The alarm stirred us early - needed to get all the morning routines completed before we could tackle the day and certainly had to co-ordinate the lift access. All a breeze because for this over nighter we just had our backpacks.
@Von had given everyone the heads up the night before to assemble in our room for a team photo. Have to take advantage of those white robes when the opportunity presented itself and I concede that this little detour may have added to the forgetfulness that was about to follow.
... and you can clearly see the beautiful rolling mountains through the morning "mist"
We reported to brekkie on time
and at some stage when everyone took a deep relaxing breath @Carolyn and @Julie realised they didn't have their key! The room key is used to initiate the power in the room and they had walked out without it. Had to down chopsticks and get some help from the Front Desk. Success - they had a solution for the key.
Meanwhile, @Cheryl was feeling a little light on because she was without her gold jewellery - it was back in the room. So, it was her turn to down chop sticks and head up to the room in order to bejewell herself. All now seemed right in the universe ..... EXCEPT .... @Cheryl had left her key card in the power supply and now @Denise and @Cheryl were locked out of their room.
Remember, all this to-ing and froing can only be achieved via the single lift. It was @Denise's turn to now beu on the hunt for assistance and just as the 20 year old receptionist was available to help her, 40 Vietnamese tourists from the next bus were queued in front of the single lift. "Let's take the stairs" challenged @Denise - and off they flew.
According to @Denise, they RAN up the stairs and of course, by floor 6, the 20 year old had wilted and @Denise powered victorious to floor 7. Rocky has nothing on her. And after her return run down the stairs to join us at breakfast, she was a little hot and bothered and looked like she had actually been in the ring for a few rounds with @Rocky.
@Von and I just completed bag- sitting duties because we have a secret weapon for the power supply - we just use an old expired gift card .... stick it in the slot and don't have a care in the world.
What did we do today?
Bao Gua Temple
An appropriate visit to start that day becuase we really needed to give thanks for the success we had this morning in reclaiming all our lost bits.
The temple is in a beautiful location, set at the base of Mount Emei, and @Leila had shared that this historic Buddhist site was founded in the Ming Dynasty and it blends Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Her intro had also included that the Communist Party doesn't "inspire" its members to practise a religion but she does make offerings in the Temple because she wants "any help she can get" in this life.
Its description bills it as a perfect place for spiritual reflection amd the massive halls, impressive building architecture, incense, chanting of the monks and the red, gold and brown contrasted against the green of the mountain did make you feel relaxed. There was a group participating in a ceremony- the prayers with the monks, writing their wishes and then burning them.
Had a little chat with a group of local ladies who were gathered under a tree and showed them by last little knitting project and they were duly excited for the connection.
Have to say that every moment counts with @Leila and if there is a 30 minute window of opportunity, she takes it. Today, it was all numbers. We were adding and subtracting, dividing and multiplying and somehow amongst the six of us we never seemed to cone up with the right answer. But, the good news was, we had won the upgrade lottery and did get our request. Had to try and do all this while continuing to marvel at the chaning landscape that flashed by the bus windows.
Giant Buddha
Ainother bus ride delivered us to the head of the park to access the boat for river views of the Giant Buddha.
It was about a 20 minute stroll - lots to see along the way - a long easily managed path, dotted with information signage and eventually an array of shops and stalls.
If you didn't want to walk - for the grand sum of 30 yuan - you could take the pedal powered rickshaw. We opted to walk and talk and enjoy the increasingly familar conversation exchange with different groups from the buses. So many people, not really sure if they are group A or B.
The group continues to expand
Boarded the boat, donned the life jacket, marvelled at how quickly the river was flowing and took up prime position on the top deck. The boat slowly made its way around for a full on frontal view of the carving.
Safety first
The Giant Buddha is nestled between two protective steep sided ricks. It is a 71-meter-tall statue carved into a cliff where three rivers meet - which explains the craziness of the current. Built during the Tang Dynasty, starting in 713 CE, it represents Maitreya, the future Buddha, seated calmly with hands on his knees. Local monks hoped the statue would help calm dangerous river currents below.
What makes the Buddha remarkable isn’t just its size, but its engineering. Builders designed hidden drainage channels to protect it from weathering, a system that still works today. Despite centuries of erosion, the statue remains largely intact—a quiet, impressive and commanding figure overlooking the water.
Almost as impressive as the carving were the steps and walkways that were suspended above that were crowded woth walkers. They appeared to be hanging from the face of the rock on a two and a half hour trek. Too much for me!
Getting back was more of the same - walk or take the Rickshaw. Again, venues created on a massive scale - lots of visitors but everything flowing smoothly with plenty of everything to support the crowd
Ruocheng Ancient Town and Lunch
Back on the bus and actually heading in the right direction to return us to Chengdu. This time, the rode was broken with a Lazy Susan lunch (so much food- but it is great to just pick and chose the bits you want) and then an opportunity to walk it off in the Old Town.
The Old Town was a chance for some free time - coffee, shopping, or soaking in the history.
Established during the late Ming Dynasty, this well-preserved town is known for its unique boat-shaped main street the centre piece of which was a large water pool, fountain and streams of shallow water . Families were running a playing in the water streams and the majority had come prepared with water pistols! A definite fun spot.
Each groyp ambled, found food snacks (had lots of samples), bought some more stuff we didn't need, had our photos taken and topped it off with the best $1 ice cream ever!
This was an expansive area with lots of turns and alleyways - and yes, someone did get lost. Wasn't us! @Brendaxand @Katherine had to use the emergency contact details to ring @Leilah. They gave descriptions of what they could see around them and the @Leila made a dash back into the old town to find them. Great to know the system works - although @Brenda did have the advantage of speaking Chinese.
We were actually all accounted for and sitting rather smugly on the bus - proud that we had navigated the old town and made our way back. Until we saw @Leila marching down the aisle towards us with a black back pack in hand. A shop owner had found the bag in their shop amd used CCTV footage to identify and then trace the owner. We would probably have been 90 minutes along the road and back in our hotel, before @Cheryl noticed her treasures were gone. Wow, wow and wow - so honest, so persistent and how miraculous that the shop owner knew what group leader to find.
Dinner and the banks
So much food - we decided to eat local. Just found some fruit and noodles in the local shops and concocted something in our rooms. Part of the shopping expedition was to cash up to pay for the upcoming excursions and extras. @Carolyn and I had our first encounter with the ATM and the Wise cards and it worked like a charm. Just hope all our calculations are correct!
It's OK, it's yuan not AUD
Pulled up a dinner circle in our room, finalised plans for the morning, recalculated the recalculation of the finances and settled down for the evening. Another great day made in China.
Straight from the itinerary
This morning, enjoy some free time to explore the area at your own pace or join an optional tour to visit the famous Ruocheng Ancient Town. In the afternoon
you’ll visit Bao Guo Temple, the largest temple at Emei Mountain which is the doorway to the mountain as well as the centre of Buddhist activity of Emei
Mountain, before returning to Chengdu in the evening. Optional Activity: Ruocheng Ancient Town & Lunch This is one of the most beautiful old towns in Western
China where you’ll find ancient streets scattered with stores selling local snacks and special old objects, ancient trees that have been towering for more than
one hundred years, ancient folk houses have been built in pile dwelling style, and traditional activities of Sichuan are ever-present.
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