Emei Shan: Sunset at the Golden Summit

We had arrived late in the evening but it couldn't have been a better time. We were treated to a spectacular, rapidly changing, sunset as rays of sunlight broke through the clouds and illuminated the mountain tops far away.

Top Right: sunset on another Emei temple off in the distance.

Top Left: Sunset viewed from Emei Shan.

Bottom: (left to right) Michel Czehatowski, Guide Li Ying Ying, Mark Van Loan, and Hannah Czehatowski with the sunset to our backs.

Golden Summit Video

This video, taken by Mark Van Loan, gives you a better idea of the amazing views at the Golden Summit.

Views from The Golden Summit

Top right: Close up of Puxian Bodhisattva. Notice the Ruyi in her hands. A Ruyi is an "S" Shaped ornamental object used for good luck in ancient times.

For more information on Ruyi's see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruyi

Top Left: The Golden Temple located behind the Puxian statue

Middle: The Silver Temple that is located across from the Gold Temple.

Bottom: Mark Van Loan contemplating the beautiful view. A view like this helps you understand the traditional paintings of cloud shrouded mountains.

Emei Shan: The Golden Summit (Jinding Si)

We left the hotel and started walking up hill when suddenly we caught sight of a beautiful statue.
We continued on to the entrance and were enthralled by what we saw. At the summit of the mountain is a huge gilded statue of Puxian Bodhisattva under a clearing sky.
I have read the Lonely Planet tour book on China and here is what they write about the Golden Summit:
"It's constantly overrun with tourists, pilgrims and monks, and you'll be continuously bumped and jostled. The sun rarely forces its way through the mists up here and the result is that it is usually impossible to see very far past your own nose."
It was just the opposite for us. The sun came out, there were few tourists (mainly because of the May 12th earthquake), and the views were spectacular. Hannah and I both agreed that it was a photographers dream.

Top Right: There's always stairs to the top!

Middle: Spectacular views.

Top Left: Our first view of the Puxian statue.

Bottom: The Puxian statue.

For more information on Puxian, click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puxian

Emei Cable Car

Taking the cable car of Emei Shan gave us tremendous views. Normally the cable car should have been packed with people but due to the earthquake tourism was down and very few people were on the cable car. Mark Van Loan took this video with his camera on the ride up.

Emei Shan (Mt. Emei), Ganoderma

We left Leshan and our driver headed to Emei Shan. Emei Shan is 130km southwest of Chengdu and is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains (the others are Wu Tai Shan, Jiu Hua Shan, and Putuo Shan). Emei Shan rises 10,226 feet and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. We started off with a two hour bus ride up the mountain taking only small backpacks with a change of clothes. Our suitcases were left behind. The drive was beautiful with mountain streams and bamboo blending into the mountain scenery. We made a stop or two on the way where I took pictures of beautiful specimens of wild Ganoderma (Japanese: Reishi mushroom) that were for sale. Wild Ganoderma is rarely available in the USA these days. Almost ganoderma imported into the USA is cultivated and is of uniform size and shape so seeing wild ganoderma (and from a special mountain at that) was a real treat.

I also spotted fresh Pseudoginseng (Chinese: San Qi or Tian Qi) which is an important herb for stopping bleeding. Usually when we buy Pseudoginseng here in the US the color is dark black. There were lots of other specimens of herbs for sale in the store which made in quite interesting for me.

When we reached our stopping point we then took a half hour hike up the mountain until we got to the cable lift which took us to a hotel at approximately 10,000 feet. At the top the air was cool and fresh and we were glad to have brought our jackets. We took about 15 minutes to get settled in our rooms and then headed up to the top to see the Golden Summit Temple (Jinding Si).

Top Right and Left: Ganoderma (Reishi).

Bottom: Pseudoginseng (San qi or Tian qi).

For more information on Emei Shan, click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emei_Shan

Chengdu, Leshan Grand Buddha

When we arrrived in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, we asked our guide, Ying Ying, about the earthquake. She said it was very scary and that she (and probably the rest of the city) slept outside for two nights. We didn't spend much time in Chengdu but the city is very interesting. Here's a link for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu

We left Chengdu and headed south to Leshan to see the Grand Buddha. The Grand Buddha was built in the Tang Dynasty starting at 713 AD. It is 233 feet tall and an amazing work of art. You can see it two ways. One is to walk down from the top. The other is to see it from the river. I thought we would have a better view from the river so we took a boat on the river. The Buddha is at the confluence of three huge rivers and at one point we could see the muddy water of one river mix with another river. There is a distinct line in the water where the two rivers meet.

For more information see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha

Top Right: The Grand Buddha. Note the people at the base of the statue.

Middle: The Face of the Grand Buddha.

Top Left: People walking down the stairway along the side of the Grand Buddha.