1 KM away from Wudang Shan
500m away from Wudang Shan
Wudang Shan coming up (:
The 'entrance' into Wudang Shan
The hotel where we were going to have our lunch at
This is the bus which brings all visitors around Wudang Shan
A collection of swords
Our table number, so coincidentally same as our table number during lunch of Three Gorges trip
Our lunch
Our tour guide (one of them)
the first place we visited was 太子坡.
On the way up, the stairs are built in a way where there are many steps, signifying the chinese phase "步步高升".
whereas when we went back down, we could only see big stretches of steps, signifying the chinese phase "平步青云".
Chinese characters which represent happiness, prosperity, longevity
coins are being thrown onto the figurehead, if the coin stays on it, it means good luck and all.
We enjoyed the tea tasting
The four teas shared with us
Red strings on the tree - good luck
The next place we visited was 紫霄殿, 紫霄宫, where there is presence of a dense fog. Hence, many of us were having fun breathing out using our mouth as we could see the fumes (condensation of our breath due to the cold temperature).
Crane - one of the animals that is usually used by the Chinese as symbol, statue and so on
Temple
Playing the flute
My Zodiac - exactly for my year 1990
After which, we went to other areas, more pictures taken:
After visiting the different places, we all finally went back to our lodging place. We LSCT, MDE & ICT split into two different groups, one group at one hotel, the other at another.
Me and Millison's room; hate the mirror which reflect right in front of our beds that we covered it with cloth.
At least there is a proper toilet for us to use
Then came the dinner with many courses; one particular food that we avoided for lunch and again for dinner was the tofu. It seems to have this smoky smell and like it was overcooked.After dinner, we went around the lodging area to see whats there in the shops.
Swords are sold (notice the Yi Tian Sword)Ate ice cream in the cold weather too; the feeling is nice and cooling.
And off to sleep after a long day...
Next morning started off with breakfast, which is important to fill our stomach as we were going to climb Wudang Shan today. Nice breakfast with noodles, mantou, porridge, dou jiang and corn porridge (though this did not have much taste to it)
The pathway shown on the map that we going to take to go up to the peak
The steps along the way
Scenery seen
The man carried all the stuffs, transporting them up. This is how they transport things up the mountain to where they are needed I guess. Tiring but it would train their physical strength well.
Engraved onto the side of the stairs
This is one of the flight of stairs we had to climb to get to the peak
At a point of time, we can see the peak from where we were. The peak was still quite a distance away.
All stairs to climb; this is about a hundred steps
A hotel near to the peak, where the cable car station located next to. We rested outside the hotel for a while while waiting for those people who went up by cable car as the tour guides with them will get us our tickets to enable us into the last section to go up to the peak.
A big painting of wudang shan
scenery of what is around us
The sun
Chinese phase
The many locks locked onto the wire; said for good luck, prosperity and many other good things
This is a temple where you walk one round inside and luck can be changed. You will bring away good luck with you. However it is a taoist temple, hence for those who dont believe in taoism, can just simply pray and not walk around in the dark passageway.
Some old temple
The long flight of steep stairs to finally reach the peak
What I can see from the peak
What are on the peak itself
tour guide and meMore pictures taken from the peak of Wudang Shan:
closeup of the locks being locked at the chain
The sky seen from the peakStill at the peak:
The tree they said would bring good fortune; it was said that the leaves would not move even in the presence of the wind.
Old ladies actually climb to the peak and now they are coming down. I admired their courage and strength to do such things together when they are old.We climbed up the stairs to the peak, took around 2 hours for me. A total of around 5161 steps I think. Anyway, to get back down, we all were to take the cable cars so to reach the bottom in time to get back to the university by nightfall.
Here I am in the cable car with the ticket
Cable cars
Our cable car number
The back view of our cable car
me and Edah - she is my partner in the cable car because we have to be in twos.
This is the route we took in the cable car; scary view from where we alighted, cannot imagine I actually sat in one of them to reach to the bottom.
Our shadows
Hajar, me & Millison
Yi Tian Sword
Our lunch, after the whole journey up and down Wudang Shan
me and another tour guide
me and Xiao Qing - he is one of the tour guides for this tour to Wudang Shan and also the previous tour to Three Gorges. He is the one who arranged all our meals, lodging and so on. *thumbs up to him*
finally at around 9pm, we reached the Wuhan University, where we could rest after two long days of great sightseeing and workout. (:
Reflections:
The journey to Wudang Shan is long but I think its worth it all as we get to experience and see things we never did before.
One thing I appreciated before I left for Wudang Shan is Singapore's electricity. hahas. Because at least in Singapore, blackout seldom happened, unlike here in Wuhan, which had happened for a few times already. I think twice already. Electricity is so important in this century as alot of things work only with electricity, such as the lights, the aircon, the electrical appliances and so on. If without electricity, we will 'die' as the place will be in darkness and alot of things would not be working. However, it does not mean we can waste electricity like noone's business. Electricity can be saved and should be, hence it would not be depleted if it can be.
Wudang Shan is not what I expected it will be, it becomes more modernised and the locals there sure price their things there high as they know tourists like us are able to afford and get the stuffs from them. One disappoinment I received from this tour is that I unable to see people doing kungfu, taiji or other martial arts. Usually when we thought of Wudang Shan, we would be expecting martial artists exhibiting their martial arts when they practise or something. But I saw none of those. Even so, I am still fond of watching martial arts (:
Swords are one item that we can see in the shops of Wudang Shan. It is one of the martial arts items in fact. However, we cannot buy one because it will only spell trouble when we want to bring through Singapore customs. However able to see the swords are a nice sight, especially Yi Tian Sword which is in the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre (a book by Jin Yong, a drama too). (Yi Tian Sword is not a reality though, hence what we saw are definitely fake, just man made for the visitors to see)
The journey up to the peak took me around 2 hours, what a great workout! At first we thought it would be cold or freezing as we walked up, hence we wore jackets and all. However, as we walked up, most of us took off our jacket, at least for me as instead of feeling cold, I started to feel warm due to the perspiration I had as climbing up. I felt contented and happy to be able to see the scenery from the peak of Wudang Shan. It is one great accomplishment we did together, climbing to the top. I guess nothing is entirely impossible, even the elderly are able to reach the peak even if they took the cable car up to halfway. Such courage is to be admired. I also learnt to persevere to be able to reach the destination, time does not always matter. Is the result you able to get at the end, as it shows the effort you put in.
As I went down by cable car, I felt that compared to Singapore's, I felt less secure as the cable car in Wudang Shan do not seem secure enough with its 'spoiled & ragged' looks, plus to get into the cable car and out, we had to move in and out very fast. Plus, using the cable car to transport things such as water, up to the people at the top. Another way water can be brought to people along the way up to the peak is transportation by people themselves. They carried all the way to where water will be needed. It is tough on them but this is required as water is an essential.
Wudang Shan tour is our last tour during these six week of study trip, glad tours like this are arranged into our study trip. They makes us learn more about China, unlike if a trip without any tours. Thank you for all the hardwork the organisers and tour guides put in to get all the tours done and arranged for us! appreciated the effort. ^^
JEHANNE :))
