Mount Emei - Sacred Mountain

Mount Emei (Chinese: 峨嵋山; pinyin: Éméi Shān; Wade–Giles: O2-mei2 Shan1, pronounced [ɤ̌měɪ̯ ʂán]) is a mountain in Sichuan province, China. Its name is usually written as "峨眉山" and occasionally "峩嵋山" or "峩眉山" but all three are translated as Mount Emei or Mount Emeishan (a linguistic tautology). The word 峨 can mean "high" or "lofty", but the mountain's name is merely a toponym that carries no additional meaning.

Orographically, Mt. Emei sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin. The mountains west of it are known as Daxiangling. A large surrounding area of countryside is geologically known as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province, a large igneous province generated by the Emeishan Traps volcanic eruptions during the Permian Period. At 3,099 metres (10,167 ft), Mt. Emei is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China.

Administratively, Mt. Emei is located near the county-level city of the same name (Emeishan City), which is in turn part of the prefecture-level city of Leshan. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Indigenous animals

Visitors to Mount Emei will likely see dozens of Tibetan Macaques who can often be viewed taking food from tourists. Local merchants sell nuts for tourists to feed the monkeys. Some monkeys may be seen eating human food such as potato chips and even drinking soda from discarded bottles.

The Emei Shan Liocichla, a passerine bird, as well as the Emei Music Frog, a vocal frog, are named after the site.

Flora

Mount Emei is known for its high level of endemism and approximately 200 plant species in various plant families have been described from this mountain.

Sacred mountain

Mount Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, and is traditionally regarded as the bodhimaṇḍa, or place of enlightenment, of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra is known in Mandarin as Pǔxián Púsà (普賢菩薩).

16th and 17th century sources allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.

Buddhist architecture on Emei

This is the location of the first Buddhist temple built in China in the 1st century CE. The site has seventy-six Buddhist monasteries of the Ming and Qing period, most of them located near the mountain top. The monasteries demonstrate a flexible architectural style that adapts to the landscape. Some, such as the halls of Baoguosi, are built on terraces of varying levels, while others, including the structures of Leiyinsi, are on raised stilts. Here the fixed plans of Buddhist monasteries of earlier periods were modified or ignored in order to make full use of the natural scenery. The buildings of Qingyinge are laid out in an irregular plot on the narrow piece of land between the Black Dragon River and the White Dragon River. The site is large and the winding foot path is 50 km (31 mi), taking several days to walk.

Cable cars ease the ascent to the two temples at Jinding (3,077 m), an hour's hike from the mountain's peak. 

Great spectacles of Mount Emei include the sunrise and Clouds Sea seen from the Golden Summit of the mountain.

The sunrise is very varied, but optimally begins with the ground and sky being in the same dark purple, soon showing rosy clouds, followed by a bright purple arc and then a semicircle where the sun is coming up.

The Clouds Sea includes several cloud phenomena, e.g. clouds appearing in the sky above, in addition to the regular clouds beneath.

Climate

The summit of Mount Emei has an alpine subarctic climate, with long, cold (but not severely so) winters, and short, cool summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −5.7 °C (21.7 °F) in January to 11.6 °C (52.9 °F), and the annual mean is 3.07 °C (37.5 °F). Precipitation is common year-round (occurring on more than 250 days), but due to the influence of the monsoon, rainfall is especially heavy in summer, and more than 70% of the annual total occurs from June to September.

Baoguo Temple

Close to the foot of Mount Emei, Emeishan, Sichuan province China is an old monastery known as Baoguo Temple

Baoguo Temple was originally called Huizong Hall when it was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644), and was later renamed Baoguo Temple (报国寺) by Kangxi Emperor (康熙皇帝) in the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912). To this day, in fact, you can still find the horizontal nameplate on the mountain gate with "The Bao Guo Temple" personally written by Kangxi. Of all the various temples on Mount Emei today, Baoguo Temple is the the oldest and serves as the center for many Buddhist festivals every year. A magnet for devout Buddhists and interested travelers, Baoguo Temple is the first structure that visitors happen upon and is considered the gate to Mount Emei.

Taking advantage of the Mount Emei's geography, Baoguo Temple was built with four buildings leaning towards the mountain face, each one taller than the next. In addition, to the exquisite temple structures, the china Buddha sculpture under the sutra depository sits with a graceful posture and the expert craftsmanship of the sculpture can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty!


In the front hall is a 7 meter (23 feet) high purple copper tower, which has fourteen levels and more than 4,700 Buddhist figures cast on its body. Walking through the gate of the Baoguo Temple, you’ll find a newly built pavilion by where the large Ming Dynasty bell hangs.  The bell is 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) high and weighs more than 10 tons (22,040 pounds). Upon being struck, it can be heard far and wide across the tranquil mountain landscape, creating a peaceful, cleansing Buddhist atmosphere.

Bungamati, Nepal

10km south of Kathmandu stands a small village called Bungamati where hundreds of master wood carvers and sculpture producers live and work. Visitors often encounter the smiling teeth and welcoming hand of artisans working in their houses, offering their artifacts. Regardless of the rapid changes in lifestyle of the urban population and the globalized way of living, the Bungamati locals have remained untouched by modern waves and are living the simple, rural life that they know best.

Visiting there in the late afternoon when the light is soft and subdued is best for photography and the locals are generally very amenable for portraits to be taken as they work on their weaving or wood carvings. There is also the Temple of Macchindranath in the centre of the village which provides a central focus.