Sacred mountain of wonders

Mount Emei is home to about 30 monasteries, and during tourist seasons it reminds Buddhists of the humdrum routine of human existence.[Photo by Wu Jian / For China Daily]

Mount Emei is at its best during summer and autumn, but you can also visit the scenic spot during spring or winter to witness its four natural phenomena.

Mount Emei, 127 km from Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, is one of Buddhism's four sacred mountains in China; the others are Wutai in Shanxi province, Jiuhua in Anhui province and Putuo in Zhejiang province. Buddhism reached the mountain about 2,000 years ago, and Mount Emei, with its approximately 30 monasteries, is a pilgrimage for Buddhists today.

The 1,612-year-old Wannian Temple, which is 1,020 meters above the sea level, is the oldest temple on the mountain. The mountain's patron, Bodhisattva Puxian (or Samantabhadra), is worshipped in the most sacred building on Mount Emei, a square brick hall topped with a stupa-like dome. The hall is made totally of bricks and stones, and houses a magnificent bronze statue of Puxian and his mount, a six-tusked elephant with its feet resting on lotuses.

Wannian Temple has been ravaged by at least three big fires since Puxuan's statue, one of Emei's best-known, was installed there in the 10th century. But the fires didn't cause any harm to the 62-ton statue.

During my recent visit to Mount Emei, I saw scores of Buddhists from Jiaxing in Zhejiang kneeling in front of the temple and reading scriptures advocating love for all living beings. Taking a clue from the Buddha's teachings, I shifted my gaze from humans to other living beings and was enraptured by the beauty of a rare species of frog and two monkeys.

The Wannian Temple and its surroundings are home to a rare kind of frog whose croaks sound like the notes of a zither. According to local legend, four beautiful fairies drawn to the temple by the enlightening preachings of an eminent monk were later transformed into the frogs. I was lucky enough to hear the frogs "singing" in a pond full of lotus blossoms.

Just as I was about to leave, two monkeys appeared on the roof of a building opposite the pond to the vociferous "welcome" of tourists and clicking of their cameras. But since the jumping monkeys were breaking the roofing tiles, the house owner drove them away with a long bamboo pole.

Monkeys on Mount Emei are also known to have robbed tourists of their food. That's why locals often advise visitors to show their empty palms to the simians to avoid being attacked. But most tourists prefer to offer food to the lively creatures.

Emei is a poetic term for "beautiful women" in Chinese. Spread over 154 square kilometers, Mount Emei, included in the UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage List in 1996, offers a panoramic view of the landscape throughout the year. In spring, its azaleas are brilliantly red. In summer, its lush green trees and grass give it a verdant look. In autumn, the mountain is a riot of colors, the green, yellow, orange and red of the trees mingling with the blue of the sky. And in winter, the mountain becomes a white wonderland, with the ancient temples, trees and mountain slopes covered in snow.

"Snow usually lasts until April," says Wang Yu, a visitor. But since winter offers more clear days, it is the best season to see the "Buddha's Halo", the mountain's most celebrated natural phenomenon.

But only the lucky few can see the "Buddha's Halo" (rainbow-like rings that surround and move with your shadow) against the background of the Golden Summit which is 3,077 meters above the sea level. It is said that in the past, devoted Buddhists assumed the phenomenon was a call from beyond and jumped off the Cliff of Self-Sacrifice on the Golden Summit.

Believers may no longer be jumping off the cliff at the sight of the "halo", but even non-believers consider it a blessing to see one.

Be informed, though, that despite travel guides claiming that one can see all the four wonders — "Buddha's Halo", Sea of Clouds, the Holy Lamp (or Divine Lights) and the Golden Summit Sunrise — during a single visit to Emei, it is rarely possible. But even if you witness one or two of the four, consider your trip a grand success.

And since no tour is complete without food, don't forget to enjoy a meal of bamboo shoots, bean curd and vegetables on Emei. Food on Emei is a vegetarian affair.

But "for 30 yuan ($4.80), one can eat 'fish' made from potatoes and 'meat' made from wax gourd in the temples, including Wannian," says Liu Jinghua, a waiter in the vegetarian restaurant in a Wannian Temple.