Starting about seven years ago, every July and August, I would go to Wutai Mountain to escape the summer heat, stay in Taihuai Town for two days, and visit a few temples at will. The pictures in this article are all pictures by Zhang Xiaozhong. It is recorded in "The Buddha Speak

Starting about seven years ago, every July and August, I would go to Wutai Mountain to escape the summer heat, stay in Taihuai Town for two days, and visit a few temples at will.

Maybe it’s because there are too many temples, and it always feels like you’re always new when you visit them. Gradually, my understanding of Wutai Mountain became richer, and I saw some people kowtow and some people hiking with huge backpacks on their backs. I always hear acquaintances in Taihuai Town say: One Dachaotai is equivalent to 500 years of practice in Buddhism. Don’t you want to give it a try? Moreover, the temples on the mountain are more simple, the monks in the mountain are closer to the true nature of Buddhist practice, and the scenery in the mountain is more wild. Don’t you want to go and see it? I was so moved that I wanted to go to Dachaotai!

Regarding how to appreciate Mount Wutai, I think there are at least two perspectives: religion and nature. Dachaotai happens to have two different temperaments of Mount Wutai, making it a perfect destination for summer outdoor travel.

I met a monk on the road and asked about the way to Nantai. The pictures in this article are all pictures by Zhang Xiaozhong

It is recorded in the "Buddha Speaks of Manjusri's Dharma Treasure Dharani Sutra": "After I passed away, in the northeast of Fanbuzhou, there was a country named Dazhenna. There were mountains in the country. The name is: Five Tops. The boy Manjushri lives in it and preaches the Dharma to all sentient beings..." This is what Buddha Sakyamuni said when he gave a lecture in ancient India in the 6th century BC. The location and mountain name described here are similar to Mount Wutai in Shanxi, and the name of Mount Wutai is often mentioned in many other Buddhist scriptures.

Strangely enough, the emperors of the Sui Dynasty liked to build large-scale projects, such as the Grand Canal and the temple complex in Mount Wutai. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty believed in Buddhism. He built five temples on the five tops of Mount Wutai to worship the five incarnations of Manjushri. This was the beginning of Mount Wutai becoming a large-scale Buddhist complex. Since then, Buddhists have expressed their piety by walking to the top of the five platforms. For ordinary people, this is also a way to exercise and get close to nature. Walking the entire top of the five platforms with your feet is called the "Dachaotai".

There are many ways to walk this mountaineering route. For devout Buddhists, they have inherited the tradition from ancient times to the present and follow the order of South Terrace-West Terrace-Middle Terrace- North Terrace-East Terrace. For ordinary tourists, especially those who take a train from Beijing to Mount Wutai, due to the principle of convenience and proximity, they generally go to Taiwan in the order of Dongtai-Beitai-Chongtai-Xitai-Nantai.

Sunrise in Dongtai

Dongtai: Looking east to the bright clouds, like waves and mirrors

I got on the night train to Wutai Mountain from Beijing Station and arrived at Wutai Mountain Station at about 4 am. Outside the train station, there were the shouts of drivers soliciting customers one after another. I transferred to a minibus and drove for an hour on the bumpy and circling mountain road before arriving at Hongmen Rock. This is a pass between Dongtai and Beitai, and it is also the place where this Dachaotai hiking trip begins.

From Hongmenyan, head to Dongtai Wanghai Peak to enjoy the sea of ​​clouds and sunrise in Mount Wutai. The journey was very short, and it would only take 30 minutes if we walked slowly. However, as the sky in the east began to turn red and the sun was about to pop out, we accelerated our pace.

There are paths trodden by predecessors on the alpine meadows. Outdoor athletes call this behavior of "not taking the main road but taking the shortcut" "cutting". After all, the main road is much smoother, but the small road is not only full of potholes, but the scariest thing is that you may step on cow dung.

later discovered that our big Chaotai was "cutting" all the way, and we really stepped on a lot of cow shit. Fortunately, these free-range cows eat green grass and drink from mountain springs, so their excrement does not look so disgusting and smells like cut grass.

Arriving at Dongtai Wanghai Temple , I stood on the terrace and looked to the east. The sun had already squeezed out half of my body, the steaming mist was rising upwards, the morning glow was still a bit dazzling, and birds echoed from time to time in the endless green mountains. Ming. We took a short break at Wanghai Temple, put on sunscreen, and headed to Beitai.

The fox I met on the way to Beitai

Beitai: shaped like a bucket, towering into the sky

Beitai is known as the "Roof of North China" and is named Ye Doufeng, with the highest altitude of 3058 meters.The walking distance from Dongtai to and on the north platform is only 14 kilometers. However, as the saying goes, "Looking up the mountain and running to death", we walked for a full 5 hours. On the way, you will meet two or two hikers. When everyone meets, they always say hello with a smile, which is also a way to encourage each other. This section of the road is considered the best in Taichung . On the top of a small slope halfway up, you can see the big white pagoda of Baita Temple in Taihuai Town, as well as the rising smoke. Along the way, a few of us took pictures of flowers, chatted, and looked at the cattle and sheep. Then we arrived at the archway on the roof of North China. We sat down and ate the food we had prepared.

At this time, several foxes suddenly ran over. We, who had never seen large wild animals before, were really shocked. They were much calmer and started wagging their tails in a cute way, staring at the ham sausage in my hand. Judging from the figures of these foxes, they have also been fed by the tourists at Dachaotai.

When I climbed to the top of Beitai, although it was a hot summer day, the wind blowing on me was bitingly cold. Looking at the monks around me, all of them were wrapped in big cotton-padded jackets, I thought to myself, how would I survive the cold winter? I am reminded of one of the originators of tourism in China, Xu Xiake. That year was 1633 AD. Xu Xiake, 48, climbed Mount Wutai in late autumn. He wrote in "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes": "On the sixth day of the lunar month, the wind blew up and drops of water turned into ice." Xu Xiake probably won't be able to see the flowers and green grass, but the white snow is still an experience for him, a southerner. As

spoke, we heard rolling thunder, but it didn't rain on the top of Beitai. The rain clouds were floating under our feet. We were standing above the clouds and mist, with clouds and thunder rolling under our feet, as if we were looking down at the world from the sky.

On the mountain road between North Taipei and Central Taipei, we witnessed a sudden change in weather.

Middle Taipei: majestic and majestic, with green mist floating in the sky

After a brief repair in North Taipei, we headed towards Central Taipei. This journey is only 5 kilometers, almost all the way downhill. On the way we came across a small temple with a well in front of it. The master guarding the temple told us that this is the bathing pool, where Manjusri Bodhisattva took a bath, and the bathing water came from that well. After passing here and heading to Zhongtai, we climbed a little bit. Suddenly the weather changed drastically, and huge thunder seemed to explode next to us.

This is the first time in my life that I am really worried about being struck by lightning. Looking around, there is no tree in the alpine meadow, and the few of us are the most conspicuous protruding point on the hillside, making us potential targets for lightning strikes. Since the accommodation and meals in West Taiwan are the best among the five in Taichung, we originally planned to place a reservation in West Taiwan tonight, but unfortunately, we had to stay nearby in Central Taiwan tonight.

The middle platform is called Cuiyan Peak, and there is Yanjiao Temple on the top of the platform, dedicated to the child Manjusri. Later we learned that Zhongtai was the only platform without electricity, and the accommodation conditions on the top of the mountain could be described as “very damp and dirty”. The men and women were divided into two rooms, both of which were large bunks. The quilts were piled together and they chose one to cover themselves.

The abbot of Yanjiao Temple saw our distress and came to comfort us, saying that we should be satisfied and grateful, at least we still have a place to live. There were some uncles in the room who were probably too tired. Their deafening snores were like thunder. I basically didn't sleep that night. The next morning, several lay people got up at 3:30 to prepare for the 4 o'clock morning class in the temple. We simply got up and hit the road quickly. If we walked quickly, we could still have breakfast at Xitai Temple. And the facts prove that this decision is so correct!

Cats raised in Zhongtai temple

Xitai: The moon hangs on the top of the peak, as if it is hanging.

We rushed to the west platform under the moonlight. The west platform is called Hanging Moon Peak , with an altitude of 2773 meters. On the top of the mountain is Fa Lei Temple, dedicated to the lion Manjusri. As the name of Hanging Moon Peak suggests, the full moon looks like it is hanging on the top of Xitai Peak. A friend who was traveling with us joked: "The early bird not only gets to eat, but also gets to see the full moon!"

The center stage area behind us was covered with clouds and thunder, but the full moon was still in the sky in front of us. At the foot of the west platform, there are large nasturtiums. This flower usually grows above an altitude of 2,000 meters. It is not only beautiful, but can also be used as medicine to treat throat diseases.In this sea of ​​flowers, my friends started posing for various photos. Seeing that it was almost 7 o'clock, the breakfast on the west platform was about to end. I gave them an ultimatum - if they don't leave, they will crawl to the south platform hungry. .

We ran into the dining hall in time for the meal to end. As expected, the breakfast in Xitai is so rich that I want to live here for a year: breakfast includes eight-treasure porridge with plenty of ingredients, radish pickles, cucumber cold dishes and pickled eggplants. The best thing is the wild vegetables Taiwanese mushrooms big steamed buns. I am satisfied. I ate three of them! Later, when I arrived in Taihuai Town, I saw the Taiwanese mushrooms sold in the market, which cost more than 300 kilograms. I immediately felt grateful that the masters in Xitai were so compassionate.

After breakfast, we went to the Xitai Pagoda area to rest for a while. The moment I lay down on the moisture-proof mat, the warm sun shone on me, there were birds chirping in the valley in the distance, and the breeze blew the prayer flags. Just like that, no one said anything, and I really wished I could just lie there all day. Although we have completed the four steps of the Northeast, Central and Western Terraces, the entire road to the Great Chaotai is only half completed. Reluctantly, we got up and started moving forward again.

The pagodas and prayer flags on the west platform

Nantai: green and bright, as bright as brocade

Nantai has its own peak, 36 kilometers away from the west platform, named Jinxiu Peak. This journey takes a full day, but it is also the most beautiful section of Taichung. Flowers can be seen everywhere, colorfully spread on the meadow, and the white ones are Ling Ling Xiang. The red one is Shandan Dandan, the pink one is willow orchid , the yellow one is nasturtium and Buddha's bowl flower, the purple one is orchid thorn bean, and there are some scary-sounding wolfsbane flower and ghost sighting worry.

Not long down the road from West Terrace, you will find Kichijoji . The temple is surrounded by mountains on three sides and dense forests. There is a stream in front of it, giving it a paradise-like scene. We knew we were short of time, so we still played in the creek at Kichijoji for a while. Going forward from Kichijoji, you will pass by the Lion's Den and the Kinkakuji Temple, both of which are places where you can rest and replenish drinking water along the way. In order to arrive at the Nantai temple before dark to place orders, we did not leave much time to visit these temples, which can be regarded as a slight regret left by this trip to Dachaotai.

Everyone used their skills to cut roads, because the main road was really quite long. We looked at satellite images, looking for traces of paths cut by our predecessors, and climbed one hill after another in order to take shortcuts. The speed along the way was relatively fast, and we arrived at Jinxiu Peak in Nantai at 6:30 pm. My physical strength seemed to have reached its peak. After I climbed to the Nantai Puji Temple , I sat down on the steps in front of the temple and gasped for air. There is another ancient Nantai to the south of Nantai, which seems not far away. I said: "Would you like to have a very 5+1?" They quickly shook their heads and said: "You can go if you want, we can wait for you."

At this point, everyone The court is over. But there are many interesting places in Mount Wutai, such as the Buddha Mother Cave that you need to pass on your way back to Taihuai Town, and the many temples in Taihuai Town. If I have the chance, I’ll tell you the follow-up story later.

Wild flowers encountered on the way to Nantai

Tips:

April to October is the peak season for tourism in Mount Wutai. The scenery is best in July and August, and the temperature in the mountains at this time is about 10 degrees different from that in the plains. , very cool.

The charging chaos in Wutai Mountain was once very serious. After the Shanxi Provincial Government came forward to rectify it in 2015, illegal charging such as "mountain entry fees" and "environmental protection fares" have been eliminated in the scenic area. In the past, many pilgrims reported that there were "fake monks" in Wutai Mountain, and they also mentioned that they encountered fraudulent donations, alms, fortune telling, and sales of magical objects on the way to the mountain. However, in the author's experience of visiting Mount Wutai for several consecutive years, I have never encountered "fake monks" or scammers.

The author believes that there are several ways to avoid "stepping on thunder": First, put an end to feudal superstitious activities that have nothing to do with religious beliefs; second, if they appear in non-religious places (including public places outside Mount Wutai and after entering the mountain), intending to strike up a conversation Be wary of people dressed as monks; third, do not accept low-priced tickets for cheap, or accept parking, guided tours and catering services proactively or forcibly provided by "black tour guides".

Starting from 2017, the tickets for scenic spots in Mount Wutai have been reduced by about 20 yuan compared with previous years.Currently, the full price is 145 yuan/person and half price is 70 yuan/person in peak season; the full price is 120 yuan/person and half price is 60 yuan/person in off-season. Ticket prices for temples in the scenic area range from 4 yuan to 15 yuan, and some temples do not offer tickets.