Mt Emei

Mt Emei is a world heritage listed Mountain range just one hours drive from Leshan and about 1.5 hours from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. The mountan has been set up to recieve many thousands of visitors, and reminds me of a western snow village. Mini buses can run you up the mountain but there are also walking tours through the range. The countyside is enchanting, with thickets of bamboo and subtropical plant species clinging to the mostly steep mountain cliff faces. There are a range of stop over points all the way up the mountain, with a variety of temples to visit. The Buguong Temple is particlarly beautiful and is an operating temple. You can stay a while and see the monks chanting and praying and many people are gong there to burn candles and pray at the foot of the Buddha. Also nearby is the verey impressive interpretive centre in which you can see the huge rqange of plants and animls live on the range, including pandas. After an hour or so wandering in the centre, we were able to walk up the mountain and on the pathway are mountain monkeys that people stop and feed. In winter snow speckles their coats and they are very attractive. The pathway to the very top is lined with little stalls selling artifacts, and the walking stick really helped to make the walk easier. Once at the top is another temple, but it is very quiet and the chairlift was not operating the day we were there. As it was quite overcast, it did not worry me as the view would have been restricted. With a good guide one could easily spend a week exploring this fascnating mountan range.