Photo Essay: Climbing the ‘Sacred Buddhist’ EMEI SHAN
Photo Essay: Climbing the ‘Sacred Buddhist’ EMEI SHAN
This is a re-posting and re-editing of an article I posted on the Creative Arts group more than two years ago. ‘Shan’ is Chinese for ‘mountain’. More than two years ago, on a Monday afternoon, my wife and I joined another woman and her daughter along with a driver who took us a few hours away from Chengdu, where we were living at the time, westward in Sichuan Province to not too far from Tibet, so we could climb a mountain that is over 10,000 ft high, and then to see the giant Buddha of Leshan. In this photo essay I will take you on a tour of what we did and saw at the mountain. I have just a couple of days ago re-posted my photo essay about the giant Buddha.
1. Driving through the foothills we witnessed some exceptional views of mountains. These might not be considered special by those of you who live in or near mountains, but we enjoyed seeing them.
2. We drove through the foothills until we reached where we had to park the car and continue in a bus part way up the mountain (due to the road being quite dangerous) to the Emei Shan Park gate, outside of which were a number of small hotels. This is the one where we had dinner (the fried sweet and sour fish was delicious) and stayed the night in rooms that were surprisingly luxurious.
3. It rained all night but we were assured that it would be sunny the next day. When we awoke we saw that the clouds were settling on the mountain
4. But they quickly cleared up, and the sun was bright, although because of the altitude it was a bit cold.
5. This is the gate to the trail up the mountain, and at this point it was necessary for us to start our climb by foot.
6. We walked past a couple of billboards, one showing a map of the whole park...
7. The significance of the mountain is explained in the bottom right corner of the map, which I have enlarged to be as clear as I could.
8. To be expected at any tourist site, there were concession stands. One rented coats - at the heights were were going it gets pretty cold. This stand sold framed local butterflies.
9. And this one sold the usual souvenir junk. We didn't buy anything.
10. Sometimes the steps were relatively normal, but sometimes you had to navigate steps like these and not break your ankle.
11. But there was an alternative to going on foot - for about US$25 these guys will carry you up the steps in those "stretchers". There is actually a history to their use, and some elderly people used them but most Chinese people, even elderly ones, are practised and competent climbers - climbing mountains is one of their favourite things to do. I went on foot, although these days I think I'll be more careful.
12. The forest is inhabited by Tibetan Monkeys.
13. But you must be careful with them - they will steal things out of your hand. I saw one grab the bag someone was carrying (they think there is food in them) but fortunately the woman hung on, or she would have lost her bag.
14. And here one is - he was so fast, my camera did not have time to focus.
15. And there he goes....
16. Looking at the next mountain.
17. Okay, here's where we started to cheat on the walking - well you didn't expect me to climb the WHOLE 10,000 feet, did you?
18. I never trusted these things, but this one is fairly new, installed only six years ago.
19. Getting closer to the top - the clouds are below us.
20. This sacred tower crowns the mountain - almost there now.
21. In the distance to the north-west, snow-capped mountains. I was lucky that the clouds cleared enough for me to get this shot. I think it could have been Tibet.
22. This sign greeted us at (almost) the top.
23. Another greeter - the first chipmunk I've seen in China. I never saw a squirrel here either, but then who knows, the Chinese seem to eat almost anything they can chew.
24. I passed on climbing the final 100 or so steps to the tower. You can see incense smoke rising from the urn on the right - my wife lit some incense sticks there.
25. It wasn't a busy day - but still a lot of people.
26. Looking down, on our way back. We then headed for the Giant Buddha at Leshan.
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Another photo-essay will be posted in a couple of days.
Great essay Buzz....Have you ever been to Tibet?
No, and now because of my physical condition it's unlikely that I will go to where the air is rarefied and I really don't travel much at all now anyway.
To bad, I imagine it would be a great adventure.
When I was still working I tried to get into the middle kingdom (Bhutan) at that time they only allowed 2,000 visas per year for tourist (don't know if that is still the same). Anyhow I was set to go and was taking a weeks vacation while I was in Singapore when all of a sudden there was a corporate emergency and I had to get the next plane to Seoul...Blew the trip to Bhutan and the deposit that I had paid...Fortunately for me I was reimbursed by the company.
Again, great photos.
Thanks, but it seems NT members are a lot more interested in giant Buddhas than in sacred Buddhist mountains. I suppose if I were to headline the article "Trump Never Climbed This Mountain", it would get lots of comments.
If I had a bucket list that I could fulfill it would include going to Tibet.
You outdid yourself on these Buzz. I can only imagine what all those scenes looked like through your eyes.
It's the first time I was ever ABOVE the clouds while standing on the ground. My friend Joni Mitchell wrote a song about that.
A famous painting by my favorite Hudson River Painter, Frederick Edwin Church …
"Sunrise Above the Clouds"
Keep these photo essays coming, Buzz!
Great article, Buzz !