2010-06-28 China - Mount Jiuhua

Today we had our disembarkation briefing - the cruise is almost over! How time flies when you are having fun. First up in the morning was a lecture by Professor Fei on Buddhism. It was more an examination of Buddhism's place in the world today, and its history, rather than exposition of its tenets. Dr. Fei is not a monk, and was dressed in "civilian clothes" rather than the saffron robe of a monk.

After lunch we went by bus to Mt Jiuhua. The ride was very pleasant, through farmland where we saw farmers tilling their fields with water buffalo; and peaceful countryside. The sky was still hazy, and visibility was limited to about 1/4 mile. As we started up the mountain, we were advised there were 99 hairpin turns (99 being a lucky number). Our luck held, and we made it up the winding road with beautiful scenery out the window. The higher we got, the prettier the view - just like the ancient paintings, copied by the Japanese, and admired by Kiyomi. At the end of the road, we got off the bus and looked around, cautioned to "keep off the grass". There are reputedly 99 temples (that lucky number again!). We only had time to visit two, the Zhan Chan Lin and Qiyuan Temples, both on the lower area. There is a gondola that goes up to the summit, but since it was rainy and foggy, we decided it wasn't worth the effort. The temples we saw were beautiful. Here's another. There was a lot of dragon motif - statues, carvings, bas relief, etc. Kiyomi, being born in the year of the dragon, loved it. Inside the temples were huge statues of Buddha and many of the deities, including the female characters beloved by women.

We enjoyed a Chinese Banquet Farewell Dinner, as tomorrow morning we arrive in Nanjing where we will disembark, and continue to Shanghai by bus.