Golden Summit, Emeishan - One of China's most sacred Buddhist sites

 


Located about 40 kilometres from Leshan, Emeishan (Mount Emei) is one of China’s most sacred mountains. As one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, it is home to over 30 temples and monasteries, some more than a thousand years old. The main site is the Golden Summit, featuring a giant golden statue of Samantabhadra seated on four elephants, along with a golden temple. The scenery is said to be spectacular, but I couldn’t see much on the day of my visit. Apart from the weather, the trip was somewhat disappointing — it’s still worth visiting, but you need to know what to expect. 

The journey from Leshan (bus #601) to Emeishan city, followed by a local shuttle bus to the base of the peak, takes about 3 to 3.5 hours one way, so travel consumes most of your day. From there, you can either take a cable car or walk up to the summit. Cheap dormitory-style accommodation is available in some monasteries, so if you want to avoid the crowds and improve your chances of clear weather, it’s worth staying a night or two. 

You can expect crowds, though I didn’t expect to see people feeding monkeys packaged sweets, which they unwrapped and threw the plastic into the forest. The main disappointment was that most of the mountaintop was closed off, so it wasn’t possible to hike and escape the masses. I tried to reach a temple on a distant peak, but all routes were closed. At least it emerged from the clouds a few times, even if the dramatic ridge remained hidden. 

































































































































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