Emeishan (5-3)

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were a holiday for Labor Day, May 1. Of course, we had to make up Monday and Tuesday classes on Saturday and Sunday. Pretending that Saturday was Monday didn’t faze me this time. I hardly noticed. I guess I’ve adjusted to the Chinese way of doing things. Or it was easier to do the extra classes following a week and prior to the holiday than to come back and do the make ups. Since I have no classes on Tuesday, it was like a normal Sunday, which was nice to have before leaving early Monday morning. My destination: Emei Mountain.

Since I didn’t want to have to wait at the Chengdu bus station for several hours, I left home at 6:20 AM so I could catch an early bus. A couple of my students were also waiting at the bus. They said the bus should come at 6:40, but it didn’t. Finally, at 7:00 the other bus came; so I decided to take it. As it pulled out, the first bus, which goes directly to Chengdu, arrived. But I was OK with that, since I knew I could change buses fairly quickly. Wrong. The first four buses that came didn’t even pull over at the bus stop because they were so full of students from the other university embarking on their holiday. When a bus stopped after twenty minutes, the several of us waiting for that bus made sure we squeezed in. Then it, too, was packed and didn’t stop until some people wanted to get off. At the bus station, the next bus left quickly, and I was at the long distance bus terminal at 8:45. I was surprised that there weren’t many people there, and I had a ticket in five minutes. I was a bit dismayed when the time on the ticket was 19:30. So I went to the information desk, where the people spoke English the last time, and asked about the destination and time. The woman told me that I could get on a bus then; the time on the ticket is the last time I can use it. So I could have taken an earlier bus the last time if the woman had explained that instead of telling me I could get on the bus five or ten minutes early. But it was all OK, and now I know. It’s good that the women at the information desk speak English. So I got in line and was on the way at 9:30.

We arrived in Emei two hours later and I took a local bus to Baoguo, where I was staying for two nights. Getting there required a bus change. When I asked, the bus attendant was nice enough to tell me when to get off, and she and the driver pointed to the road I needed to go to for the next bus.

After checking into the guest house, I decided to go to one of the temples on the mountain. I purchased the full ticket, since that included going to the bus stop for Wannian Temple. This was a mistake. I learned later that, at another ticket booth, I could have purchased a ticket only to that temple for half the price. When the bus I was on stopped at a big parking lot, I tried to get a bus back down to the temple, but that wasn’t possible according to the people helping me. I had to purchase the park entrance ticket (185 yuan or about $31) and get on another bus to the next level up. The trip from the start to that level took 1.5 hours. Upon arrival, I showed my ticket to a driver going down the mountain to the temple, and he told me to get in his bus. Half way down, he had a student translate and tell me that the bus didn’t go there; so I had to go all the way back down. Thus I rode the bus for 3 hours and didn’t get to see anything. I was a little irritated with myself for doing that. I could have purchased the half bus ticket and seen the lower temples that afternoon instead of sitting on the bus. But the views of the mountains from the bus were pretty good that day.

Back at the bottom of the mountain, I went to Baoguo Temple and enjoyed walking around it. 

Then I walked along the huge carvings of the story of the Buddha in the cliffs. By this time, it was evening, and the carvings were lighted up. There were also many tourists walking around the area.

Emei Mountain is one of four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. (This reminded me of the four Navajo sacred peaks in Arizona.) There are a number of temples on the mountain, and the Golden Summit Pavilion at the top is the main pilgrimage destination for Chinese Buddhists. Most of these were young adults, but there were some older people.

Tuesday morning I woke up early again so I could get an early bus to the top of the mountain—again. After a quick breakfast of noodle soup, I was on a bus at 6:30. This bus didn’t stop at the lower parking lot; it went directly to the upper level. To get on the bus, I had to show my park entrance ticket. Even though I’d asked if it was good for two days and the woman had agreed, I was a little anxious that they would want me to purchase another ticket when I hadn’t used the first one, but it was good. The young man next to me on the bus chatted a little. He was taking his friends to the mountain that day, but, since they were leaving on Wednesday, he told me I could call him, and he’d take me to the Leshan Buddha, since he lives in Leshan. I guess he hadn’t understood when I’d told him I had been there on the last holiday.

After getting off the bus, it’s a half-hour walk up to the place where you can take a cable car to the top. You can also walk up, but I’d decided that I’d ride up and walk down. Coats can be rented, as it’s cold at the higher elevations. I had my jacket and had had the foresight to attach the hood; so I didn’t need to rent one. There were shops selling souvenirs along the way. Panda jackets for children were popular. Brightly colored monkeys that hang around your neck were also very popular. Many adults, as well as children, were wearing them.

Monkeys are the park’s mascot. Traffic signs feature a monkey character.

On the way up, there were several places where there was a view of the mountain. It was misty, but some of the mountains were slightly visible.

Within a few minutes of getting in line for a cable car, the line behind me was twice as long. It only took half an hour to get into a car and be on the way up. Each car holds a hundred people, and the ride up takes about five minutes.

The mountain is 3000 meters (about 10,000 feet) high. At the top, it was misty, as it was in the clouds. One of the things the mountain is famous for is the Sea of Clouds. On a clear day above the clouds, you can see the clouds below and the blue sky above. I was told that you can have a photo taken that looks like you are standing on the clouds. This was not a clear day. 

The huge statue and the Golden Summit Pavilion were barely visible when I arrived. It was cold. The average temperature there is 3^o C (35^o F). I was OK with my jacket with the hood up, but my fingers were freezing. After a while, I could hardly unzip the zipper to open my backpack, and opening the camera slot to change batteries was very challenging. I alternated putting my hands in the pockets to warm them up a bit.

One of the buildings had gorgeous stone carvings for sale. Also stone jewelry. I ended up buying a bracelet with a lotus carved into each piece. The woman seemed to be indicating that it is good for sleeping, as she put her hands together beside her head and leaned it toward her shoulder with her eyes closed.

I spent about three hours wandering around the top of the mountain, walking through the temple and walking around to the various viewpoints. In addition to being cold, I was feeling a bit woozy. I was glad I had purchased a bamboo walking stick, as it was very useful. I tried eating and drinking, but that didn’t help much. I realized that it was probably an effect of the high altitude. This was confirmed the next day when I was able to walk a lot with no problems at lower elevations.

In one area there are a lot of locks hanging. Couples purchase these and have their names inscribed as a symbol of their long-time love and commitment.

As time went on, the fog lifted. When I left, the statue and pavilion were clearly visible. 

There was a bit of a Sea of Clouds, as the mountain tops were then visible above the clouds, but it wasn’t the famous one that happens on clear days. Many people stood there to have a photo taken. 

Also as the morning went on, the hoards of people had arrived. When I returned to the center after walking around the rim, the area around the pavilion was packed. I was glad I had arrived early.

When I decided to walk down, my thought was: how long can it take to walk down the distance of a five-minute cable car ride? Answer: an hour and a half. I read later that it is 3.5 kilometers. The path is paved with good steps. I enjoyed the change of trees as the elevation changed. 

One area was mystical with a lot of moss on the rocks and ground. Some of the places where the mountains were slightly visible in the morning were completely cloudy by this time.

Back at the upper level parking area, I got into a bus going to Wannian Temple. This one stopped there, and I was the only person to get out. There is a cable car from the parking lot to the temple, but I decided to walk when I learned that it takes about an hour. It was actually a fairly easy walk with not much change in elevation, and the altitude was lower; so I could walk easily. At one point, the path went through an area of tea gardens. I had seen these in the distance from the buses and was delighted to be walking through an area where they were close. After a bit, the path came back to the main path. Somehow I’d gotten off the main path and taken a short detour, and I was glad that had happened.

I made it to the temple in 45 minutes. I was glad I had made the trip, as the main building of temple is different in style from most. It’s the oldest of the mountain’s temples (9^th century). 

It features a bronze bodisattva on a white elephant. As I finished walking around, I heard banging and monks carrying big water tubs started running toward the entrance. We tourists followed to see what was happening. 

It seemed to be a fire drill or something like that. Two men had fire hoses and shot water at one of the roofs. Maybe they do this to keep the roof damp. Anyway, it was interesting.

By this time, it was 6:00, and I started down the mountain. After a while, there was a sign pointing a direction I didn’t think I wanted to go. I asked a woman which way to the bus, and she pointed the direction of the sign. Shortly after that, I knew for sure that I was not going down the same path I’d gone up on. But I was heading down, which was a good thing; so I continued. 

An hour after leaving Wannian, I arrived at Qingyin Pavilion. Since it was 7:00 and I still needed to get back to town, I looked at the entrance but didn’t go inside the pavilion. The area has a lot of locks with red ribbons. I learned that these are also for couples as a prayer for long-time commitment and love. I had also seen red ribbons hanging in trees, which are hung for the same reason.

Again I asked which way to a bus. Two young women were also going down and offered to walk with me. They were delightful companions. Both are sophomores studying fashion design, and both speak English well. They were staying at a hostel halfway down but walked me to the entrance.

We arrived there at 7:30, too late to get a bus back to town. So I started walking. It was getting dark, but I enjoyed walking along with only the clink of my bamboo walking stick for noise. After about twenty minutes, a car pulled over and offered a ride for 30 yuan ($5). It took 20 minutes to get to town. It was dark by then. I hadn’t realized it was so far; so I was very glad I had the ride.