Mount Emei

Mount Emei (, literally towering Eyebrow Mountain) is a mountain in Sichuan province of Western China. Mount Emei is often written as 峨眉山 and occasionally 峩嵋山 or 峩眉山 but all three are translated as Mount Emei or Mount Emeishan.
At 3,099 m (10,167 ft), Mt. Emei is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. The patron bodhisattva of Emei is Samantabhadra, known in Chinese as Puxian (普贤菩萨).
16th and 17th century sources allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin..
A large surrounding area of countryside is geologically known as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province, a large igneous province generated by the Emeishan Traps volcanic eruptions during the Permian Period.
Mt. Emei was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
The Emei Shan Liocichla, a passerine bird is named after the site.
==Sunrise and Clouds sea==
Great spectacles of Mount Emei include the sunrise and Clouds Sea seen from the Golden Summit of the mountain.
The sunrise is very varied, but optimally begins with the ground and sky being in the same dark purple, soon showing rosy clouds, followed by a bright purple arc and then a semicircle where the sun is coming up. Dreams Travel - Four Great Spectacles of Mt. Emei Retrieved on April 12, 2009
The Clouds Sea includes several cloud phenomena, e.g. clouds appearing in the sky above, in addition to the regular clouds beneath.
==Architecture==
This is the location of the first Buddhist temple built in China in the 1st century CE.
The site has seventy-six Buddhist monasteries of the Ming and Qing period, most of them located near the mountain top. The monasteries demonstrate a flexible architectural style that adapts to the landscape. Some, such as the halls of Baoguosi, are built on terraces of varying levels, while others, including the structures of Leiyinsi, are on raised stilts. Here the fixed plans of Buddhist monasteries of earlier periods are modified or ignored in order to made full use of the natural scenery. The buildings of Qingyinge are laid out in an irregular plot on the narrow piece of land between the Black Dragon River and the White Dragon River. The site is large and the winding foot path is 50 km, taking several days to walk.
Cable cars ease the ascent to the two temples at Jinding (3,077 m), an hour's hike from the mountain's peak.Hayes, Holly (2009) Emei Shan, Sacred Destinations. Updated 24 July 2009.Gluckman, Ron (2002). Getting to the Top, Silk Road, December 2002. Hong Kong; Dragon Airlines.
==Monkeys==
Visitors to Mount Emei will likely see dozens of monkeys who can often be viewed taking food from tourists. Local merchants sell nuts for tourists to feed the monkeys. Some monkeys may be seen eating human food such as potato chips and even drinking soda from discarded bottles. While most of the monkeys look healthy, other monkeys appear out of shape from apparently being fed human food that is not native to the monkey's natural habitat. 
==Images of Mount Emei==
Image:Baoguosi.jpg|Baoguosi- a buddhist temple
Image:CrystalStreamOverpass2.jpg|A wooden bridgewalk over the Crystal Stream, western slopes
Image:MacaqueEmeishan.jpg|Macaque indigenous to the region
Image:Emei shan baby macaque.JPG| baby macaque
==See also==
*Sacred Mountains of China
*Emei Sect
*Zuo Ci
==References==
==External links==
*Mount Emei travel guide from Wikitravel
*Religion and the environment in China, 中国的宗教与环境 - chinadialogue article
*Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha, Scenic Area: official Unesco site
*Tours and Travel to total Solar Eclipse 2009 to China on Mt. Emei Shan
Category:Buddhism in China
Category:Chinese Buddhist Grottoes
Emei, Mount
Emei, Mount
Category:World Heritage Sites in China
Category:Chinese architectural history
Emei
Category:Geography of Sichuan
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