China Mt Emei September 2010

     Rebecca, our guide, picked us up for an excursion to the World Heritage Site of Mt. Emei which hosts ancient Buddhist architecture built during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 – 420 AD).
One highlight of the Wannian Temple on the mountain top is a HUGE bronze statue of Puxian riding an elephant.
     This is not an “easy access” spot since it took us 2 hours from Chengdu, then after lunch we had to climb MANY stairs to reach the cable cars.  Of course there were pilgrims who chose to walk up the path.
     Even though Rebecca asked the cable car operators to slow down the cars, it required a great deal of pulling and pushing me until I finally committed to taking the leap to be on the car.  Two elderly Tibetan pilgrims who shared our cable car watched us in fascination.
     Once we reached the platform at the end of the ride, there were still MANY stairs to the temple, so I decided to wait in a garden area.  I quickly became an object of interest to the numerous Chinese who were resting briefly before going on up.  One teen ager asked if she could have her photo taken with me.  Yes.  Then her whole family rushed over to be in the picture.  I don’t think that too many Americans visit Mt. Emei.