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We take a bus from Cheng Du to Leshan so we can visit 'Da Fo' which is the world's largest outdoor buddha - 71m high to be exact. He is carved out of the side of a mountain and is a popular destination for Chinese buddhists, as we discover upon arriving at the first viewing platform. There are hundreds of Chinese people havng their photo taken, pointing at the buddha, or doing the victory V sign at the camera as seems to be the practice here.
Anyway, the buddha itself is very impressive. I hope the pictures give an idea of the scale. Actually, the whole penisula of Leshan is very picturesque. There are temples, a huge pagoda, a waterfall, a beautiful pond with hundreds of goldfish and traditional music being piped through speakers hidden in the foliage. The whole place is very relaxing, we could have spent all afternoon there, but unfortunately we had to join the masses making their way down the mountain to the feet of the buddha where, of course, everyone is taking pictures.
The single file journey down the steps is long, hot, claustrophobic and tiresome. We are also treated to the famous Asian
approach to queuing, which is to barge past as many people as possible and then look offended when someone protests. As a group we rebel against this by joining ranks. Once we reach the bottom, some of our group are befriended by Chinese tourists so they can have their picture taken with 'their Western friend'.
We make our way back up the mountain side and continue our walk along the peninsula, through small fishing villages where the locals seem more interested in playing mah jong than peddling their wares. We emerge from these villages to see a fabulous red bridge, very ornate in the classic Chinese style, with two dragons decorating the two bases in the river.
Our bus collects us and takes us to the town of Emei, where we are staying in the large Baoguo monastery prior to our visit to Emei Shan (a holy mountain) the next day. The monastery facilities are basic, but charming. The other guests are mainly Chinese pilgrims and the next morning we are woken at 4am by bells and chanting as the pilgrims and monks rise to pray. We get up at 6am for a quick breakfast before meeting our
Da Fo
The world's largest outdoor budda. You can get an idea of the scale by comparing his head with the size of the people on the left of the picture. local guide Zebedee and boarding the bus to take us near the summit of the mountain via a steep and treachous road.
The final leg of the ascent is completed by cable car. This is a disorientating experience, as you pass through the cloud level, so for a while you are surrounded by mist and cannot see anything in any direction. Once you break through the cloud, the view is spectacular. We are fortunate that is a clear day. Zebedee tells us that in 56 visits last year, he only had weather like this 3 times. It is both glorious and mystical, as the cloud creeps over the sides of the mountain like dry ice. The mountain itself is topped by a temple and a huge golden statue with four elephants at it's base and several female figures (I forget to ask who they are) atop them. There are two things detracting from the experience. Firstly, someone has decided that the ideal spot for a mobile phone mast is right next to the golden statue. While I cannot argue with the logic behind this from a coverage point of view, I can confidently say that asthetically it is a
disaster. The second problem is that there is a large amount of building work going on and the constant crash and bang of construction is not the ideal soundtrack for the views we are enjoying. There is also a complete lack of health and safety awareness. Not all the workers are wearing hardhats and we, the tourists, can walk straight through the construction site without any form of barriers or warning signs to stop us. Luckily, there is an outcrop of the mountain that houses a smaller temple and a short monorail ride takes us to it. This is a quieter experience altogether as no building work is taking place. Nic and I ring the large bell in the temple before making our way back.
Before we start to descend the mountain in the cable car, we notice that there are hundreds of padlocks attached to the hand rails on the stairs leading up to the temple. It transpires that it is tradition for recently married couples to put an engraved padlock here, so we buy one, have it engraved on the spot and add it to the rest.
Zebedee starts to lead us down the mountain, as
we are descending to the smaller Hongchunping monastery where we will spend the night prior to completing the descent tomorrow. We have been issued with 'monkey sticks', which as well as being valuable walking tools are also to be used to ward off the makak monkeys that populate the mountain and often hassle tourists for food. Zebedee asks us to place any food or water in our rucksacks and advises that if a monkey approaches we should not show our teeth, as this may be regarded as a sign of aggression. He also says that we should show them our open palms to illustrate that we have no food and only threaten them with the stick if they continue to hassle us. Fortuantely, it does not come to this, as the monkeys we meet are more watchful and keep several feet away. This gives everyone the opportunity to take pictures of them.
The trek continues, with Zebedee stopping regularly to explain things about the environment and history of the area. He is proving to be the best local guide we have had. The mountain side area has been well set up for walkers, with paths constructed through the dense
Waterfall...
...taken with a slow shutter speed. forest, alongside the rivers and on the side of the sheer cliffs. It really starts to feel like the biggest treehouse you have ever seen and the scenery is superb. Eventually we reach the base of some steps. Zebedee explains that there are now 1196 steps to the Hongchunping monastery we were are spending the night and that the record for ascending them is 11 minutes! Needless to say we come nowhere this and reach the 'Hard Wok Cafe' 100 steps from the top in a state of severe sweatiness. Here we pause to enjoy a well earned cold beer, before ascending the remaining steps to the monastery.
The facilities are even more basic than at Baoguo, but the views are both serene and impressive. Even the basic hole-in-floor toilets are no problem when you looking straight out at lush green mountainside.
After a fantastic evening meal at the Hard Wok and a few hours of playing backgammon and poker dice, we sleep until being woken at 5am by the bells and chanting. Today is the longer part of the descent back down the mountain to the Baoguo monastery were we will spend another night before leaving for
the Yangtze river cruise.
First, there is the matter of Tai Chi at 7:30am. For those unfamiliar with this, Tai Chi is basically a ancient form of Chinese martial art that is used for morning exercise. It is slow and graceful, but designed to realign your 'chi' energy. Zebedee assembles us in the monastery courtyard and teaches us some basic moves before starting to put them together. It is relaxing and even one of the monks briefly joins in. Zebedee then offers to shows us his full routine, so that we can video it and practice at home. Those of us with camcorders naturally take him up on this offer. Watching his performance it is hard to believe he is 56 years old.
After breakfast (banana, chocolate, apple and honey pancakes at the Hard Wok) we start the remaining descent of Emei Shan. Zebedee again proves to be a mine of information about the area and regularly stops the group to give us information. At one of the stops he even does some gymnastics and jokes that he hopes to represent China at the Beijing Olympics.
We stop briefly at a school and play table tennis with
the some of the youngsters, who are delighted to see us and amuse themselves by chasing us round with imaginary machine guns. We also stop for lunch in a small mountainside village, where the chief activities other than farming appear to be eating and, naturally, mah jong.
Eventually we arrive back at the Baoguo monastery, looking forward to the showers. Even if they are basic, at least they're hot! We bid farewell to Zebedee, who has been superb, and are in bed relatively early as the monastery closes it's doors at 9pm. Emei Shan has been a fantastic experience and it has been good to see some of rural China.
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CLaire
non-member comment
i still wish we were at the wedding!!
all i can say is get a shave brendan!! looks like your having fun though! xoxoxoxxoxo Claire