Many of us would have heard of Emei Shan 峨眉山 because it is the home of the legendary Emei branch of Chinese martial arts 峨眉武术. Mount Emei is also one of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains. Visiting Mount Emei during my 6 day Sichuan tour, I realised that it is also one of the most scenic places in the world. It was one of the most memorable highlights of the tour.
The road to the Golden Summit Temple at the top of Mount Emei takes quite a lot of planning and effort, but I assure you that it is well worth it. (Thanks to our guide Marco and Sichuan China International Travel Services, everything went perfectly 👌 )
If you are coming from Chengdu, it takes 1.5 hours by high speed rail or 2 hours by car to Emeishan city. We stayed the night in Emeishan city so that we can get to the bus station at Mount Emei (known as Mount Emei Hub of Tour Despatch) at the crack of dawn. Our guide Marco said "before the snow melts".
It is mandatory to use the Mount Emei mini buses from the "Hub of Tour Despatch" for safety - the windy roads are narrow, steep, wet, and slippery with icy sludge. The bus ride uphill takes about 1.5 hours. It was a good chance to catch up on some sleep since we got out of bed before daybreak.
From the bus stop, it is another 1.8km to the summit. It takes about one hour's trek up snow and sleet covered stairs to the cable car station. Temperature was around -5℃ (be sure to bring the right and enough clothing). During winter there are less visitors unlike the crush during warmer seasons. I always prefer less crowds.
It is essential to get strap on spikes or some other friction devices for your shoes as sleet is extremely slippery. It is impossible to climb the icy stairs without these. Try to get these before your trip or in the city where it costs about RMB5. At Mount Emei, it costs RMB20 a set.
There are many jaw dropping picturesque sights on the way up. I thought such scenery exists only in kungfu movies or Chinese scroll paintings with a heavy dose of imagination. At Mount Emei, there it was right before our eyes and everywhere we looked.
Heavy frost clung to branches, twigs and spiny leaves bending under the load, looking forward to the relief of Spring.
Mount Emei's permanent residents. Tibetan macaques are slightly larger than their Malaysian brethren. Their fluffy brown coat made them looked puffed up.
The cable car station.
The cable car ride takes just 5 minutes on the way up. (If you have spikes on, you have to take them off before boarding. Yeah... quite tedious... .)
Looking down from the cable car - a sea of snow covered trees in deep gorges and valleys of Mount Emeishan.
There are stalls, rest stops, and even hotels on Mount Emei. Visitors who want to catch the sunrise at Mount Emei Shan can use these hotels near the summit.
Beautiful icicles flowing down the roof's eaves.
It turned out that the lunch here was rather nice. Hot spicy Sichuan dishes warmed our bodies and tasted really delicious. The pungent aroma of fiery Sichuan mala spices really lifted our spirits. The warmth inside the restaurant was a welcome respite from the freezing cold outside.
We can catch a glimpse of the Golden Buddha at the summit from here. Jia you. Energised by the scrumptious hot lunch, we climbed on full of anticipation.
Climb on! Everyone was in high spirits as we approached the summit.
Finally at the shrine at 金顶 Jinding or Golden Summit of Mount Emei. The Golden Buddha at the top of the stairs shrouded by cold mist.
There are about 300 buddhist temples on Mount Emei Shan today. The first temples on Mount Emei established around 100 BC were Taoist temples. Emei Shan was chosen because the beautiful mountain was ideal for meditation based on Fengsui principles. Taoists refer to Mount Emeishan as the Seventh Heaven.
According to legend, in about 68 AD an herb picker on Mount Emei stumbled upon giant lotus shaped footprints while on his usual morning foraging rounds on the mountain. Intrigued, he followed the unusual footprints up the mountain. When he reached the summit, the giant footprints disappeared.
In the misty sky, the herb picker saw a vision of a gold Buddha with a gold crown sitting on a gold lotus riding on 6-tusks white elephants in the clouds. Needless to say, the herb picker was stunned by what he witnessed. When he consulted a Buddhist monk about what he saw, he realised that he had seen Puxian Pusa 普贤菩萨 (Samantabhadra).
When word spread about the herb picker's holy vision, Buddhists began building temples on Mount Emei Shan. The herb picker's Puxian Pusa vision was seen as a sign of the mountain's sacredness to Buddhism. The presence of Buddhism on Mount Emei grew over the next centuries.
As we trudged up the slippery steps, cold mist sometimes veiled the Golden Buddha. It's like the ancient herb picker's holy vision in the clouds again.
The original Puxian Temple was built on Mount Emei Shan in 399 AD. As the influence of Buddhism grew on Mount Emei, a power struggle ensued between Taoism and Buddhism.
The 10 year 会昌灭佛 period which began in 845 AD (唐会昌五年) saw the Tang Dynasty's Taoist Emperor Wuzong pushing back the influence of Buddhism. The Emperor ordered the destruction of Buddhist temples on Mount Emei, including Puxian Temple.
The 10 year 会昌灭佛 period ended when a new Emperor took over the throne. Puxian Temple was rebuilt and reopened in 876 AD. Buddhist temples again flourished, sprouting up around Mount Emei. Gradually, Taoism declined on Mount Emei - Taoist temples either closed or were converted to Buddhist temples.
With nearly 300 Buddhist temples and shrines on Mount Emei, hundreds of thousands of Buddhist pilgrims thronged the scared mountain every year. The holy tradition persists till this day.
The Golden Buddha at Jinding (Golden Summit) was built in 2006. Shining through the mist, it is a grand and majestic sight to behold. At 48 metre high, this is the tallest golden Buddha in the world.
We walked around the huge temple complexes ringing the Golden Buddha. I could spend an entire day here as there are so many beautiful things to marvel at (but we were given only 30 minutes 😂 ).
At its highest point, Mount Emei Shan is 3,099 metres above the sea, making it the highest of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains.
We can't see the ridges of the mountain range around Mount Emei Shan today due to the veil of flurries which whited out the horizon. The ridges of the hill crests looked like a maiden's brows hence the name 峨眉山 Emei Shan.
It began to flurry again when we started to make our way down the mountain.
Visitors hang love locks at the railings of the steps on the way downhill.
They sell locks at Mount Emei but if you plan to hang a lock here, consider buying one from the city before coming up the mountain. That would save you quite some money.
Take the cable car again to go down the mountain.
It was still snowing when we walked down the mountain to the catch the mini bus back to "Mount Emei Hub of Tour Despatch".
👍 One of my best scenic experiences. Coming here in the winter means the tracks and temples are less crowded. But, the trudge is tougher with the slippery sleet and ice in freezing temperatures. The payback is amazing snow scenes of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Date visited: 26 Feb 2019
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