Emeishan

Shan means ‘mountain’ in Chinese and they’re proud of their mountains, the Chinese. Almost every one of them has some deep significance because of folk legends associated with it, or because an emperor went up it and saw a phoenix, or because it used to be a dragon, or because it’s shaped like something interesting, or because its name sounds like something else interesting. Or because it’s holy.

So it is with Mount Emei – a very holy Buddhist mountain. I can’t remember why it’s holy and I haven’t got my Lonely Planet to hand, so look it up on t’internet if you’re interested. (Darn, by looking up that link, I’ve gorn and read all about it which means I won’t be able to stop myself from recounting wot I learnded here!) So, it turns out that Mount Emei is the site of the first EVAAH Buddhist monastery in China, having been established in the 1st Century. What I do know without checking Wikipedia is that the Chinese have always been experts at taking foreign influences and picking out the bits they like, whilst disregarding the bits they find disagreeable. With Christianity, which first arrived in China in about the 8th Century, they didn’t like the fact that you’re only supposed to worship one god. People weren’t willing to give up their Confucian beliefs of ancestor worship so the only way the missionaries could convert anybody was to allow them to keep both their old gods (and there was a god for everything from money to the kitchen) as well as The Almighty and Jesus and all that. Quite what they didn’t like about Buddhism I’m not sure, but I know they Chinese-ified it somehow.

They’ve also managed to Chinese-ify the concept of climbing a mountain. No matter which mountain you climb in China (and there’s quite a few of ‘em), there is only one way to do it – by climbing lots and lots and lots of steps, all the way to the top. And down to the bottom again, which is the real killer for the knees. The path from the bottom of Emeishan to the summit, 3,000 odd meters higher, is about 50km all in all with monasteries and temples dotted along the way. To climb the whole thing takes a good three days, which we didn’t have, so we cheated.

We took the bus up to one of the higher temples and climbed to the summit from there. It was a good steady 2-hour walk up very steep stairs, but it was worth it. The weather was pretty smoggy as we left our hotel in the morning and we couldn’t see much in the way of views as we made our way up. But as we climbed further, we broke through the clouds and ended up above them. Here, there were huge rolling mists that meant everything was obscured one second, and ten seconds later you had piercing blue skies with clouds like a cotton wool blanket beneath you. The speed at which the mist moved was just incredible. We’d turn a corner and see a view so amazing it had you reaching instantly for your camera, but by the time you’d turned it on, the mist had covered the very thing you were trying to take a picture of! Compare and contrast, if you will:

This is the Golden Summit. Don’t think I need to explain why it’s called that. The huge statue of the patron of the mountain (not Buddha, but some kind of bodhisatva with an unspellable name) sits on a large paved platform, reached by yet more steps. There’s a roll of red carpet all around its base and Buddhist devouts were kowtowing around it, bowing three times, then getting on their hands and knees to touch their heads on the ground, lying down completely prostrate and then getting up again a few steps further forward than they had been when they first bowed. Others just walked around (lazy!). People burned offerings in large steaming pots of coal and lots more were tourists like us, taking pictures like loons.

It was an absolutely amazing sight – we arrived with our knees creaking, all hot and sweaty (even though it was a lot cooler at this altitude) and very satisfied with what we had made the effort to come and see. I can only imagine what it must feel like if you’ve climbed all the way from the bottom! Maybe next time…