Stunning Emei Shan (峨嵋山) And Meeting Mr Big Guy in Leshan (樂山大佛)
Posted On Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at at 7:58 PM by Alvin
Ding Ding ! The Main Event of this trip - Climbing Emei Shan (峨嵋山) and visiting Leshan Big Buddha (樂山大佛) ! We hit Emei Shan City (峨嵋山市) around 7P.M. in time for another ass-kicking chili hot dinner and Paulette went out to the city to buy some worshipping incense afterwards. The sky opened on us and Emei was in its customary rain-soaked glory with atmospheric lingering mists and thus giving an overall pristine impression. On the first day, we warmed up our limbs with a gentle 4 hours' hike up to 萬年寺, 清音閣, 神水閣 and 純陽殿. Along the way, we were ATTACKED by the famous Emei monkeys, Paulette had her water bottle taken, I was bitten three times (no damage done - must have been my tough skin or something...) and Mandy had her wet tissues mistakened as biscuits and these human close relatives just snatched at them within half a second. So, thankfully my nuts remained intact and their ploy of 猴子偷桃 unsuccessful. Meanwhile, we saw passers-by in even worse dilemma - the monkeys climbed all over their heads (think woolly hats) and licked their faces (think face masks), probably because they forgot to wipe clean their mouth after lunch - 有驚無險 - take a look at the photo below when Paulette was cornered by the group's alpha-male !
Having dealt with our close relatives, we moved on to the Summit the next day - Jinding (金頂) and one could never predict the weather when hiking in the Chinese mountains - after taking the bus up Emei for 1.5 hours and hiking up a further 1 hour in the wet fog and slippery moss, we were rewarded at 3,500 metres by an impossibly cloudless blue sky and the Emei Summit (峨嵋金頂) shone in the glorious midday sun and we could see below us endless sea of clouds (雲海) and snow-capped mountains in the distant - what a stunner !
With aching limbs, we boarded the bus for Leshan (樂山) the following day and, as always, I felt calmed, soothed and pleasant to meet Mr Big Guy - the famous Leshan Big Buddha (樂山大佛). The coy, all-knowing smile of The Big Buddha would be a lasting impression after this visit. See if you would agree ?
With aching limbs, we boarded the bus for Leshan (樂山) the following day and, as always, I felt calmed, soothed and pleasant to meet Mr Big Guy - the famous Leshan Big Buddha (樂山大佛). The coy, all-knowing smile of The Big Buddha would be a lasting impression after this visit. See if you would agree ?
Ancient Shu Civilisation (古蜀文明) - 三星堆 And 金沙遺址
Posted On Saturday, November 26, 2011 at at 6:13 PM by Alvin
Some 4,000 years ago, these dudes settled along the fertile Upper Yangtse River near Chengdu and gave rise to the ancient Shu Civilisation (古蜀文明) - a third pillar in piecing up the ancient Chinese culture along with the Huang He (黃河文明) and Yangtse River (長江文明) civilisations. It was only in the past 20 years that precious artifacts were dug up near Chengdu at the sites of 三星堆 and 金沙遺址 which revealed the depth and sophistication of the Shu culture. The most famous of these artifacts included The Gold Masks, The Sun Bird, The Bronze Head Pieces and numerous ivory tusks, religious sites and city walls. The ancient Shu peoples were sun devotees, had a penchant for dedicating tusks to their religion and enjoyed their alcohol - their downfall remained a mystery, perhaps due to the fact that they did not have writing skills. Nevertheless, staring face to face with these intriguing statues and masks, one seemed to hear the muted voices from these peoples of the distant past. BTW, the Sun Bird (太陽神鳥) had been used as the official logo of Chinese Cultural Heritage (中國文化遺產標誌) - neat !
Chengdu (成都) - laid-back Pandas, quaint Taoist Mountains (青城山) and Ancient Flood Bypass (都江堰)
Posted On Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at at 9:54 PM by Alvin
Shaped like a giant bowl and located on the mid-western edge of China, Sichuan (四川) Province offered endless travelling opportunities. My sister, Paulette joined us for this trip and she left Sichuan with interesting memories (attacks by forest monkeys etc.) as well as sore limbs aplenty ! We landed in the laid-back provincial capital Chengdu (成都) and went to see the even more laid-back giant pandas at the Chengdu Panda Base (成都大熊貓繁育研究基地). Basically these black and white cuddlies did nothing all day other than eat bamboos and roll around looking cute - not even bothering to pose for us. We spent a good part of a day staring at them chilling-out, hanging off tree branches and munching away, that made us feel pretty laid-back too.
Chengdu had numerous temples and old quarters that kept us busy; it was worth our while to check out 錦里, 寬窄巷子, 武候祠, 青羊宮 and we strolled along the peaceful river of Jinjiang (錦江) after stuffing ourselves with the famous mouth-watering and ass-kicking spicy hot Sichuan dishes (川菜). The next few days, we ventured further afield about 50km from Chengdu, to the UNESCO sites of the Taoist Mountains (青城山) and the ancient flood controlling bypass (都江堰). What's the big deal about a few canals, one might ask; basically 2,500 years ago, this dude called Li (李冰) had the bright idea of constructing a bypass to manage the frequent floods (without the use of a water dam) as well as provide irrigation to the farmlands of Chengdu and the bypass had functioned and benefited the locals till today. The mountains of 青城山 were studded with quaint Taoist Temples of 上清宫, 老君閣 and the spooky caves of 天師洞, 朝陽洞. We spent two nights at the foot of 青城山 and felt energised by the cool fresh mountain air.
Jewels In The Arabian Desert !
Posted On Thursday, September 29, 2011 at at 12:16 AM by Alvin
Modern Metrotropolis In The Land Of Sand And Oil - Dubai, Abu Dhabi And Al Ain
Posted On Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at at 12:47 AM by Alvin
Flying over the Persian Gulf from Shiraz to Dubai took just over an hour, but the modernity of Dubai was a world apart from the historical Iran where we had spent the previous un-forgettable two weeks ! Oven level temperatures greeted us at the Dubai Airport Arrivals but we soon settled down for the night - both feeling a natural "high" in spirit, from having visited the lands of ancient Persia. Little did we expect, our "high" spirit was to last a further three days in the United Arab Emirates as we marvelled at how man-made modernity overcame the inhospitable lands. Everywhere we went : we were soothed by the ever-present air-conditioning (even the road-side bus stops had air-con); we were impressed by the mile-high skyscrapers (Burj Al Khalifa being the tallest in the world); we were transported around the city by the efficient and comfortable Metro - what an impressive city ! We visited the souks by Dubai Creek and the huge shopping malls Dubai Mall (with an in-built floor to floor aquarium !) and Mall of The Emirates and they could easily each have taken 5 hours to explore.
The next day, we took a 2 hours' bus to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and we were made speechless by the opulence of the mosque as it was covered in precious stones, white marbles, colorful sparkling chandeliers and giant end-to-end Persian carpets ! Our trip to the Al Ain date palm oasis 2 hours from Dubai, gave us a better and more complete picture of the U.A.E. and we were mighty impressed as we made our way home after this journey.
