Emei Mountain
Location: Sichuan Province
Transportation: Bus service
Culture/History Rating: 4.5/5
Scenery Rating: 3/5
Hotels: N/A
Summary: If you are into Chinese martial arts, you should know and visit this place. =P
Description:
| Located in the southwest of Emei County, Sichuan Province, the Emei Mountain is one of the four Buddhist shrines. The mountain is known for its stiff cliffs, high rising peaks, roaring waterfalls, gurgling springs, towering ancient trees and fragrant flowers. It has been described as "a beauty spot under heaven" by Chinese poets since ancient times. The highest peak of the mountain is 3,099 meters above sea level. The total rugged road to its. summit is 75 kilometers long.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220), monks and priests came to the mountain to build temples. Construction lasted l,800 years. The Emei mountain is regarded as the "capital of fairyland and kingdom of monks". |  |
 | There are plenty of historical sites, and a lot of precious cultural relics on the mountain. Inside Baoguo. Temples a Large china statue of Buddha with a height of 2.4 meters made in the Ming Dynasty, looks alive bright and shining. A big bell, also made in the Ming Dynasty with a weight of 12.5 tons, has more than 60,000 characters on it. The sound produced by the bell is deep, and its echo spreads as far as 15 kilometers.
Fuhu Temple, the biggest Buddhist temple on the mountain, has 13 halls. In the temple, a 6-metre 17-storeyed bronze tower made in the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368) has some 4,700 engraved Buddhist figurines on it. The 20,000-character Huayan Sutras are well preserved in the temple. |
| Wannian Temple has a huge bronze statue of Samantab-hadra mounted on a white elephant made in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The bronze is 7.35 meters high and weighs 62 tons. Inside the the temple, there are several hundred other bronze or iron statues. The Copper Hall with a gold-plated roof in Woyun Temple, built in the Ming Dynasty on the mountain top, is eight meters high, 4.8 meters wide and 4.3 meters deep. The whole body of the hall was made of copper with a gold plated roof inside the hall, there is a five-meter high bronze statue of Samantabhadra mounted on an elephant and 24 bronze Buddhist images. Outside the hall is a bronze tablet, on which 2,564 characters were engraved by calligraphers Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty(317-420)and Chu Suiliang of the Tang Dynasty(618-907). |  |
 | On the top of the maintain. a circle of violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red lights may be observed in the clouds, and you may feel as if you were caught in the circle, which moves with your shadow. This is the famed "precious Emei lights" or "Buddha's halo". On mountain slopes, monkeys often come out to "rob" you: they may extend their hands begging for food. If you show your empty hands, they usually let the matter go. But sometimes an insistent monkey will try to seize your coat to make sure you really have nothing to offer.
On the Golden Summit, there are four spectacular displays: Sunrise, Buddhist Halo, a Sea of Cloud and the "Sacred Lamp". They are the most attractive miraculous phenomenon to the tourists from home and abroad. |