Sam's Exotic Travel Photos of Emeishan, China - One of China's Four Holy Buddhist Mountains

Emeishan. also known as Mt. Emei or Emei Mountain, is located southwest of Emeishan City and 200 km southwest of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.  It is one of the four mountain ranges in China that Buddhists consider sacred.  I am beginning to believe that China's holy mountains are afraid to reveal themselves to me.  In December, 2004 I found Wuyishan, another holy mountain, shrouded in mist when we visited it.  The weather was so bad traveling to and from and on the summit of Emeishan - that the only way I was sure I was even there were the few signs on the summit that you had to be very close to even read in the dense fog and rain.  While it is a favorite hike for tourists and Buddhist pilgrims alike, we took a cable car to the summit after a long bus ride up the mountain - 6 hours of futility.  Some of the pictures however, were quite interesting nonetheless. 

According to travel sites found on the Internet, Emeishan (shan is Chinese for mountain), it stretches more than 200 kilometers from south to north, with its main peak, Wanfo Top, 3,100  meters above sea level. Since ancient times Emei Mountain has been described as "Beauty Under Heaven." Temples were built as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty (24-220) and Buddhism was introduced to the mountain during the Jin Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties there were more than 150 temples. A legend claims that the mountain was where Samantabhadra gave lectures on Buddhism and most temples house a statue of Samantabhadra.

After our long trip up and down the mountain, we also toured Wan Nian (or Wannian) Temple, one of the most ancient temples in the area.  Built in Jin Dynasty, it has also been called  “ Samantabhadra Temple”,  and the "White Water Temple” in earlier history.  I guess they couldn't settle on a name, but has been called Wan Nian Temple since the Tang Dynasty.

Sam's Exotic Travel Photo albums include:

•  Emeishan - The Mountain

•  Emeishan - Wan Nian Temple

•  Emeishan - Other

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Please note that all photographs and text appearing on this site are the exclusive intellectual property of Sam Stearman. No images are within the Public Domain, and no image use is permitted without the written prior authorization of the copyright owner.  If you see any pictures you would like to buy, all the thousands of pictures on this site are available in high resolution digital format, suitable for framing, use in magazines or advertising.  Email me if you would like to know more.