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A Scotsman's journey to the east：the mountains of Wudang - 武当山 (5) |
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15:38, April 14, 2009 |
Today we go to the summit. The two of us take the same route to the buses last destination, but instead of turning right towards the Nanyan Temple, we turn left towards the Golden Summit. The name of the summit cannot be credited to a fairytale or to the use of colorful Chinese language, but instead it is reference to the temple that resides there – the Golden Hall. The hall on top of the 1612m Tainzhu Peak was built in 1416 during the Ming Dynasty. It is constructed entirely from copper and gold, and was said to have been forged in Beijing and carried to the mountain top. We are about to realize what a daunting task that must have been. The three hour hike to the summit includes walking up more stairs than I knew existed. But the walk itself is a marvelous one. The steep incline of the slopes around us, means that large swathes of forest are hidden from the sun and are still covered in a thick blanket of snow. Despite the presence of snow, the temperature is not too cold, so we take our time admiring the stunning views and resting when there is a building or an interval in the relentless incline of stairs. The path up the mountain is dotted with shrines and other places of worship, but there are also dwellings for locals who live here selling instant noodles and other snacks to passers-by. Our journey time is lengthened by a constant need to take pictures of every thing we see, to save time we consider the idea of getting some of the locals to carry us to the top on one of the sedan-chairs lying around on route. But after seeing a stream of middle aged people effortlessly going up some steep steps we decide not to 'loose face' and continue walking. Occasionally snacking on some food we bought beforehand in the supermarket, we decide not to stop for food at any of the places offering noodles. As we near the summit we can see some aw-inspiring views of the peaks around us – buildings perched on hilltops where there appears to be no space, trees miraculously find ground to lay their roots, and the light creates an amazing silhouette that could be a scene from a Chinese watercolor. Finally at the top, we are greeted by a cluster of Ming buildings all connected on different levels by a number of staircases. The architecture itself is worthy of high recognition, but add to that, the altitude and topography of the peak, and we have an astounding man made achievement. There are a two of levels with a number of buildings that we explore before we pay around 30rmb and head towards the highest level – the Golden Summit. Before we head up the enclosed staircase towards the top, Evan goes off to the side into a room where he meets a Daoist priest. He's a chubby man, quite short and I think he is around 60 years old. The priest is happy to meet us, and begins to talk with us. He wants to look at our mobile phones, and he asks us if they work at such a high altitude… but of course our mobiles have no signal. Then the Doaist priest reaches under his blue robe and takes out his own mobile. It's much bigger than both our mobiles put together! He opens it up and shows us that it has two SIM cards and it has reception all the way up here. Then our little old friend tells us his phone cost 8000rmb, again more than the combined cost of our 2 phones. Just as we are thinking to ourselves, where did he get that kind of money from, he then begins to ask us if we know much about computers… apparently he wants us to come and help him with his computer because he is having some problems. Unfortunately because we are not staying on one of the mountain hotels, we don't have much time before we have to catch the last bus down, so the priest offers to take our pictures before we go. At this point we are still in the staircase leading up to the summit, and to get a better angle for our pictures, the sprightly old priest leaps on top of a six foot wall with a drop of a few hundred meters on the other side, where he squats to happily take our pictures. We exchange numbers with him and then continue on our way to the top.
We climb a few sets of nerve wracking stairs. For a vertigo sufferer like me this was not one of my finest moments. I climb the stairs as fast as I can, at moments crawling on all fours, while Evan later joins me at the top telling me how spectacular the views are. I respond by saying "yes I'm sure it's wonderful, please take lots of pictures and I'll have a look when we get down!" In fact, truth be told, it was wonderful. For the few moments I was able to look at the view before fear took hold, I was amazed. The sky above us was blue and cloudless. Looking out into the horizon I realize that we are higher than anything as far as the eye can see. There is a serene calmness up here. A priest cleans a statue of Zhen Wu and prepares incense sticks, and then I notice that all railings around the top are covered in locks. I was later to find out that this is because people come here and make a wish, which they 'put' inside the lock and when the lock falls off, there wish will come true. It looks to me like there are a lot of people waiting on a wish to come true. Despite the presence of shops selling more incense sticks and pot noodles, the summit is peaceful and aw-inspiring. With nothing at eye level for miles around, it is easy to see why believers of Daoism feel that this peak brings them closer to the heavens.
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