Day 6 - WuDang Mountain

GOLDEN PEAK (also known as JinLing Temple) The one hour morning taichi class which began at 0640 had one participant from our group. The lucky girl was given a one-to-one session. We walked from the hotel at 0830 and reached the pick-up point for the WuDang minibus ten minutes later. From there, it was a 45 minutes drive to the base cable car station. A short ride took us up to the end station near the Golden Peak.

View from outside the base cable car station

From the end station, we walked up several flight of stone stairs to a little rustic lodge manned by a young Chinese woman and her family member. The rates quoted for accommodation at this lodge appeared steep.  The Golden Peak was going to require a lot of walking, up the slippery stone steps on the right and down again on the left, in an anti-clockwise circle. (Picture: right)

It was cold, wet and transitioning between sleet and snow. By Ms Helena's estimation, it will require about an hour to walk up and down. However, she had been notoriously inaccurate so I'm guessing that it will take something between 2 to 3 hours to complete this journey.

Naturally, I skipped this tiresome expedition. While the rest climbed laboriously up the slippery slope in the freezing cold, I sat comfortably inside the lobby of the little rustic lodge located at a stone's throw from the end station, sipping hot green tea while munching on several hot WuDang savory pancakes. Like-minded members of the group who did not brave the cold to reach the peak soon joined us for a chat over tea and pancakes.

The ancient building complex has been on the World Heritage List since 1994 as a unique spot to spread Taoist Culture.

The pancakes were delicious. They rolled out the dough, brush some secret sauce over it, sprinkle sesame seeds over the sauce, then plaster the dough to the walls of a charcoal oven. It was served hot on a piece of waxed paper with a dash of scallion.

Look! Disposable plastic boots!

After what seemed like eternity, those who walked up to the Golden Peak returned with exhilarating tales of what they saw and who they met up there. After the excitement died down, we returned to the end station to descend to the base cable car station. From there, we walked towards lunch.

Nanyan Palace

Lunch was at one of the restaurants near the minibus pick-up point after the base cable car station. Outside the archway in the picture above, an old WuDang priest (wearing the grey WuDang garment) with an arthritic bandaged knee supported by an elaborately carved walking stick made a painful appearance. I mulled over this image and all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind.

The Dragon Head Incense Burner at Nanyan Palace

NANYAN PALACE (also known as Palace Suspended on the cliff) This is a stone architecture, a cultural relic under state protection. The dragon head incense burner (picture: right) is a popular spot for movie makers.  I remembered seeing someone on film standing on the beam of the dragon head in a karate pose. This is now forbidden by the temple authorities. Several incidences in the past had resulted in daredevils plunging to their death.

Dragon Head Incense Burner

Dragon Head Incense Burner

No-Entry Barrier to the Dragon Head Incense Burner

Sedan Chairs for tourists

A few of us remained at the foot of the hill while the rest went up to the top, promising to return with photographs. Those who remained wandered amongst the shopping kiosk near the entrance. Ms Helena peered into her phone and announced that it was the first day of winter on this day. An elderly woman moaned that she had not sold a single item since morning, this being the beginning of the winter season. 

We bought some shawls and gloves from her for it was imperative that the sales quota for little old ladies should be met.

The man in the next kiosk moaned about his lack of business. He pointed out some sort of dried root which, according to him, were eaten by Taoist taichi master before their retreat. This sweet tasting root sustained them for the period of their meditative retreat. These we bought together with wild mushrooms, red goji, wild jujube and more. In the third kiosk, three from our group were selecting choice turquoise stone mined from these parts. Ms Helena was pleased with our purchase and thanked us for supporting the local community.

After those who went to the top returned, Ms Helena rushed us into the waiting bus. As all temples in WuDang Mountain are closed at 1700, there was a need to move along.

PURPLE CLOUD PALACE There weren't a shade of purple in the clouds over here and I had forgotten to ask Ms Helena why this place was named so. Entrance

After the entrance, more stone steps going up, up, up!

Taichi master and students

View from the top

When we arrived at The Purple Cloud Palace at 1630, the place was eerily quiet. There were no shopping kiosks opened. We were the only tourist. Since it was past 1700, our next destination (Prince Slope) is closed. This was a palace formerly occupied by a 10 year old Crown Prince. The bus picked us up and dropped us at the foothill of WuDang Mountain. From there, it was a short walk towards dinner and the hotel we occupied last night. Our coach was waiting for us at the hotel. It was another 2 hours before we reached our hotel at XianYang City. My fitness tracker read 8427 steps.