This is what we found upon arrival. To one side of the car park is a hotel-restaurant.
On the other side, we got our first taste of the some of the rocks that we would be seeing later.
This is a view of a part of the valley through which the cable cars would take us up to the mid-way station.
Another view of the journey up from the cable car.
Obviously some thought had been given to make even the rubbish bins fit the environment.
Even after taking the cable car, we had to buy another ticket at the mid-way point before would be permitted to walk up the sacred grounds of Taishan, where Chinese emperors used go every spring to make offerings to the god of heaven to avert natural disasters and for prosperity for the nation in the coming year. Outside the ticket booth are rocks supposedly taken from the sacred Taishan. Not a single stone may be removed from the mountain without express Government permission!
More mementos on sale at the table.
Before we reached the South Gate, we had to pass through a row of old buildings.
These have now been turned into hostels and restaurants. Everything up there had to be hand carried by mountain coolies. This fat boy was enjoying his late lunch?
Does it not look like someone kow-towing to passers-by?
This is the "Gate of Heaven". Behind it is the so-called "Path to Heaven". Previously, no one is permitted to cross beyond this point except the Emperor and those directly involved in the "worshipping the god of heaven" rites. That included all ordinary court officials. They all had to wait there for the Emperor to come down after the ceremony was over before talking to him again. Now everyone is permitted to do so.
On a terrace before we mounted the steps to the "Gate of Heaven", there are more souvenir shops.
Another restaurant and tea house one the mountain side of the steps up to the "Gate of Heaven".
Some delicious looking boiled corn outside one of the shops.
More snacks outside another small shop.
A hand-sliced beef noodle shop with mutton from Shanxi.
The" South Gate" Tower to Tai Shan
A view of the surrounding mountains from mid-way up the top of Tai Shan.
If you wish to, you may walk 6,666 steps from the ground up to the "South Gate".
A pavilion for tired feet on the way up.
The steps to the mid-way Gate.
A tourist admiring the view from the entrance to the mid-way Gate. To his right, you'll find a Taoist temple.
The entrance to the Taoist temple.
In the inner court yard of the Taoist temple, you'll find the shrines and metal tripod covered with red strips of people wishing for good luck to themselves or their loved ones.
Such wishes are written on paper and burnt to the Taoist gods and spirits presumably with the magic charm words of the Taoist priests. But for his shoes, one could easily have mistaken the man behind the shrine as someone from a long bygone age!
The prayers and charms being burnt to the gods. Beside the sacrificial metal furnace for burning the prayers and charms to the gods are hundreds of locks, presumably for linking lovers.
Even the tree trunks on the outer court are filled with red bands of charmed words.
A little further up, you find another Buddhist temple.
Close to the top you find a "guest house". It's called "Resting place of the gods"!
A view of the surrounding mountains from about 300 feet to the top.
You can see the color of the mountains getting hazier and hazier the further they are from your point of observation.
A view of the surrounding hills to the north.
A view of the surrounding hills to the south.
Here you get an idea of why even the Emperors came here to make their offerings or to pay homage to Heaven.
There is a sense of closeness to the skies and a certain kind of austerity to the mountain.
The clouds here are simply awe inspiring.
The surrounding hills under the sky.
A view of the sky close to the top of the mountain. The top of the observatory is just barely visible in the centre of the photo.
This is a photograph taken from just about 200 feet from the top of the mountain.
A view from some of those rocks you find in the photo above.
The same rocks from a slightly different angle. You see what is called a "jet stream" going from top right to top left of the photo.
On one side of the mountain is an observatory.
The side of the Buddhist Temple to the Goddess of Heaven.
The Temple of the Goddess of Heaven.
Here in the Temple of the Goddess of Heaven, you find locks: to link men to women.
Here you get a truly panoramic view of the sky and its magnificent clouds.
Another view of the sky.
The clouds were changing shape really fast.
A view of the surrounding hills in the gathering dusk.
But evening was gathering fast.
Some parapets just down from the Temple of the Goddess of Heaven.
The clouds were in a sworl.
Another view of the fast descending sun.
The sky above the roof top of the Taoist temple a little later..
A view of clouds appearing to be swirling around the setting sun.
A view of the sky a little later.
A view of the evening sky.
The setting sun a little further downhill
All the clouds in the sky merging into the carpet like sheet of clouds at the bottom or are they rising therefrom? Heaven knows!
The sun just before it sank below the distant hills.
The sun is sinking beneath the surrounding hills now and this marks the end of my visit to the highest mountain in East China.
山上景色不錯呢！ 特別是黃昏夕照下！ ~~~~~ 到中國旅遊就是這樣、 當抵達目的地、看到美麗景物時、 一切路途上不愉快的枝枝節節、 頓時變得不重要了！ ~~~~~~~~~ ☆☆
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 08:40:29]You're absolutely right. I felt so blessed to be able to witness the beauty, the majesty, the power and the magnificence of Nature in all her splendour.
「登東山而小魯，登泰山而小天下！」山上風光果然氣象萬千，令人茅塞顿開！
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 11:39:59]Not only is Tai Shan tall, it is also massive! Prior to the visit, I thought Huang Shan was better. Now I know that they are both great but in different ways. There is more variety in the scenery of Huang Shan. Compared to Tai Shan, the beauty of Huang Shan appears a bit feminine.
泰山的山勢雄奇，如果天氣晴朗如你所拍攝的，徒步登山會是十分有意思的。^_^
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 11:42:32]According to the local tour guide, we'd probably have to take 6,666 steps up. Not a small number. One must have some prior training before one can do so. Unless you want to punish yourself, I don't think it's a good idea. Meaningful but pretty tough going!
Does the sky lend Tai Shan its grandeur or Tai Shan steal the thunder from the sky? Whatever, it’s magnificent!
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 11:45:03]Nature itself is indifferent. The sky is simply there. So is Tai Shan. No question of "grandeur" one way or another or who benefits whom. Grandeur is a human concept!
I like the sky of Taishan.
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 11:49:55]Me too. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
Amazing journey indeed! it seems that i was also part of that journey even i also recite my wish when i saw a wish tree. Thank you very much for sharing such wonderful information and pictures. U know El Zorro! we Asians have same way of prayers and worships, we also have a wish tree on the shrine of Shah Latif Bhattai and lock a cliff on another shrine in Hyderabad, you would find thousands of cliffs on its gate. anyway! I am grateful for ur sharing
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/15/2011 20:08:14]It's only human to have wishes and to pray to the gods that our wishes may come true although far too often people may wish for things which in the long run would do them more harm than good. People believe in magic words, charms, talisman, spells etc. We think of the gods as more powerful versions of ourselves and could be enticed into granting us our wishes by offering sacrifices to them: a kind of magical tit for tat.
i really fell in love with the photos of with the silhouette !!
回覆刪除[版主回覆11/17/2011 23:15:01]So did I. They were the work of Nature!