12/3/2006 ~ Emeishan (Mt. Emei)

On the Rio: Jimi Hendrix ~ Born Under A Bad Sign

After Leshan we drove about an hour to Emeishan (Mt. Emei) which is one of four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. The philosophical founder of Taoism, Laozi, is said to have lived here in a mythical incarnation.

It is a 10 hour climb on foot to the top of mountain. Because I only had an afternoon, we took a cable car half way up.

Here is the view during the ascent.

The mountain is often misty, providing for a mysical arrival to climb the stairs to the temples.

Passing the Qingyin (Pure Sound) Pavilion echos the sound of the nearby confluence of the Black Dragon and White Dragon waters. This picture unfortunately did not turn out well, but I'm posting it anyway. In English it says "Love grass and love life."

Higher up on the path, now at 3,345 ft (1,020 meters) is the Wannian Temple (Temple of Ten Thousand Years).

Founded in A.D. 268, it was embellished during the reign of Wanli with a huge beamless hall to house an enormous copper and bronze figure of Puxian on his elephant. The original wooden struture burned down, so the present one was made of brick. The has was modeled on a tower at Kublai Khan's summer lodge in Chengde.

But the temple for me was not the most interesting part of the daytrip. I was more intrigued by the following sign.

It states: "Dear passengers, Some wild monkeys often appear in this area, you'd better pass the trail with some accompanies and take good care of your personal goods."

I thought, come on, wild monkeys on the mountain? So I asked my guide Kevin and he assured me they would be around. And if I had any food in a plastic bag to get rid of it before we started up the stairs.

And sure enough, just at that moment, through the mist, Kevin pointed out a baby monkey in a tree.

And within a few moments, monkeys were everywhere. Screeching and howling, and jumping from branch to branch. They even came up to some people on the path ahead of us. I have to admit my heart starting racing a little more than usual. There are trail guides with long sticks to chase them away. Some are quite large, with big teeth, and I was warned not to get too close to take a picture. Here is a baby below me.

And as we were leaving there were several on the rooftop of the souvenir shops, saying good-bye for now.