Live Your Best Lives
Golden Statue
of the Ten Directions
5. Impression of Mount Emei
On June 25, 2016, Ah Li and his colleagues visited Mount Emei with the group.
Mount Emei, known as "Xiujia Tianxia", is located in the southwest of the Sichuan Basin and is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in our country and is the dojo of Puxian Bodhisattva. (The four famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism are Wutai Mountain in Shanxi, Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, Emei Mountain in Sichuan, and Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui, which are the ashrams of Manjushri Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Puxian Bodhisattva, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.)
2016 is the Year of the Monkey, and Mount Emei is famous for its monkeys, and the scenic spot actually exempts monkey tourists from tickets. Ah Li and his colleagues happened to be monkeys and enjoyed this discount. Because it was a group tour, the ticket money returned was not much, but Ah Li and his colleagues were still overjoyed and felt that the people of Sichuan were really humane. Ah Li still can't forget the joy at that time.
We first took the cable car to the Golden Peak, the main peak of Mount Emei. The temperature of the Golden Dome at an altitude of 3,077 meters is very low, and although it is late June, it is still cold. We didn't bring thick coats (no one reminded us to bring them), and we shivered from the cold, so we had to use the cold protection method we used when we visited Huangshan and Huanglong before: put the raincoat we carried with us on our bodies. Ah Li would like to solemnly remind his friends: When you go to a high altitude place in summer, you must bring a thin jacket!
It is said that you can see the four wonders of Emei at the Golden Peak: sunrise, sea of clouds, Buddha's light, and sacred lamp. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of the great wonders: it was almost ten o'clock when we arrived at the Golden Peak, and the sun had already come out; There are white clouds in the distance, but it is not a vast sea of clouds; Buddha's light and holy lamps are not something that ordinary people like us can see. Despite this, Ah Li not only did not lose a little, but felt that he was particularly lucky, because we saw the golden golden statue of the Ten Directions Puxian that had just been gilded and the surrounding scaffolding had just been dismantled - the most prominent landmark landscape of Mount Emei Scenic Area.
Completed on June 18, 2006, the Golden Statue of the Ten Directions (Mount Emei is the dojo of the Bodhisattva) is 48 meters high and weighs 660 tons, making it the largest and tallest statue of the Ten Directions in the world. The golden statue is 48 meters high and represents Amitabha's 48 great vows; The "Ten Directions" is a symbol of the ten major vows of Puxian, and the other is to symbolize the ten directions of east, south, west, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, upper and lower directions in Buddhism. Puxian's mount is an elephant, and his ten heads are divided into three layers, with different demeanors, representing the ten mentalities of the world. The golden statue of the Ten Directions Puxian makes the Golden Dome the world's highest Chinese Buddhist worship center.
June 18, 2016 is the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Golden Statue of the Ten Directions. The Emei Mountain Buddhist Association decided to spend 20 million yuan from March 25 to July 20 of that year to paste about 200,000 pieces of pure gold leaf on the golden statue of the Ten Directions Puxian. During the fully enclosed construction, the statue of the Ten Directions Puxian was wrapped in scaffolding and was not open to tourists.
We climbed to the golden top on June 25, when the gilding process of the Ten Directions Puxian Golden Statue was basically completed, the scaffolding had been completely removed, and the Ten Directions Puxian Golden Statue stood tall and shining on the top of Emei.
The front statue of the Ten Directions Puxian is facing the Daxiong Treasure Hall of Huazang Temple, the Copper Hall. Why is the Hall of Great Glory called the Copper Hall? It turned out that the Daxiong Treasure Hall used copper tiles, and the beams, bolts, doors, windows, bucket arches, etc. were also cast in copper, and the appearance of the whole building was simple and thick bronze. Behind the copper hall is the golden roof of Huazang Temple - the Golden Hall, because it uses gold tiles, and the entire building has a brilliant and dazzling golden appearance, hence the name. The Golden Dome is the highest temple in Mount Emei and the largest golden temple in our country. According to the tour guide, the plaque with the word "golden top" written on it is made of pure gold and donated by a layman who made a fortune and came to repay his wishes. In the Golden Hall, Ah Li also watched the monks of the temple stick the gold leaf donated by the believers on the face of the Buddha statue one by one, and for the first time he really understood what it means to "put gold on the face".
The Woyun Zen Monastery next to Huazang Temple is also known as the Silver Hall. Why is it called the Silver Palace?The copper hall uses copper tiles, the golden hall uses gold tiles, and the silver hall uses silver tiles? Ali checked the information and found that Woyun Zen Monastery did not use silver tiles! It uses tin tiles! However, the tin tiles are also shiny silver under the sunlight, which is pleasing to the eye. Calling Woyun Zen Monastery a silver hall can be described as a vivid image!
The Golden Hall, the Copper Hall, and the Silver Hall are the famous landscapes of the top of Emei, and friends who go to Mount Emei must not miss it.
In front is the copper hall and behind it is the golden hall
Silver Hall
The sacrificial cliff on the east side of the Golden Dome also made Ah Li linger. At that time, the Sacrifice Cliff only had low, simple guardrails, and we could stick our heads out of the guardrails and look down at the abyss below and the mountains in the distance; you can also look up and see the blue sky and white clouds; You can also look back and stare at the golden hall on the cliff. The part where the Sacrifice Cliff protrudes is called King Kong Mouth, which is the best viewing point of the Golden Peak, but it is also the most dangerous place. However, some tourists were not afraid and even climbed over the guardrail and took pictures on the edge of the cliff. Some people even sacrificed themselves here and flew into the sea of clouds, making the Sacrifice Cliff a key place for the staff of the scenic spot.
Shen Shen Cliff
Due to the low temperature on the Golden Dome, our group wore less clothes, so everyone agreed to go down the mountain early to the next attraction. Therefore, we only stopped for an hour at the Golden Peak, and many places did not go to see it carefully. For example, the worship avenue that goes straight to the foot of the golden statue of the ten directions of Puxian is 18 meters wide, 108 meters long, and guarded by 10 pairs of elephants, which is magnificent, but Ah Li only took a photo, and did not take a walk to understand the Buddhist spirit contained in it.
Qibla Avenue
The next attraction is Mannenji Temple. The historic Wannian Temple is located at the foot of the Guanxin Ridge of Mount Emei and is the largest of the eight major temples in Mount Emei. The ancient trees here are towering, the environment is quiet, and there are many monkeys. Ah Li had long heard of the reputation of the monkeys in Mount Emei, and there was still a trace of worry in his heart before climbing the mountain.Unexpectedly, the monkeys we encountered were still relatively civilized and generally did not take the initiative to approach tourists. They just waited on both sides of the road, eagerly and quietly watching who among the tourists would give them food - whenever they found someone opening their backpack, the monkeys rushed up and took the food from their bags. Our group was lucky, only one person was kidnapped by the monkey and a bag of food was taken, and the rest were unharmed. Everyone went all the way, watching one free performance after another of the monkeys, laughing all the way. The scenic spot also arranges special staff to supervise the monkeys - they hold slingshots, as long as they find that the monkeys are intrusive to tourists, they will roar, pull the slingshot, and the monkeys will run away! So the surrounding tall trees were full of monkeys jumping, and it was very lively!
After visiting Wannian Temple, we came to the White Dragon Cave.
The White Dragon Cave is not a cave, but a temple. Why is it named White Dragon Cave? Legend has it that there was a deep cave behind this temple, in which the White Snake Niangniang practiced human form, and met and fell in love with Xu Xian, who came to Mount Emei to collect herbs. Although the White Snake Lady later left here to follow Xu Xian, went to Hangzhou, and was eventually suppressed by the Fahai monk of Jinshan Temple under the Leifeng Pagoda of West Lake, the White Dragon Cave is famous all over the world. Later generations built a temple here to worship the Bodhisattva, and the name of the temple comes from this legend.
Ah Li has always had a bit of admiration and sympathy for the White Snake Lady: admiring her appearance and sympathizing with her experience! I really wanted to see the place where she practiced, but I was told: The fairy cave where the White Snake Niangniang lived no longer existed - it was probably obscured by mudslides!
Ah Li was a little disappointed, but he was soon fascinated by the alder tree in the yard - the first time Ah Li heard the name alder tree and saw the appearance of the alder tree for the first time.
Thealder tree, known as a living fossil, was one of the staple foods of dinosaurs in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, is the only remaining woody fern today, and is also an endangered plant protected by the national first-class protection. This oak tree in the White Dragon Cave is nearly four hundred years old, and it doesn't look very tall, but it is very beautiful, slim, like an open green umbrella!
After visiting the White Dragon Cave, the tour guide of Mount Emei took us to drink the local alpine green tea, bamboo leaf green tea, just like the tour guide of Leshan. The shopkeeper was as hospitable as the owner of Leshan, not only letting us drink tea for free, but also letting us taste the medicinal wine soaked in a variety of medicinal materials at home for free; Like the shops in Leshan, they also enthusiastically sell the tea and medicinal materials here to us. Of course, just like when drinking tea in Leshan, someone in our group bought these souvenirs.
Ah Li felt that the shopping in this trip to Leshan and Emei Mountain was much more civilized and restrained than the shopping we did on the way back to Chengdu from Jiuzhaigou: to promote specialties in the form of free tea, you can bargain, and you will never force yourself to buy and sell, and it will not take long. The tourist shopping on the Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu line can be said to be simple and crude, even a little barbaric. No wonder CCTV continuously exposed this online shopping shady on November 3 and 4, 2016: "How many rebates can travel agencies get for Jiuzhaigou shopping?" What's even more amazing is that the store openly shows off ......" and "The performance ticket is 280 yuan, and the travel agency has to give 170 yuan!" This rebate table is shocking". I don't know if the tourism and shopping there have changed after CCTV was exposed.
After drinking tea, we began to descend the mountain and soon arrived at the last attraction of our trip - Qingyin Ping Lake.
Qingyin Pinghu, located in Qingyin Pavilion, was built in 2004 and has become one of the new ten scenic spots of Mount Emei. The lakes and mountains here are full of greenery. There is an iron chain bridge crossing the lake, and Ah Li took the last photo of the trip on the bridge, and then rushed to the Wuxiangang parking lot with his group members, ending the entire itinerary of this summer tour to Shudi.
Qingyin Pinghu
Although the 2016 summer tour to Shudi has ended, this trip left good memories for Ah Li, prompting Ah Li to start writing "Impressions of the 2016 Summer Tour of Shu" after returning to Wuhan - although only the first three chapters were written that year. Ah Li also always pays attention to the news of the Shudi scenic spots he has visited.
On August 8, 2017, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Jiuzhaigou County, Sichuan, and the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area was seriously damaged, especially the waterfall that appeared in the opening song of the movie "Journey to the West", Nuorilang Waterfall (the widest waterfall in China), collapsed in the earthquake. The scenic spot was then closed. After two years of reconstruction, part of the landscape of Jiuzhaigou will be reopened to the public from September 27, 2019 (World Tourism Day), and the Nuorilang Waterfall has basically returned to its original appearance.
From October 8, 2018, the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area stopped selling tickets and began to repair the Leshan Giant Buddha. The renovation was completed in April 2019, and the Leshan Giant Buddha changed from a middle-aged man who had experienced vicissitudes to a young man with white skin.
Before the National Day in 2019, the Emei Mountain Scenic Area changed the guardrail of the Golden Dome Sacrifice Cliff to a 1.8-meter-high glass wall to prevent tourists from climbing over.
At the end of January 2020, in order to fight the plague, scenic spots across the country were closed one after another, including Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Leshan Giant Buddha, and Emei Mountain; Nowadays, the epidemic situation in our country has basically been controlled, and scenic spots in various places have been opened one after another, including Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Leshan Giant Buddha, and Emei Mountain.
From June 2016 to June 2020, Ah Li witnessed too much history, witnessed major changes unseen in a century, thoroughly understood the truth of the impermanence of the world, and finally wrote a travelogue about the 2016 summer trip to Shu.
Bless Shudi! Bless the Shu people! (End of full text)
2020, 6, 25
Leshan Giant Buddha before renovation
renovated Leshan Giant Buddha
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