Posted: Soumis par sxd (10) le sam, 2006-06-03 13:59. | Sujet: Majestic Emeishan - Sichuan - Chengdu - Emei Mountain

Hiking Sichuan - Emeishan In my day, I've done some hiking. While admittedly, not the most technical trails in the world, arguably, some of the most spectacularly scenic; like the Superstition Mountains in Arizona; the Canadian Rockies near Banff or the Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario. Measuring up to all of them, stands Emeishan in Sichuan Province, little more than an hour's drive from Chengdu. And with the added bonus of a stay at a monastery perched on a sheer cliff edge at 3,100m, your hike of Emei Mountain, with its humbling terrain and breath-taking reach to the stars at the summit in the dead of night, may just be the highlight of your entire China experience.

There are plenty of tour buses running out of Chengdu to Emei on a daily basis, so there is no need to plan your overnight trip until you get to Chengdu. You may even find that, once you get here and spend a night at Paul's Oasis, (if you're a hard-core trekker-dude, peacenik type) or a night at the Shamrock (where the long-termer expats hang out on Friday nights) you'll find a few comrades to make it worthwhile to just hire a car out there to the base of Emei. Or better yet, get Peter at www.bikechina.com to arrange a bike tour there for you! Late spring or early fall are the best times to go. For the luxury trekker/photo-snapper, you can take the Gondola instead of the last 2-3 hour run to the top! The photo below is yours truly! Please note the wooden cane. That is not to lean on, but as a deterrent to marauding bands of Emei monkeys, which can be aggressive. There are some handlers on the trails and those handlers all use canes to ward off monkeys from hapless visitors who are being attacked for food. The monkeys will steer clear of you, or at least be more polite to you; should you decide to feed them for a photo op. They seem to have developed a certain respect for the stick! There are people selling them at the base of the trail and all along the trail for 10-30RMB. A good investment!by Matt Vegh