Emeishan is in Sichuan, in Southwest China.
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Sichuan · City Guide
Emeishan, Where a Pilgrim Path Climbs Above the Clouds.
Overview
Why Go
The old pilgrim route climbs from about 500 metres at Baoguo Temple to 3,079 at the summit, almost all of it on stone steps through temples. Walking it takes two days. Buses and a cable car now cover the same ground in hours.
Wannian Temple holds a gilt bronze of Samantabhadra on a six-tusked elephant, cast in 980 and standing about 7.85 metres. It weighs around 62 tonnes and it has never left the brick hall built around it, which survived when the timber halls burned.
Tibetan macaques live along the path between Qingyin and Leidongping and have learned that bags contain food. They pull at straps and open zips. Rangers sell sticks at the entry points, which tells visitors how the interaction usually goes.
Emei is one of the three schools Chinese martial arts conventionally names alongside Shaolin and Wudang. Its forms are taught at schools around Baoguo Temple and short sessions are open to visitors.
The valley floor is warm and green while the top carries snow and rime from November into spring. Crampons are rented at Leidongping in winter because the last stretch ices, and the cloud sea sits below the summit rather than above it.
See
A gilded Samantabhadra of ten faces on the summit platform at 3,079 metres, with a temple behind it. Sunrise, the cloud sea and the occasional optical halo called Buddha's light are what people come up for. It is cold at any time of year.
A temple at about 1,000 metres whose domed brick hall of 1601 houses the Song bronze. The hall has no timber in its structure, which is why it stands. A cable car reaches it from the road, or it is an hour's climb from Qingyin.
Where two streams meet under twin stone bridges below a small temple, and the place many walkers stop on the way up. The gorge path above it, the One-Line Sky, is a narrow cleft with water running through.
A stretch of path around Yixiantian and above where the macaque bands live. Keep food out of sight, carry nothing loose, and do not hold a bag between visitors and a monkey. Rangers are stationed at the busier points.
The temple at the foot of the mountain and the start of the walking route, with four courtyards up a gentle slope and a large bell in the pavilion above. Many people stay in the town beside it the night before going up.
The bus terminus at about 2,400 metres, where the cable car to the summit starts. In winter the ground is snow from here up and crampons are rented at the stalls. The walk to the cable car takes twenty cold minutes.
On the Map
Approximate locations of the attractions above, across Emeishan.
Eat
A flat green tea picked on the lower mountain before Qingming, with needle-shaped leaves that stand upright in a glass. It is the tea much of Sichuan drinks at home and it is grown on these slopes.
Konjac frozen on the mountain and then thawed, which opens it into a sponge that soaks up stock. It is a monastery food that became a local speciality, usually braised with chilli and often served as the vegetarian centrepiece.
Soft beancurd in a thickened savoury broth with minced meat, peanuts, pickle and chilli oil, more like a stew than the plain southern version. It is the standard breakfast in the town below the mountain.
Cooked skewers left to steep in a cold chilli and sesame oil, taken from a big ceramic pot and paid for by the stick. Leshan claims the dish and the town at the foot of the mountain sells it everywhere.
Do
Baoguo to Qingyin to Xixiangchi to the summit, sleeping at a monastery guesthouse on the way. It is a long staircase rather than a technical climb, and the temples on the route are the reason to do it on foot instead of by bus.
Stay at the summit hotel or take the opening cable car up. Padded coats are rented at the top and visitors will want one even in July. The cloud sea is common; Buddha's light needs sun behind visitors and cloud below, and it is not.
Carry nothing edible where it can be seen, keep bags closed and in front of visitors, and do not pull back if one grabs a strap. If visitors are scratched or bitten, go down and get it treated the same day; rabies prophylaxis is available in the town.
Schools around Baoguo run hour-long and day-long sessions for visitors, usually starting with stance and a short hand form. It is taught as exercise rather than combat, and no previous training is assumed.
When
Green below, clear above, and tea picking on the lower slopes. The ideal window, and the cloud sea is at its many reliable.
Wet and the domestic peak, with the summit often inside the cloud rather than above it. The mountain is cool, which is why Sichuan comes anyway.
Dry and clear with colour in the mid-mountain forest. The other good window; avoid the opening week of October entirely.
Snow and rime above Leidongping, with crampons rented at the terminus and parts of the walking route closed. Far fewer people, and the summit is at its many striking.
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Emeishan is in Sichuan, in Southwest China.
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