Emei Shan
Holy buddhist mountain in the west of China
Sacred buddhist mountain in China
The 3,099m mountain in Sichuan province of Western China, Emei Shan, declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996, has long been revered as one of China’s four holy mountains sacred to the Buddhists. For 2,000 years, Buddhist pilgrims have been making the journey to Mt Emei, the misty and mystical home of a hundred temples, monasteries and pavilions. Few would have failed to notice the view along the way.
One of the most remarkable cultural treasures in Emei is the Giant Buddha of Leshan, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century and looking down on the confluence of three rivers. At 71 m high, it is the largest Buddha in the world. Mount Emei is also notable for its exceptionally diverse vegetation, ranging from subtropical to subalpine pine forests. Some of the trees there are more than 1,000 years old. The name Emei literally means “delicate eyebrow”, and the name came about supposedly because locals believed the peaks of the mountains here resemble the eyebrows of a beautiful woman. It was only in recent years that the provincial government started to heavily promote certain areas of the mountain as tourist attractions.
More pictures of Emei Shan at panoramio.com
– Related articles
- Four sacred buddhist mountains in China
- Wu Tai Shan: a holy place of buddhism unity
- Jiu Hua Shan: the past and the present
- Putuo Shan: a paradise of buddha in the middle of the sea
