Emei Mountain, Sichuan 四川省，峨眉山
Emei Shan 峨眉山, or loosly translated, 'High Mountain,' is located south of Chengdu 成都市, in central Sichuan Province 四川省. Nearing dusk on the night of Chinese New Year 春节, I took a flight from Kunming 昆明 to Chengdu where, from the window of the plan, I looked down to see a scattering of fireworks below me all through the flight. Emei shan was special for a variety of reasons, and although the dense fog prevented some good views, I'll never forget it.
This is taken after the masses went down the mountain for dinner.
Coming back from a late-night hike brought me and a friend to this terrifying gentleman guarding the bridge.
Yeah, I heard the 'you look like his cousin' jokes. We only look a little alike. But yes, we are family. Photo taken by my friend Jen.
The official Chinese tour agency told all foreigners that it's not great to travel during Chinese New Year as domestic traveling balloons. I didn't believe it, but I saw it at Emei Shan. It was crowded beyond belief. That poor mountain was ravaged for a solid 6 days.
It is a common occurrence for strangers to ask to take pictures together. I'm typically polite and oblige as it doesn't really bother me and doesn't take much time. This time, my friend insisted we also take one with my camera. This is an example of this happening. Taken by Jen.
On the second day, as soon as we began our ascent to the top, my friend and I met another traveler (from Montana!) To our pleasure, our new friend joined us the rest of the way.
Half way up we slept at this monastery. We took this picture before we left the next morning. I kind of feel like I cheated though; people are not supposed to take pictures inside and, unintentionally, the inside can be seen. If this offends you, let me know and I'll remove the picture. Taken By Jenny N.
This yellow-toothed, angry, one-armed monkey jumped on me and, by screaming and bearing teeth, persuaded me to relinquish my bag. I forgot I had some peanuts from the train deep in the bag. He smelled them and ripped open my bag with his teeth. Monkeys are known to bite people for food, and they bite hard.
Emei Shan was significant because it was the concluding bookend of my first solo backpacking trip. The 45 days went quickly- it felt like I was in another world, or dreaming. I felt pretty tired.
Finally returned to the east coast. Happy to be back in my home city of Qingdao 青岛.