Adventures in China - Hainan Island, Chengdu, Mount Emei (Part 1)
08:26
In the month of June, I've decided to travel to China looking for an adventure. In this trip I will travel from Chengdu to Xian to search for beautiful landscapes and tourist attractions of central China.
Hainan Island
The flight from Singapore will transit at Hainan Island for a day before flying to Chengdu. As such, this allows me to explore Hainan for half a day. Upon checking into my hotel, I took a taxi and visited the volcano park in Haikou for the afternoon.
The volcano park is home to more than 40 volcanoes and 30 volcanic cave. I chose to trek up the highest volcano peak. It was not a strenuous climb as it was only about an hour's climb. There were many geological features to explore along the way. The view from the peak allows me to see the Hainan countryside. Due the dense forest surrounding the area and being far away from the city, the park is very cool and there is an abundance of fresh air. A very refreshing place to visit in the summer,
View from the peak of the volcano. 222.8m above sea level.
Huge lychees sold by the roadside hawkers.
Chengdu
I reached Chengdu courtesy of Hainan Airlines in the afternoon after a good night's sleep in sunny Hainan. The nearest tourist attraction from my hotel is Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, 杜甫草堂. It is a park and museum in honour of the late Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, where many Du Fu enthusiasts will flock here to pay tribute to the famous poet. In 759 Du Fu moved to Chengdu and built himself a thatched hut and lived here for 4 years. During his stay, he composed over two hundred and forty poems. I learnt that the original hut was destroyed and the park was constructed in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty and renovated extensively during the Qing Dynasty.
Mount Emei 峨眉山
Mount Emei, one of the four Sacred Buddhist Mountain, is located in the SzeChuan Province, not far from Chengdu. I took a train from Chengdu North Train Station to Mt Emei Station. From there I took a public bus to 报国寺, which is a temple located at the foot of the mountain. There is a bus station which allows you to purchase tickets to take you to a place called 雷洞坪(Lei Dong Ping) which is somewhere up the mountain. Of course, walking up the mountain from here is also possible but it will take you 2 days.
There are a few hotels at 雷洞坪 which I will spend the night here before ascending to the summit the next morning. To catch the sunrise at the mountain summit, this is a cheaper alternative compared to staying overnight at the hotels located at the peak. The hotel staff will wake us up at 4am so that we have ample time to climb to the top of the mountain. At 2430m above sea level, the temperature here is around 20 degrees Celsius and it gets windy at night.
The hotel that I'm staying at 雷洞坪.
View from the edge of a cliff at 雷洞坪
Dinner at 雷洞坪.
*Gulp* the mountain peak of Mount Emei.
A race to the top.
I started the ascend at around 5am. People who wanted to catch the sunrise at the peak should be at the cable car station at around 430am to take a ride up. But I decided to do it the hard way and slowly climbed the mountain, enjoying the scenery and fresh air along the way. After 2-3 hours of never ending stairs, I finally reached the top.
I'm amazed by how they can construct temples even at this place. I mean, it is 3,099m above sea level. Well, I got 99 problems but this b**** aint one.
Another way to capture this picturesque view besides from the small window of your plane. I really wanted to jump and bounce around the clouds hehe.
Also known as the Sea of Clouds, the view at the summit of Mount Emei allows you to see clouds appearing above the sky and beneath you. It was an amazing sight and it was definitely worth the trip here. After taking a few photographs and visiting the temple, I unwillingly made my way down the mountain and back to Chengdu. For snacks and drinks to consume during the climb, do remember to prepare before you ascend (buy at the train station) as the prices gets higher as you climb higher. 
Totally unreal. This is probably the most beautiful place that I have ever been to.
0 comments