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Published: September 17th 2008
Sandiequan Falls on Lu Shan Mountain, Jiangxi, China
These famous three-level falls, are on the southeastern slope of Lu Shan Mountain, and are admired by thousands of visitors daily as one of the mountain's most majestic sights.My visit to the LU SHAN Mountain Retreat and LU SHAN National Park, in China's province of Jiangxi, became the most strenuous journeys during my time in China. I made my first visit to the Province of Jiangxi this summer, wishing and dreaming to experience the natural beauty of one of China's most fabled natural regions.
Poets and painters of every one of China's Dynasties have eulogized this cool, peaceful and lush mountain region and natural landscape. The LU SHAN mountains are located in the north of the province of Jiangxi, and have been declared by UNESCO as one of China's great "World Heritage Sites" and even more special as a "World Cultural Landscape".
The mountain region is shrouded in clouds and fog for over "200 days a year", making its visibility to visitors one of lucky chance. Song Dynasty poet Su Shi wrote about Mount Lu Shan:
"Viewed horizontally, it's a ridge; vertically, a peak
And quite a different height from far or near
I can't recognize its true face because
I myself am on the mountain."
After making a trip to these amazing collections of mountain peaks and ridges, another poet, Bai Juyi from the
Sunrise over Lu Shan Mountain
One must rise early and walk hours to appreciate the spectacular sunrise over the mountains. Of course, it also takes a lucky day of weather. Tang Dynasty wrote:
"By the fourth month in the world
The flowers have already faded.
But these mountain's peach buds
Have just gotten glorious.
I've deplore the loss of Spring
Couldn't find it anywhere,
Ignorant I moved right here."
Natural scapes and mountains have always played a most important role in China's history, and their importance continue to be appreciated and enjoyed into the present days, and for the milleniums yet to come. Many are seen and worshipped as important holy sites, and the LU SHAN mountains are among the "most important" in all of China.
The LU SHAN mountains and their mountain's holy sites have influenced spirituality in China for centuries, none more than the schools of Buddhism within the mountain's "Eastern Woods Temple"; the "Jianji Temple, a holy shrine of Taoism and also China's indigenous religion; and the "White Deer Cave Academy of Learning, where Confucianism was elevated to a new high.
And so, these mountains have been recognized for the centuries as one of the great spiritual centers of China's ancient civilization. The Buddhist and Taoist temples, along with buildings important to Confucianism, in which the most eminent masters taught, blend effortlessly into
The sun begins to offer its warmth of the day, as it raises over Lu Shan Mountain.
Lu Shan moutain is a place, where the holy men of Buddhism, Taiosm, and some of the greatest Confucian scholars found inspiration. Here they found truth not in what was made by man, but what is offered by God through nature. a strikingly beautiful landscape, and can be traversed by paths and "tens of thousands" of steps, carved into the stone throughout the centuries.
I can only estimate now, but there is no doubt, that during these days of my visit, I have climbed up and down at least 5,000 of these steep and precarious steps. To this day, having returned to the comfort of my renovated apartment at Taizhou Teachers College, my knees still carry the scars and some of the pain of my efforts, and sleepless nights of discomfort in my knees and hips can attest to this personal achievement, traversing LU SHAN National Park.
"Before my arrival", countless artists, poets and writers have also found inspiration among this mountain landscape. They have helped to developed much of the aesthetic approach to nature, found in Chinese culture, complaining less about the struggles of the strenuous walks. They could be inspired in solitude over decades, living in this natural beauty; I had to seek my inspiration within a few summer days, struggling for space on the narrow paths and stone steps, along with thousands of gasping Chinese tourists.
This throng of modern tourism is now centered along
Lake Lulin at the foot of Mount Lu Shan.
The lake is located near Guling and is a good place to start the day's excursion. Guling Ridge and the town of Guling, a city, which symbolizes the invasion of China by Western Culture more than 100 years ago. From this center of historic villas and summer homes, leading to the narrow mountain and forest trails and cool mountain peaks, with their display of dozens of cascading waterfalls, visitors and tourists continue to be inspired, and are invited to contemplate the meaning of life in this mountain hideaway.
Misty clouds usually blanket the lush forests, where Buddhists and Taoists monks have appreciated these mystical scenes for centuries in solitude.
And then came the arrival of Mr. Edward Little, a British Methodist minister, known also as a "shrewd" property speculator, who carved up the area as a resort for the wealthy, the rich, the famous, and the powerful European colonial masters of the 19th Century.
Europeans seem to know a good place when they find one, and soon the Western merchants and the Christian missionaries made the LU SHAN mountain area their 19th Century "Colonial" summer retreat. In this lush-green mountain site, they constructed beautiful, large villas and private enclaves in the style of 18 countries. Catholic churches, Christian houses of worship, Eastern Orthodox
Embracing Lake Poyang Archway
Nature and man in harmony on Lulin Lake at Lu Shan National Park. Church chapels and Islamic mosques mingle with the villas.
When seeing the posh and luxurious living conditions of Guling, it is difficult for a visitor to imagine, how the vacationing missionaries could identify with the misery, that surrounded them daily in the villages of China, where they were preaching to the sick and the needy about the pious qualities of poverty and sacrifice? Was this how the money was used, the collection of coins, which were offered by China's poor in the Christian churches' collection boxes?
At one time, there were almost 2,000 of such summer, colonial residences. Over 600 are still standing and many have now been converted into hotels, guest houses, restaurants, and museums.
Once I set my eyes and my spirit on the scenic landscape of LU SHAN, I understood, why people keep wanting to return, to spend their summer holidays among this natural beauty and profoundly inspirational scenery.
The mountain area boast 99 peaks, the tallest called "Dahanyang Peak", standing over 4,500 feet. There are narrow gorges, dozens of beautifully cascading waterfalls, treacherous overhanging cliffs, dreamy lakes, lush and expansive forests, and some amazing bird and wild life.
All this awe-inspiring
Mount Lu Shan is shrouded in clouds more than 200 days in a year.
It inspired Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo to write this famous line: "I cannot recognize its true face, because I myself am in the mountain". beauty can only and truly be appreciated by a personal visit. Photos, paintings and pictures can do such landscapes only abstract justice.
I am happy and feel fortunate to have had the chance to experience these natural wonders and surroundings, and look forward to the opportunity to explore more of what lies hidden among the ridges, cliffs, valleys and peaks.
Once the 19th Century colonialists saw this cool and isolated mountain region, it became a "true" summer retreat for the rich and powerful Europeans, who had carved up and settled in China. They constructed this town of GULING, which looks nothing like any Chinese community. GULING offered everything one could find in any English/European town, from Gothic-style Christian churches made of stone, to traditional British pubs with all their amenities.
Walking/"climbing" the steep mountain paths connecting the many residences of GULING, to visit a few of these amazingly-constructed homes, it becomes clear, that these powerful colonial Europeans knew how to live.
Here in China, many parts of which they forcefully occupied and claimed as their own, and in this unique and cool and safe summer retreat, the British colonial masters brought their wealth and their life-style,
Waterfalls and water shape the landscape of Lu Shan.
So high in the mountains, and with no snow, one begins to wonder where all of this water is coming from. as if they had never left their own country of England. They lived a life of privilege, for which would been envied back in their own country.
Much of the history of present day China continued to be shaped here in GULING, within and surrounding this beautiful LU SHAN Mountain setting. Once the Chinese were able to rid themselves of foreign occupation and reclaim their own country from the Europeans, LU SHAN Mountain became the favorite retreat among Chinese politicians.
Chiang Kai Shek and his wife Song Mailing had their summer home here. The now-crumbling "Meilu Villa" was a "gift" to China's former power couple, before the Communist Revolution.
From 1949 and with the declaration of the Peoples Republic of China, LU SHAN became popular with Chairman Mao and his ministers. Many of the meetings here among the emerging Communist leadership, most important in 1959 and 1970, changed the course of China's more recent history.
Now, in the "new" and ever-more-affluent, modern China, from June through September, thousands of Chinese tourists, as well as a few Western travelers like me, arrive in modern tourist busses or in their personal cars. They flock to these architectual abodes
The geological formation of Lu Shan mountains.
Clearly visible is the earth's push up-wards, as it shaped Lu Shan mountains millions of years ago. of the once powerful and rich of GULING to relax, to enjoy nature's wonders, and to catch a glimpse of a bygone era.
As a Post Script:
A train brought me directly from Taizhou to the Nanchang, the capital Jiangxi. Nanchang is steeped in China's recent history, and is often thought of as the birthplace of The PLA, or the Peoples Liberation Army. My next TravelBlog will introduce you to Nanchang in Jiangxi, a less striking Chinese city, that still seems lost in the China of the 1970's. In Nanchang, the "New China" is just now beginning to emerge, and construction and modernization is only now beginning to take hold. It was from Nanchang, that I joined a tour-group for the three hour bus-ride to the LU SHAN MOUNTAIN PARK AND RETREAT.
My photo journey, traversing the extensive and precarious mountain trails and paths, as well as "thousands of the steepest steps", which one must conquer to appreciate this expansive natural wonder of LU SHAN mountain, was made more difficult by some un-lucky and poor weather.
The weather in LU SHAN is beyond a visitors control, where rain and fog often obscure much of the natural
This lady's knees had enough.
Thousands of steps lead up and down and through the mountains. For those no longer able to cope with the stress on the body, chairs can be hired to complete parts of the climb. Though tempting at times, I completed every single one of some 5,000 step under my own power beauty. And so you must excuse the quality of some of the photos from a region, that has the reputation of being wet, cold and misty for more than 200 days in the year. Of course as my luck has it, my first days on LU SHAN mountain happened to be some of those rainy and foggy days.
So experience with me a "World Cultural Heritage Site" inscribed with the special status, that of "World Cultural Landscape": LU SHAN National Park and Mountain Retreat, in the Province of Jiangxi, China in this following photo journey.
Many of the 117 photos are best appreciated by enlarging them. All you have to do is click on the picture itself, and the details will be enhanced for you through the great efforts of the TravelBlog Team.
Your comments, suggestions, and thoughts continue to provide me with encouragement. As you might imagine, the process of putting each TravelBlog together is quite time-consuming. Knowing, that each new journal-entry provides you with some insight and joy about my adventures in China, will continue to give me the energy and courage to continue the TravelBlog presentations.
*****THIS IS ALSO A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR
Villages of Chinese "minorities" invite to a wedding show.
A group of villagers invited me to join one of their wedding ceremonies. Some later photos in this entry detail the ceremony. ME TO SUGGEST ONCE AGAIN TO ANY COLLEGE GRADUATE, WHO MIGHT CONSIDER THE UNIQUE AND REWARDING OPPORTUNITY TO TEACH ENGLISH HERE IN CHINA, THAT POSITIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN MY COLLEGE AND SEVERAL OTHER COLLEGES IN THIS GROWING CITY OF TAIZHOU, JIANGSU, PRC. YOU ARE WELCOME TO WRITE ME YOUR REQUESTS, AND I WILL FORWARD YOU THE E-MAIL FOR THE OFFICIAL CONTACTS.******
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Nanchang is steeped in China's recent history, and is often thought of as the birthplace of The Peoples Republic of China. --------------------------------- birthplace of The Peoples‘ Liberation Army(PLA).