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Today, it is one of Sichuan's most popular tourist destinations. Though huge crowds converge on Emei Shan during peak seasons, you can still find plenty of secluded spots on this vast mountain if you're willing to hike a bit off from the main attractions. Whether you walk and climb all the way or take shortcuts via bus and cable car, Emei Shan offers splendid views of rugged mountains, classical Chinese temple architecture (with some Tibetan characteristics) and insight into Chinese religion, aesthetics and their relationship to the nation's sublime natural landscapes.
Keep an eye out for representations of the six-tusked elephant who symbolizes the Bodhisattva Puxian. Also watch out for pesky monkeys looking to snack on whatever food you might have with you (if held up at a monkey checkpoint, show your hands, palms up and empty, and don't let them intimidate you). The mountain is huge—its long profile seen from a distance gives it its name, which translates to "Eyebrow Mountain" (one belonging to a beautiful woman, of course)—and you can easily spend two or three days trekking about, sleeping in temple guest houses and exploring sites natural and man-made. Sunrise from Jinding (the Golden Summit) can be exquisite. If you're lucky, you might catch sight of "Buddha's Halo," a phenomonon in which your shadow, cast against clouds beneath the peak, takes on a rainbow aura.
Emei Shan's sublime beauty makes it rather apparent why it's sacred to Buddhists. It's not just Buddhists, either—before the Bodhisattva Puxian arrived on his trusty six-tusked elephant in the 6th century, the mountain was primarily a Taoist retreat.
Many claim that China's first Buddhist temple was built on the mountain in the first century BC. It remained a spiritual sanctuary for both religions until, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1634 AD), the mountain experienced a temple-building boom along with the conversion of almost all religious sites to Buddhism.
Given its remoteness and rugged landscape, Emei Shan remained relatively unchanged through the 19th century. By the mid-twentieth century, fires, the war against the Japanese and the destructive excesses of the Cultural Revolution left many of the temples and monasteries worse for the wear, but many have been renovated or rebuilt in recent years.
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