China Day 5

The Vegetable Patch

In the morning, we explore the temple’s garden where they are growing a large variety of vegetables. Amongst the many cabbages are aubergines, chillis, squash, carrots, radishes, leafy greens, tomatoes, and more! I dream of a garden this plentiful. One day, it will be mine. Most of what the monks eat is usually grown on site we’ve been told. This isn’t exclusive to the temples though, we see vegetables being grown in every possible space that can sustain a plant. Cabbages grown on roadside verges can be seen absolutely everywhere in Sichuan as well as maize and other crops. This most likely stems from China’s pursuit of self -sufficiency and is deeply engrained in their society.

China’s connection with its food feels very real and is something I wish to see more in the UK where people have lost touch with the origin of their food and have grown accustomed to supermarkets where a visceral link to the earth has been severed. Food on tap has become the norm. The beauty of the food market is seen as an encumbrance to productivity rather than a celebration of seasonality, community, and the pleasure of knowing where your food came from.

Goodbye Chu Temple

We leave the temple in the drizzle, which follows us for some time before clearing.As we climb, we are blessed with incredible mountain views, and through the clouds we can see the city of Emei below.

An hour or so later we arrive at the temple we had aimed to get to the night before. It sits on top of a peak above the cloud line with a clear view of the mountains in the distance. It’s a stunning view but I think we might have had quite the cold night sleep if we had stayed here!

Later, we encountered two prostrating Buddhists - taking three steps forward and then prostrating, an act of bowing all the way to the floor, with the head and hands touching the ground. It is a ritual honouring the Buddha but also an inward journey of surrender and purification, most often practised by Tibetan Buddhists. Their hands looked sore and cold, their bodies exhausted, as they took small breaks between each sequence. I stand in awe imaging myself doing this. I think I would break almost immediately.

I spent a good amount of time referencing Jurassic Park, specifically the third film with the giant aviaries. I don’t think Will has ever seen the films, but they’re all great. In fact, I would say they get greater as they go on. They are now on the seventh film, and it is so terrible it might be the best one yet. Anyway, the route sometimes has areas to protect you from rockfall which, look like cages. Most of the time it does not have these areas and you really wish it did.

An Island in the Sky

We still have no idea how far away the summit is, and we start to ask those who are coming back down how long they think we are from the summit. Some tell us two hours, others four; one couple says around an hour and a half away. We arrived at 3pm, so it took us about seven hours. and we weren’t even going slow! Before we get to the summit though we must first emerge from the forest and enter the tourist zone where a cable car brings you to the base of the summit. It is now very busy. We follow the crowd and slowly make our way up to the top for another hour and as we arrive the whole area opens up into this heavenly platform in the clouds.

Will and I have spent the last week catching up on each others lives, talking about life and death, the uncertain future, and reflecting on our experience in the world. The power of a pilgrimage on a sacred mountain will do that to you and over the days, it slowly seeps into you. We light a candle for our loved ones and take a quiet moment before we make our way up to the main square. We have now truly summited and ask someone if they can take our picture and, in that instant, all the emotions hit us both at once. A hug and a few tears later and we are back in action.

We walk to one of the main vantage points of the area and look out onto the clouds beyond when a German woman overhears us speaking English and asks us about our travels. This would have been fine if she hadn’t got a mouth full of food. Packed full. She apologises for the visuals on the basis that she knows it’s rude o do so in our country, but still continues, and honestly, it’s rude in all countries. Grim.

The Long Way Home

We need to get to the Elephant Pool Temple before sunfall, and again we have no idea how long this is going to take. We leave at pace and make our way past the thousand tourists doing the same. A woman has an open bag full of food and is being harassed by the macaques. In fact, the monkeys are harassing everyone, and it’s excellent viewing, but I don’t want rabies, so we move on. Before we know it, we’re back in the forest, and once again, peace returns.

The temple sits as a gateway to the upper mountain. You have to pass through it to reach the summit. On the way up, we knew this is where we wanted to stay, still above the cloud line. This temple also had toilets and a hot shower! We shower, have dinner, and go to bed! I am shattered.