A Humbling Trek on Mt. Emei

ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!! Those are the words to describe my latest adventure!!! I set out at 10am on Saturday May 24th with Kristin and Michael to hike Mt. Emei. I knew it was a "good" hike, but did not really know it until we began the trek. Michael is a German fellow we met at our hostel. He presently lives in Chengdu, is fluent in Mandarin and on his 6th climb of Mt. Emei, which made him the best tour guide for this hike!! We started at Baogou Si, hiked to Huyu Bridge then to Leiyin Si and over to Shen Shui Si (nunnery)...~12kilometers. At Shen Shui Si we were fortunate to observe a spiritual ritual in process. Ahh-mee-tah-foe (phonetically speaking) was the phrase/word being chanted by the nuns along with the beat of drums and bells...I was mesmerized!!! I wish I could have recorded it, but out of respect I did not, but was permitted to take one picture. The picture I was able to capture was of a nun, performing a ceremony on a cylindrical stone pillar that stood (if facing Buddha) on the left side of the entrance to the shrine. The sight was humbling. To see such devotion in any religion is humbling to me. You could hear the devotion in the chanting and in the movements of the nuns...unbelievable!!! I left with a warm heart and knew the rest of the trek would be inspiring. From Shen Shui Si we traversed ~5k more to Qingyin monastery to spend the night!! Two rivers came together at this point and therefore the English translation is Pure Sound monastery. The three of us had our dinner, then sat on our balcony overlooking the river sipping jasmine tea (my favorite)!!! The clear rushing sound of the river and sweet smell and warmth of the tea made for a good night's rest!! The next morning Michael and I headed for the Hard Wok Cafe...yes that's what I wrote!! It took us about 1.5 hrs to get there for the best banana-honey pancakes on Mt. Emei. Peggy's (English name) cafe has been on Mt Emei for the past 25yrs. (Mt Emei's stone path was created 30yrs ago). We complimented her food and hospitality and then moved on to Hongchun Ping (elevation=1120m). Shen Shui Si and Hongchun Ping are 2 of the oldest and active monasteries on Mt. Emei. At Hongchun Ping Michael and I were invited by Buddhist monks to sit and enjoy some tea with them!!! Again...unbelievable!! Again...humbled. We drank tea Taiwanese style...out of smaller than one ounce handle-less clay cups. Michael translated when was I spoken to and when I posed questions to the monks. These guys were extremely friendly and welcoming. They also invited us to have lunch, but unfortunately we just ate and had many more kilometers to hike. We ended up hiking ~60kilometers of staircases and trails in two days!! Viewing some of the most beautiful monasteries with Chinese and Tibetan influences. ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!!