and pick flowers and plants or litter. Have a nice trip!
Mingxing and I traveled to Emei by bus from LeShan, and after some discussion at the bus station, agreed to a 15 rmb private car ride to a hotel at the base of the mountain. As a foreigner, I was given special treatment, and the normal price of 220 rmb per night at the hotel, was reduced to just 140 rmb (which was just twice the price that other guests we spoke to had paid.)
We took off not knowing exactly what we were doing, but we went well prepared anyway. Loaded with 'sports drinks' (highly recommended) we picked up our 'mud map' of the mountain and set off. I personally had no clue what lay in store, but even if I had, I would not have been prepared for the steep climb. When you enter the park from the main road, there is an 'open park' with a beautiful golden shrine, and lovely waterfalls. From there you go up the steps that lead to a museum, and after that, like everyone else, you try to figure out where you are and where you want to go.
After a short walk one arrives at the Baoguo Temple Scenic Area ( built in 1573 in Wanli year of Ming Dynasty). Passing through some of the temple living areas and after arriving at the Shengji Bronze Bell, one descends a little way to the Temple area itself. Shengji Wanzhong (Shengji Bronze Bell) This bronze bell weighs 12500 kilograms and has a height of 2.3 meters. It is said to be "King of Bells in Sichuan", and is well perserved as a valuable cultural relic.
Taken from inside the Temple looking out through a side exit, it just shows a group of ordinary people having a rest and a chat. Only moments before this, Mingxing and I had taken a moment to rest and chat with a small boy and his parents. This encounter proved fortuitous, because it provided us with some interesting experiences the next day, when we ran into them again further up the mountain. After leaving Baoguo Temple we headed off to Fuhu Temple - Built in Tang Dynasty, originally called "God Dragon Hall".
It was quite a long walk to Fuhu Temple and we were accompanied part way by the young Chinese family we had spoken with. We passed some interesting 'do's and don't' signs posted by the municipal government (listed at Kingscalendar), as well as some wonderful combinations of natural and man-made art around the banks of the Huxi Brook. At the Temple complex which was quite large, we met two American ladies from (currently) New Hampshire and we had a rather colourful conversation with them. Apparently they were teachers attending some type of Yoga convention.
By the time we made it to our next stop, I was thoroughly exhausted and had finished off 2 sports drinks plus 2 bottles of water. The mountain just went ever upwards. Mind you, on this particular day, we only walked to the 900 metre mark. Nevertheless, it was one continuous climb up the man made steps, along which frail looking men carried huge 'tablets of stone'. These next photographs will give you some idea of the climb.
I have written before that one's very real experiences in China take precedence over 'exotic' western conceptions and political correctness ideology; and I have warned that one must constantly be vigilant when it comes to money and prices of things. On our trip to the Chunyang Monastery, which never seemed to arrive no matter how close it looked on the mud map, I got right royally cheated, and it was my fault.
We had no idea how far away the Chuanyang Monastery was, and so when we came to a little shop, I insisted we stop, and I ordered a cup of tea. I never even thought to ask how much it would cost. I just ordered. Imagine my surprise when they charged me 20 rmb. I nearly fell over backward. I could have bought 4 x 600 ml sodas for that price. To top off my disgust, when we got up to leave, we discovered that the Temple was actually just out of sight but right next door. What was worse, was that there were plenty of stalls there from which we could have purchased cheaper tea and soft drinks. From the Chuanyang Monastery we followed the trail to Shengshui Pavilion. Although we didn't actually enter it (seen one - seen 'm all), Mingxing and I did offer up some incense to the ancestors, about 20 metres from where I took this photo.
From here it was a just a quick step and a jump to Shengshuige where there are stone carvings of poems and legends, recording the love of poets and worshipers in history for the beautiful mountain. Hey! I'm just telling you the story as I found it recorded! From there we headed off to Zhongfeng Temple. Zhongfeng apparently means "halfway up the mountain"; an appropriate name if ever I heard one. As neither time nor inclination was on our side, we chose to translate the name as 'halfway down the mountain', and set off to follow the map down to the Wu Xian Gang bus station located on the mountain. We had by this time been climbing the mountain for 6 hours.
I forget now what the fee for the bus ride was, (around 100 rmb each I think), but everything was arranged for us to join a Chinese tour at something like 5 am. The bus station, which was within walking distance of our hotel, was jam packed with people. In due course, our particular tour group was loaded onto a bus and we set off up the mountain. I don't know quite what I expected, but it took something like 90 minutes to arrive at the 'official entrance' to the park. At that point everything came to a standstill as everyone in every bus had to line up, pay their entrance fee, and have their photographs taken. (Tickets are photographic). We at least were able to lounge around on the bus as we had purchased our two day ticket the day before. After we got underway again, it still took us quite a long time to reach the bus station up 'near' the top of the mountain. Relieved to have arrived at the bus station, I mistakenly thought that we had in fact arrived near to our final destination. "Not Quite!"
From the bus station we had to go just 200 metres up the mountain to the 'cable car' lift to the summit. Just 200 metres to the cable car didn't sound so bad. I have no idea at what degree of incline we were walking, but those were the longest 200 metres of my life. To make it worse, all the 'so-n-so' Chinese were laughing at my red face and sweat drenched forehead. Later coming back down, it was I who had the laugh at the new arrivals.
Although we never went into the temple, it was worth a photograph because we were so high up that while waiting for our tour group to buy their cable car tickets, the temple kept disappearing behind and reappearing from the thick clouds that were sweeping past. The cable car ride cost 30 rmb each way. The angle of ascent was unbelievable. If you have ever taken the cable car up to the castle in Salzburg Austria, then you might have some idea of the angle. Even when one arrives at the summit, there is still some distance to walk and some steps to climb. But oh was it worth it! I will include here one photo from the summit to give you some insight, but the size of the photo does not do justice to the magnificence of the place. There are much larger photos at Kingscalendar that give you a sense of 'being in the clouds'.
Golden Summit Scenic Area The Golden Summit Scenic Area is 16 square kilometers, and its yearly average temperature is 3 C. Golden Summit is 3,079m and the Wanfo (Ten Thousand Buddha) Summit, known as the highest peak on the mountain, is 3,099 m above sea level. The most wondrous sight-seeing platform and the biggest pilgrimage centre of Chinese Buddhism, it is crowned as a scenic masterpiece in the Chinese World.
There are four natural miracles: the Sunrise, the Sea of Clouds, Buddha's Halo, and the Holy Lamps. Aureole of Golden Summit, smoggy mist of Leidong Plateau, Flower Sea of Cuckoo, and secluded forests of fir are also well-known at home and abroad. Silver thaw and icy trees highlight marvelous snow-capped mountains in South China. Walking in the sight-seeing corridor as long as 2 km, you will be carried away by the gorgeous scenery. The Golden Hall, Silver Hall (Woyun Monastery), and Copper Hall (Huazang Temple), surround and protect the "Multi-Dimensional Samantabhadra", 48 m in height and 660 tons in weight, enabling tourists to purify their souls in such a scared environment full of Buddhist wisdom and spirit.
Words cannot describe the feeling one has on the summit, of being "in the clouds and above everything else in the world". It really is a spectacular place to visit. As the clouds would roll in and out, whole buildings would disappear from view, and at one point, we were walking along a path beside the cliff, and the clouds simply caused the whole world to disappear from view. It was magical. When we left the Summit of Emei Shan, we took the tour bus to a bus station, and from there, we headed off to Wannian Temple. The rest of our tour group took the Jampans (sedan Chairs carried by 2 men - 40 RMB), but MingXing and I took the enclosed chair lift (40 rmb), and thereby effectively left our tour group. Once we alighted the chair lift, we made our way to Wannian Temple.
Baishui Qiufeng (Wannian Temple in Fall) Wannian Temple is also called Baishui where there is a pond by the name of Baishui Pool. In each autumn, leaves get red and fall down onto the pool. Wind sometimes blows red leaves to flutter on the surface of the pool, which turns out to be a tourist attraction. It was here that we ran into the Chinese family we had chatted with the previous day. Their tour group which originally numbered 26 people, was down to just those three, and Mark Halperin and his wife and daughter. As their tour group was no so small, and since we all appeared to know each other, their guide invited us to remain with his group. And so we did.
From Wannian Temple we proceeded to NiuXin Pavilion although we did not actually go in. From there we followed the Baoxian Stream right back down the mountain to the bus station. The views along the way were simply wonderful. The only thing to spoil the splendor were the tourists themselves; and of course the 'souvenir stalls'
Rushing out from behind the rocks. the black and white streams meet at the foot of Niuxin Pavilion. Falling from the high hills. both streams are roaring to create a magnificent melody. A Brief Introduction to Dragon-fighting Riverside. According to the local legend, a snake immortal named White Lady practiced in Bailong Cave and often enjoyed her spare time nearby the Baoxian Stream. A male green snake was attracted by her beauty, hoping to marry the white snake, who was unwilling and figured out a refusal means-fighting with her. If she failed, she agreed to marry him. So these two snakes resorted to violence on the riverside of Baoxian Stream, with the result that the white snake beat the green one into her maidservant named Litter Ching. The fighting spot was later called Dragon-fighting Riverside.
Our walk back down the mountainside was so leisurely that the original tour group of which Mingxing and I were a part, actually overtook us. But it was a wonderful walk with a chance for me to chat with Mark Halperin about Buddhism in China and Tibet; and a wonderful chance for Mingxing to talk with others who spoke both Chinese and English. (At the moment he is additionally studying German). If you look at the photographs at Kingscalendar, you will see one of the souvenir stalls, and it was at that point that Xiaomei, Mark's wife, took a Jampan (sedan chair carried by porters). It was certainly a tiring walk. When we finally made it back into town, Mingxing and I showered and then went outside to have dinner and ran into the Chinese family again. We spent a wonderful evening together, walking around the park (where the shrine and waterfall are), and I spent considerable time chasing the young boy around and threatening to throw him into the water. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day. I hope you have enjoyed this series of stories about my summer holiday, and please don't forget to go to kingscalendar and see many many more photos, especially of Mt. Emei. R.P.Bendedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com Photos of Sichuan at Kingscalendar:
R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China.
Photographic Stories From China "The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls. © Copyright 2002-2007 by Magic City Morning Star |
