Sunday, June 28, 2009

Cloud Peak Temple, Yingjing County part 1


Yunfengsi, originally uploaded by Ingrid Booz Morejohn.

Yunfeng Si (Cloud Peak Temple) is a Zen monastery tucked into the mountains of SW Sichuan, in Yingjing County. The monastery is rebuilt but the temple gardens have trees that are 1,200 years old, monks that are almost as ancient, bamboo groves, medicinal kitchen gardens and supreme tranquility. Yunfeng is locally known as Taihu Si because of a large stone garden sculpture that looks like a taihu stone (more like Mt Meru actually). We tried to stay over night in the spartan temple accomodations but this proved a bit too much for the monks who came up with every excuse possible to not find the key to the rooms. Maybe next time...

Tea Horse Trail along the Daxiang Ling

This last weekend we hiked a small part of the ancient Tea Horse Trail
(Chama Gudao) that connected Sichuan to Tibet. The section we walked on was
a stretch between Yingjing and Kangding up the Daxiang Ling. Absolutely
beautiful with lush forests, butterflies of every shape and color, flowers,
waterfalls, chattering birds and icy cold rushing water in the rivers that
we so gratefully swan in.