Jiuhua in Clouds and Mist

Located in the southern part of Qingyang County, Anhui Province, Mount Jiuhua is one of the four great Buddhist mountains in China. I have visited all four—the sacred sites of Manjushri, Guanyin, Samantabhadra, and Kshitigarbha—each with its own characteristics and strengths and weaknesses: Putuo is actually an island, known as the 'Buddhist Kingdom on the Sea and Sky,' but the surrounding seawater is not blue at all; it's completely a 'Yellow Sea.' Most of the temples on Wutai are concentrated in Taihuai Town in the central platform, which is a basin with hardly any mountain to speak of. Therefore, among the four great Buddhist mountains, only Emei and Jiuhua truly deserve to be called 'mountains.' However, Emei is located in a remote southwestern corner with inconvenient transportation, while Jiuhua has not only an airport at its foot but also the Hefei–Fuzhou high-speed railway passing through, making transportation relatively convenient. When I went to Jiuhua four years ago, I originally planned to take a bullet train and get off at Tongling North, a journey of five and a half hours. A week before departure, I suddenly discovered online that Sunday flights to Jiuhua were very cheap. After including the airport construction fee, the cost was comparable to the high-speed train ticket, but the travel time was only one hour and twenty minutes—a full four hours less than the bullet train. So I decisively abandoned the train and switched to a plane. I arrived at Jiuhua Airport at 9:10 a.m., and as soon as I walked out of the airport gate, I saw the airport bus waiting there. By 10 a.m., I arrived at Kecun in Jiuhua, where the drop-off point was right behind the tourist distribution center. It was just the start of the off-season, so there weren't many people in the hall. We went in, bought entrance tickets and transportation tickets, and could go straight up the mountain. It was truly a seamless connection, very convenient. In less than half an hour, we reached Jiuhua Street on the mountain. Here, hotels and restaurants abound, but the mist was thick and the ground was damp. For half a month, I had been checking the weather forecast for Jiuhua, and almost every day predicted light rain. The current scene was worrying. After getting off the bus, we turned right up the slope along the main road and quickly found our booked hotel. After a simple lunch, we began today's tour. At the nearby Huxing Mountain boarding point, we took the scenic area shuttle bus straight to the Yuntai Temple cable car station, seven kilometers away. Yuntai Temple is the highest temple on Jiuhua. Even today, getting there is not easy: first, you have to climb a steep set of steps, then take the mountain cable car for over ten minutes, then walk more than 500 meters to reach the Ancient Baijing Terrace, and finally climb several hundred steep steps to arrive. I wonder how many days it took ancient people to go up. But the scenery is always at the highest point. As soon as we got off the cable car, we saw a strange rock that looked just like a standing seahorse, remarkably lifelike. Continuing forward, strange peaks and bizarre rocks came one after another. The most famous is the 'Roc Listening to Sutras Stone' behind the Baijing Terrace Temple, which looks like a bird clinging to the cliff, with a sharp upper part resembling a bird's beak. Local people used to call it the 'Eagle Hanging on the Wall.' From Baijing Terrace, we turned right, and the stone steps first zigzagged upward. Happily, the higher we went, the better the weather became. Blue sky and white clouds appeared, and Yuntai Temple was bathed in the warm winter sunlight. Along the way, we couldn't even wear our down jackets; we had to carry them. Behind Tiantai Temple, there is a narrow strip of land. It is said that the Korean monk Jin Qiaojue once practiced in a cave here, which led to Jiuhua's development into what it is today. Passing through a narrow crevice and leaning on the railing to look into the distance, we saw a patch of clouds below, vaguely revealing pavilions, towers, and pagodas. In the distance, the sky was boundless, lifting our spirits. People say, 'If you haven't been to Yuntai, you haven't really been to Jiuhua,' and it's indeed true. From here, you can also go to the newly opened Huatai scenic area, which is entirely natural scenery without any temples. Returning to the front of Tiantai Temple and looking south, there is a peak connected to it that you can walk directly to. At the top of the peak, two figures were moving—that is Jiuhua's highest peak, Shiwang Peak, at over 1,300 meters, slightly higher than Tiantai Temple. We didn't walk over there. Actually, that spot is the best place to photograph Tiantai Temple. Thinking back later, I felt a bit of regret. After coming down from Yuntai Temple, we wandered around Baijing Terrace, then headed to the upper cable car station, planning to walk down the mountain. Before the trip, when I was researching, I saw a netizen say that you could take the cable car up and walk down in just 40 minutes. I thought the advantage of independent travel is freedom, and 40 minutes is nothing. But at the upper cable car station, we didn't see the downhill trail entrance. When we asked, we were told the entrance was at Baijing Terrace. Actually, there was a panoramic map right next to the upper cable car station, but at the time, we were focused on going up and didn't look carefully. After some study, we decided to return to Baijing Terrace and walk down from there. There was indeed a hidden entrance next to Baijing Terrace. Walking down from there was quite peaceful, but we noticed more people going up than coming down, and we couldn't help but admire their courage and perseverance. This newly built path had even and flat stone steps, with cliff carvings like 'The Number One Mountain South of the Yangtze' along the way. A small stream accompanied us the whole way, with babbling water that was drinkable directly. Along the way, several small yellow nunneries stood away from the noise, with not much incense burning. These are truly good places for monks and nuns to cultivate their minds. Near the foot of the mountain, the green bamboo was lush, but the mist started to rise again. After an hour and a half, we finally saw the famous Phoenix Pine, with its unique shape and umbrella-like branches and leaves. Behind it was a large complex of nunneries. We returned to the intersection at the lower cable car station where we had boarded at noon, then took the scenic shuttle back to Jiuhua Street. Here, the mist was still thick. After dinner, we strolled to the Qiyuan Temple, where evening chanting was taking place. Buddhist devotees dressed in black and monks in yellow chanted sutras together in the hall, seeking spiritual comfort. The next morning, we went to Jiuhua Street. The important temples of Jiuhua are all concentrated here. Besides the Qiyuan Temple we had visited the previous night on the left, a short walk to the right brought us to Jiuhua's most magnificent and exquisite temple, Zhantan Chanlin. It consists of three main halls arranged in a pin-shaped layout, with spacious surroundings and towering Buddha statues, completely different in style from other temples on Jiuhua. However, except for the one on the right, which is a bit old, the rest are newly built—perhaps donated by some wealthy patron. Continuing forward and turning left up the hill, we reached Shangchán Hall. There is a Jinsha Spring in the backyard, with a pavilion built by it. The three characters 'Jinsha Spring' were inscribed by the great poet Li Bai. It seems Li Bai had a deep connection with Jiuhua. Originally named Jiuzi Mountain (which lacked literary grace), it was later renamed Jiuhua Mountain because of Li Bai's poem: 'Miao you fen liang qi, ling shan kai jiu hua' and his verse 'Xi zai jiujiang shang, yao wang jiu hua feng.' I never expected he would also name a spring, which shows his deep affection for Jiuhua. I think a statue of him should be erected at the three-way intersection on Jiuhua Street to honor his contribution to Jiuhua. To the right of Shangchán Hall is the back gate of the Roushen Baodian (Bodily Relic Hall). As the name suggests, it houses the incorruptible body of an eminent monk. When we entered and asked an old monk, he said it was hidden in the pagoda and couldn't be seen. Puzzled, we climbed to the top and entered the main hall, which was different from other temples—instead of a common Buddha statue in the center, there was a tall wooden pagoda. It is said that inside the pagoda is the bodily relic of Jin Qiaojue, so indeed ordinary people cannot see it. Descending from here, we followed a long corridor of stone steps, layer upon layer, with an impressive atmosphere. When Jiang Zemin visited, he inscribed the temple's name. But due to the heavy fog, like the previous temples, we could only vaguely make out the building outlines. Finally, we arrived at the founding temple of Jiuhua, Huacheng Temple, in a corner of Jiuhua Street. This is the oldest temple on Jiuhua, built in 401 AD, with plaques bestowed by Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong. In front of the temple, there is a crescent-shaped release pond and a square, but few visitors. The shops on both sides were playing music loudly. In the afternoon, we took a one-way cable car for 45 yuan to Baisui Palace, which took only three minutes to reach the top of Chaxiao Peak. At the foot of the mountain, clouds and mist blocked the view, but at the top it was perfectly clear, with all the clouds and mist in the valley below. However, the distant mountain-shaped reclining Buddha was still invisible. According to the sign, we walked left for over a hundred meters to Baisui Palace, which also houses the bodily relic of an eminent monk. But it was encased in a glass box, so we could see it clearly—a full-body gilded figure, though it appeared thin, dry, and short. Returning the same way to the upper cable car station, we couldn't find the sign for Dongya Temple. After asking, we were told to go right. But in stark contrast to the Baisui Palace route, the path was covered with fallen leaves, uncleaned, and the stone steps seemed poorly maintained. We didn't see a single tourist along the way. Just as I was feeling puzzled, we saw the temple ahead, half-hidden by trees. Dongya Temple is built on the edge of a cliff, in a superb location. It offers views of the surging clouds in the east valley and a panoramic view of Jiuhua Street at the foot of the west mountain. The various buildings stood in close succession, looking like a city in the mountains. Jiuhua Street winds through in an S-shape, with floating clouds and mist sometimes revealing and sometimes hiding it, making it seem like a fairyland fallen to earth. Leaving Dongya Temple, we descended the mountain. The path was quiet and serene, with lush forests. A few maple trees had yellow leaves, scattering a carpet of fallen leaves. Near Huixiang Pavilion, there was an old pine tree, but it had no name. On a small hill ahead stood a pagoda—the cloud-top building we had seen from Tiantai Temple. But we didn't go up; we turned right and descended directly, eventually returning to Jiuhua Street at Tonghui Nunnery. Thus ended our one-and-a-half-day tour of Jiuhua Mountain. It was damp and cold on the mountain. That evening, we ordered beef hotpot at the hotel restaurant and had a hearty meal to celebrate the smooth and successful trip. Our biggest worry—the weather—had not appeared. Not only was there no rain in the mountain, but it was sunny with some clouds. Only the Jiuhua Street area was shrouded in clouds and mist, which somewhat affected our temple visits. Having visited all four great Buddhist mountains, each has its own features. Putuo, Wutai, and Emei have relatively large temples but not many—only about a dozen each. Jiuhua, on the other hand, has numerous small temples, said to total 99, and many are located in the streets, adjacent to hotels and homes, close to secular life. Visitors can experience the atmosphere of morning bells and evening drums and the lingering fragrance of incense. Another feature of Jiuhua is its well-developed supporting facilities: transportation connections are seamless, shopping and dining are extremely convenient, and accommodation is available both on and off the mountain, making it very suitable for independent travel. We chose to stay on the mountain, avoiding back-and-forth travel, and the tickets and transportation passes are valid for three days, so there was no worry about expiration.