Scaling Mystical Peaks in Search of the Sun

Burning Incense at Baoguo Temple, one of many Buddhist temples on Mt Emei, one of four holy Buddhist mountains in China
see all photos »

Mount Emei [Emei Shan in Chinese] is 3099m high, and of the four holy Buddhist mountains in China.

After arriving in Emei we grabbed a taxi for the 5 minute ride to Baoguo Village at the foot of the mountain, and checked into our hotel [see seperate review].  With the few short hours of daylight left to us we explored a few of the sights nearest to the hotel [as suggested by both the staff and our guidebook] - including the Mt. Emei entrance pagoda and waterfall, the Declare Nation Temple [where we met up with Patrick, a guide mentioned in the Lonely Planet, who gave us a ton of good advice and tea from his farm], and the Fuhu [Crouching Tiger] Monastery where we spent some time exploring and lighting incense [the smoke carries your prayers to the gods] and candles.

Two female Buddhist monks climbing up the stairs to their temple - Fuhu (Crouching Tiger) Monastery
see all photos »

An important side note here, before getting to the hike up Emei Shan itself:  the Lonely Planet Guide Book for this part of Sichuan is VERY inaccurate and [despite our edition having been printed in March 2007] would seem to have been researched a LONG time ago.  Most notable amongst the errors is the advice to catch a bus at 03:30 up Emei Shan - this service stopped operating more than 5 years ago which makes planning your hike and your overnight accommodation much harder!!  Essentially, unless you are SUPER fit, you should plan on taking a full 3 days to hike up and down the whole route - spending 2 nights on the mountain in monasteries or other accommodation.  Even if you 'cheat' a little like we did, hiking up only partway and using bus and cable-car too - count on at least 2 days and 1 night.  Ask for advice from the Teddy Bear Hostel staff - they know what they are talking about!

Rob lighting incense
see all photos »

What follows was our route, and our experience of hiking Emei Shan:  we woke in time to catch the first bus to Wuxiangang [departed Baoguo Village at 7am] which is at about 700m, where we bought our 2-day entry tickets for the mountain and started hiking at about 07:30.  It was very misty and very humid - with sweat pouring off us in just the first few steps.  Along the route you pass vendors and stalls [not open so early] and some of the most incredible lakes with piercingly emerald coloured waters.  We were also amazed by the men, and some women, who carry huge stone slabs of more than 30kg's each up the trails on their backs for the ongoing construction further uphill!

Lotus shaped candles at Fuhu Monastery
see all photos »

Other scenic highlights included the Ox Heart [an ancient stone vaguely shaped liked one], the Pure Sound Pavillion [Qingyin Monastery], and Wannian [Long Life] Monastery - the oldest surviving one on the mountain, where we rubbed the hind leg of the famous white elephant for good luck.  This initial hiking leg was brilliant - the swirling mists and the brooding peaks make for the most fantastic setting.  The one slight drawback is the hordes or local tour groups who come pouring down the steps - but take heart since they religiously avoid the more physically taxing upper regions.  The section from Wuxiangang to Wannian Monastery took us about 1.5 hours - stopping liberally for pictures, snack breaks at the local stalls, and breathers.

The Gold Pagoda at the entrance to Mt Emei at nighttime
see all photos »

We then cheated a little - by taking the cable car down the mountain to Jing Shui (about 5 minutes by cable car but a good hour on foot) where we then caught a bus up to Jieyin Dian (Jieyin Palace) at 2540 metres.  After a brief walk in the mists we reached the second cable car station and rode that to the summit - where there were a LOT more people.  The Golden Summit Temple and the massive golden Buddhist statue are really impressive - but it was clear to us that the weather was not going to cooperate and that the clouds were not clearing any time soon.  We took a gamble (which turned out to be wise) that it would be equally clouded the following morning and that without much hope of seeing one of the famous Emei sunrises it would be pointless to pay the outrageous prices to stay in a hotel at the top.  Instead we decided to start the descent and find a more reasonable place further down.  It should be noted here that we were told by most locals who climb the mountain that you usually see a sunrise only about 1 out of every 8 climbs - so don`t make this your only reason for the hike!

Early the next morning: our hike begins at Wuxiangang!!!
see all photos »

At 3077m your breathing is not as easy, a fact we discovered walking down the last section that we had skipped on the second cable car ride, which we started at about 14:00.  It is VERY steep - and the steps are designed for small Chinese feet - so take your time, hold the handrails, use a walking stick and don`t fall!  Some people advice you to stay near the summit and walk this last section at 4am to get up for the sunrise - take it from us it would be near suicide in the dark with only a flashlight for guidance. Back at Jieyin Palace (about an hour and a half later) we started the walk to the Elephant Bathing Pools Monastery (the actual pools are rather unimpressive so don't waste time there) which was quite a smelly area but did introduce us to our first troop of mountain monkeys (very famous in the area - and quite fearless).  The entire descent is made up of stairs - but not all downhill since you wind your way around the gorges - about 70% down and 30% uphill - after another 2.5 hours we were quite exhausted.  We missed the turnoff to Magic Peak Monastery and ended up at Huayan Peak - about 2km out of our way.  Since it was getting dark and we were bushed we decided to stay the night - what a good decision!

At 7:30 in the morning the atmosphere is breath-taking!
see all photos »

The accommodation was very cheap (we bargained them down to 70 Yuan for a double room) - and very basic:  no showers (you use a plastic bucket with warm water in your room to sponge bath on the concrete floor) and a long-drop toilet that was, bar none, the worst of our trip thus far.  The room was filled with moths, the kitchen had no meat (although the veggies they cooked were excellent) but it was bliss to get some sleep and rest our tired muscles.

The next morning, bright and early, we headed back the 2km, found our path, and started back downhill.  It was VERY misty - in fact it was downright eerie at times - but so beautiful with numerous waterfalls and streams, a smattering a monasteries and food stalls, and some very real rainforest conditions.  It took another 2 hours to reach Magic Peak (Xianfeng) Monastery - so it was just as well we didn't try it at night, tired and in the dark - since these steps were some of the steepest of the hike.  The monastery itself was not one of the best - quite dirty and full of mosquitoes, so again a good reason to stay at Huayan Peak.  It did have a lot of monkeys though - and monks!!

Eerie images at Tong Long Dam
see all photos »

Another 2 hours later - at around 10:45 - we finally reached Venerable Trees Terrace - where the guide book had suggested we spend the night.  There is NO way we could have made it this far in the dark.  It is, however, a very pleasant monastery and has some amazing scenery.  After stopping some local kids teasing and abusing the monkeys we stopped at the Hard Wok Cafe for lunch (just beyond Venerable Trees Terrace) - excellent food although comparatively very expensive for Emei.  From there, in the company of the only 2 other Western tourists we saw the entire time we hiked (welcome to the Blog Susan from Sweden),  it was a relatively easy last 1.5 hours down through the Joking Monkey Zone (heavily touristed with local tour bus groups to see the hundreds of furry attractions in the river gorges) and finally back to Qinyin Monastery (Pure Sound Pavillion).  Drenched in sweat and very tired we stumbled the last 20 minutes back down to Wuxiangang from where we caught the next bus back to Baoguo Village, the Teddy Bear Hotel, and our very welcome beds and showers.

The mist never really disappeared...
see all photos »

All things considered the hike was one of the most difficult but rewarding things we have done on the trip.  We walked down more than 15 000 steps - and our legs were jelly by the end - but the experience was truly magical and one we highly recommend.