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Posted On Saturday, September 14, 2013 at
at
9:01 PM
by Alvin
Visiting the UNESCO lauded Wu Tai Shan - Five Terrace Mountains (五台山) gave us a whole new meaning and definition of being "templed out" ! Located at an elevation of over 3,000 meters, Wu Tai Town and its surrounding spectacular mountains as well as over 40 temples and monasteries, warranted a busy 4-days stay. Wu Tai had been a Buddhist sacred ground for over 1,500 years and in particular the most important aspect had been the co-existence of Chinese (漢傳佛教) and Tibetan
(藏傳佛教) Buddhism being practised side-by-side amongst these temples. The
dizzying journey from Da Tong took 6 hours as we climbed and snaked
around the beautiful Shanxi (山西) back country roads. When we left Da Tong (大同), it was
a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius but when we reached Wu Tai Town, the
temperature dropped to a just-bearable 10 degrees Celsius. Luckily
during the day the sun shone brightly and warmth soon returned for our
visits to these stunning temples.
The temples were beautifully constructed and decorated with characteristic Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian scripts and the number of worshippers was thankfully low as we picked mid-week to visit the site. Of note, we visited and paid our respects at the temples of 塔院寺, 菩薩頂, 吉祥寺, 獅子窩, 鎮海寺, 白雲寺, 金閣寺, 瑞應寺, 楓林寺 ... Phew ! And we marveled at the different religious presentations and statues at each and every turn. We then spent the next two days carrying out our mega-hikes around the five terrace peaks. We passed numerous Chinese and Tibetan builders and painters hard-at-work in temple renovation and restoration, sleepy villages set amongst the Autumn colorful patchwork of gold, red, and olive green and responsible monks guarding rarely-visited temples. We felt a good vibe spending these few days in these pleasant surroundings and at the same time felt enlightened in absorbing the spiritual atmosphere of these sacred mountains - really felt serene and hassle-free. A BIG Thank-You to Wu Tai Shan !
Posted On Saturday, September 7, 2013 at
at
11:40 PM
by Alvin
A couple of pleasant bus journeys lasting 7 hours, took us away from Ping Yao (平遙古城) in the south, to Da Tong (大同) in the north of Shanxi Province (山西) via the provincial capital of Tai Yuan (太原). The main trunk road linking the south and north of Shanxi was dotted with many worth-while destinations such as Wu Tai Shan (五台山), glacial caves, picturesque mountains and countless ancient cities. But for now, we were satisfied in heading to Da Tong - being once the capital of Northern China around 400 A.D. during the Wei Dynasty (魏晋南北朝) era, Da Tong had a great deal of ancient artifacts including a series of imposing fortress walls, a majestic grand mosque as well as countless Buddhist and Taoist temples of royal heritage. We based ourselves here for an enjoyable three days when we visited the stunning Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes (雲岡石窟), the Taoist mountain of 恒山 as well as a lazy look-around of the ancient city. We stayed right by the Da Tong train station and we watched with amusement the changing-of-lights (green-blue-red-purple-yellow) of the train station at night (a photo attached below).
Of particular note was the series of Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes, located 16km from Da Tong - beautifully constructed, chiseled, moulded and painted, The Great Buddha appeared in more than 50,000 stunning presentations, all with different postures and expressions (but always kind and generous with that familiar knowing smile, of course) in over 50 grottoes; now that was a lot of hard work ! We casually spent over 5 hours at the site, peering, wowing and oo-ing over the fantastically constructed figures and statues, it was a most satisfying visit. Back in Da Tong proper, we visited numerous temples including 華嚴寺 and 九龍壁 as well as a long walk around the giant city walls, now almost completely being renovated. Da Tong turned out to be much more interesting than we had first anticipated, both historically as well as a relaxing destination.
Posted On Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at
at
2:24 AM
by Alvin
An ambitious bus journey to reach the famous Yellow River Hu Kou Waterfall (黃河壺口瀑布) from Shannxi (陕西) Province to Shanxi (山西) Province paid off as we arrived near 7P.M., having flown in to Xian (西安) from Shenzhen (深圳) in the early morning - the only brief detour was an electric tri-cycle journey across the busy Xian city traffic. We could hear the faint rumbles of the mighty waterfall at a distance where we stayed about 3km away. After a brisk walk in the morning towards the waterfall, Hu Kou did not disappoint and well worth our effort in getting here. The Yellow River took its time in getting here from the plateaus in Qing Hai (青海) Province and with the rock formation shaping up like a massive water jug, the muddy river, with its precious life-giving minerals just plunged down a gaping gap of about 20 meters in width. The effect was spectacular but be warned, getting too close would have your clothes ended up with muddy brown patches ! Also, from our experience, the Shanxi side was the side to be, to view the waterfall at its full glory !
Having experienced a natural "high" from the little adventure (and from the negative ions) at the waterfall, we hopped on a shared mini-bus and made our way towards Ping Yao (平遙) via a series of towns in Shanxi - 吉縣 and then 臨汾. The UNESCO lauded walled-city of Ping Yao was first populated about 2,700 years ago and developed into its present form over numerous generations. It was once a major financial centre in the Qing Dynasty (清朝) - think Wall Street, Western Union and SFC, then you would get the idea. We strolled the pleasant alleys as well as the main thoroghfares amongst the throngs of petite residence-cum-hotels (客棧) and well-stocked shops. The town was well-maintained insofar as tourist souvenirs shops were concerned - they mainly sold what they had been selling long ago - barber shops, noodles joints, Chinese stationery outlets, toy shops; not a Starbucks to be found anywhere, thank goodness ! Overall, Ping Yao did maintain the atmosphere that you were transported back in time to an ancient county town - you could easily imagine that you rode into town on your horseback !
Visiting the UNESCO lauded Wu Tai Shan - Five Terrace Mountains (五台山) gave us a whole new meaning and definition of being "templed out" ! Located at an elevation of over 3,000 meters, Wu Tai Town and its surrounding spectacular mountains as well as over 40 temples and monasteries, warranted a busy 4-days stay. Wu Tai had been a Buddhist sacred ground for over 1,500 years and in particular the most important aspect had been the co-existence of Chinese (漢傳佛教) and Tibetan
(藏傳佛教) Buddhism being practised side-by-side amongst these temples. The
dizzying journey from Da Tong took 6 hours as we climbed and snaked
around the beautiful Shanxi (山西) back country roads. When we left Da Tong (大同), it was
a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius but when we reached Wu Tai Town, the
temperature dropped to a just-bearable 10 degrees Celsius. Luckily
during the day the sun shone brightly and warmth soon returned for our
visits to these stunning temples.
The temples were beautifully constructed and decorated with characteristic Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian scripts and the number of worshippers was thankfully low as we picked mid-week to visit the site. Of note, we visited and paid our respects at the temples of 塔院寺, 菩薩頂, 吉祥寺, 獅子窩, 鎮海寺, 白雲寺, 金閣寺, 瑞應寺, 楓林寺 ... Phew ! And we marveled at the different religious presentations and statues at each and every turn. We then spent the next two days carrying out our mega-hikes around the five terrace peaks. We passed numerous Chinese and Tibetan builders and painters hard-at-work in temple renovation and restoration, sleepy villages set amongst the Autumn colorful patchwork of gold, red, and olive green and responsible monks guarding rarely-visited temples. We felt a good vibe spending these few days in these pleasant surroundings and at the same time felt enlightened in absorbing the spiritual atmosphere of these sacred mountains - really felt serene and hassle-free. A BIG Thank-You to Wu Tai Shan !
A couple of pleasant bus journeys lasting 7 hours, took us away from Ping Yao (平遙古城) in the south, to Da Tong (大同) in the north of Shanxi Province (山西) via the provincial capital of Tai Yuan (太原). The main trunk road linking the south and north of Shanxi was dotted with many worth-while destinations such as Wu Tai Shan (五台山), glacial caves, picturesque mountains and countless ancient cities. But for now, we were satisfied in heading to Da Tong - being once the capital of Northern China around 400 A.D. during the Wei Dynasty (魏晋南北朝) era, Da Tong had a great deal of ancient artifacts including a series of imposing fortress walls, a majestic grand mosque as well as countless Buddhist and Taoist temples of royal heritage. We based ourselves here for an enjoyable three days when we visited the stunning Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes (雲岡石窟), the Taoist mountain of 恒山 as well as a lazy look-around of the ancient city. We stayed right by the Da Tong train station and we watched with amusement the changing-of-lights (green-blue-red-purple-yellow) of the train station at night (a photo attached below).
Of particular note was the series of Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes, located 16km from Da Tong - beautifully constructed, chiseled, moulded and painted, The Great Buddha appeared in more than 50,000 stunning presentations, all with different postures and expressions (but always kind and generous with that familiar knowing smile, of course) in over 50 grottoes; now that was a lot of hard work ! We casually spent over 5 hours at the site, peering, wowing and oo-ing over the fantastically constructed figures and statues, it was a most satisfying visit. Back in Da Tong proper, we visited numerous temples including 華嚴寺 and 九龍壁 as well as a long walk around the giant city walls, now almost completely being renovated. Da Tong turned out to be much more interesting than we had first anticipated, both historically as well as a relaxing destination.
An ambitious bus journey to reach the famous Yellow River Hu Kou Waterfall (黃河壺口瀑布) from Shannxi (陕西) Province to Shanxi (山西) Province paid off as we arrived near 7P.M., having flown in to Xian (西安) from Shenzhen (深圳) in the early morning - the only brief detour was an electric tri-cycle journey across the busy Xian city traffic. We could hear the faint rumbles of the mighty waterfall at a distance where we stayed about 3km away. After a brisk walk in the morning towards the waterfall, Hu Kou did not disappoint and well worth our effort in getting here. The Yellow River took its time in getting here from the plateaus in Qing Hai (青海) Province and with the rock formation shaping up like a massive water jug, the muddy river, with its precious life-giving minerals just plunged down a gaping gap of about 20 meters in width. The effect was spectacular but be warned, getting too close would have your clothes ended up with muddy brown patches ! Also, from our experience, the Shanxi side was the side to be, to view the waterfall at its full glory !
Having experienced a natural "high" from the little adventure (and from the negative ions) at the waterfall, we hopped on a shared mini-bus and made our way towards Ping Yao (平遙) via a series of towns in Shanxi - 吉縣 and then 臨汾. The UNESCO lauded walled-city of Ping Yao was first populated about 2,700 years ago and developed into its present form over numerous generations. It was once a major financial centre in the Qing Dynasty (清朝) - think Wall Street, Western Union and SFC, then you would get the idea. We strolled the pleasant alleys as well as the main thoroghfares amongst the throngs of petite residence-cum-hotels (客棧) and well-stocked shops. The town was well-maintained insofar as tourist souvenirs shops were concerned - they mainly sold what they had been selling long ago - barber shops, noodles joints, Chinese stationery outlets, toy shops; not a Starbucks to be found anywhere, thank goodness ! Overall, Ping Yao did maintain the atmosphere that you were transported back in time to an ancient county town - you could easily imagine that you rode into town on your horseback !
