Dajueshan (Big Feeling Mountain)

Today, because I didn't really have any plans, and because there are no churches in Zixi, I decide to check out the scenery. I just asked the main desk what nice places there were to visit in the area, and I was off to Dajueshan. It isn't too far out of town - about 10km, and I got a taxi to take me directly out there. Right now, the mountain is under control of a "company" and I got my first taste of rural resistance. As we were driving there, the road was blocked by villagers, who had constructed a blockade and were charging people money to pass. I should have had the sense to take a picture of it, because it would have been a sweet picture. I got out of the taxi, and was waiting for the company's car to come pick me up (the taxi wasn't going through), and while I was waiting, I had a bit of a chance to talk to the villagers (I mean, this sort of stuff is why I'm here!!!!), who were protesting the acquisition of part of the village's land by the mountain company that was doing work on Dajueshan. Also, they were angry that jobs were not made available to them, and they felt they hadn't been adequately compensated for the land taken from them. The village chair was leading the protest, and it would be an interesting village to check out - I'll have to check if the ministry of civil affairs people will let me or not. I doubt it though. Very interesting. Of course it was illegal - and just as I was leaving in the company car, the police showed up. I would have liked to see what happened, but I didn't really have the chance.

Anyways, as I mentioned, a company was working on developing the mountain into a tourist resort. Currently, there is no entrance ticket, although there will be in a couple years. Apparently, already about 300,000,000 RMB upgrading the place (san yi, or about 38 million US)! So, I imagine the ticket price will be quite high - although the people working there insisted it wouldn't be that pricey. The main way they are making money right now is though their "rafting" trip, which I was invited to take many times. It actually looked pretty cool, but it is kind of sad what they did to the river. In places where it is steep, they constructed concrete slides - all along the river - to the point that it resembles a long waterslide more than a river. At the top of the river is a dam - the river's flow on it's own isn't strong enough, so they dam the river almost completely, and open it up to let people float down it! As I was walking up past the river, they hadn't really opened the dam yet, so there was almost no water - and I was thinking that it would be really lame/impossible to float down it - I didn't know about the dam.

This is the entrance to the park - all the smoke is from tar that they are using to build a road.

Anyways, I got up into the mountains. The scenery was incredible, and I took a zillion pictures (which you won't see on the blog until I get home and add pictures).

Going up the road - I could have paid 15 yuan each way, but it was only 3.6km so I walked it.

Continuing up the road.

Looking out at the reservoir behind the dam. After the dam, the road ended and the actual trail began.

A butterfly - I thought this was cool that I got this close to it - I'm probably about 6 inches away!

A nice view on the way up to the temple.

The forecast for today was for rain, but it was actually fairly sunny and nice! Actually, this walk was almost magical. I hiked up to a Buddhist temple that was located essentially on a cave located at the top of a giant cliff. You could look out and see forever - it was amazing. It absolutely took my breath away. I kept going on the trail, and got up above the temple, and could look out forever. I really can't describe what a special hike this was to me. Hopefully the pictures came out well.

Me in front of the temple. I couldn't take pictures inside as it is an active temple. The decorations inside were really beautiful.

A look at the exterior of the temple.

Anyways, I came back down the temple, and I had a good chance to talk with one of the monks there, who had been living there for probably 50 years. He had been there during the Cultural Revolution, and the entire temple had been destroyed, to the point the it was just an empty cave. And this was a temple that he said was over 1000 years old. Pretty sad. It is actually possible to spend the night in the temple as they have some places to sleep - I didn't ask how much it would cost, but I think that would make a very memorable vacation to spend the night there. Also, they made a wonderful vegetarian lunch (6 yuan a person) and I ate a ton of food, to the point that when I went down the mountain it was uncomfortable. Lots of wonderful vegetables and such - it was great. Plus, I didn't have to order (I am terrible at ordering food in Chinese. I never know what I'm going to get). What was really nice was to just sit in the cool temple cave - it was so peaceful and quiet. I just wish that Melanie could have been with me. Maybe we'll try to make it here sometime.

Something that I noted in the temple was a line written on the wall - ai guo bu wang nian fo (direct translation: patriotism don't forget to worship buddha - as in don't let patriotism for China cause you to lose your religion). I found that to be quite profound - it is probably a reflection of the monk who I talked to who had gone through the Cultural Revolution and seen his temple destroyed. However, I think that the threat to that temple today probably isn't patriotism as much as capitalism. It seems that many temples in China have been reduced to tourist attractions - there's something about that that disturbs me - it's like you are going to a museum to see what religion was or something like that. I guess it's not that different than paying to go into a cathedral, like Notre Dame - but I hope that the development that is coming to Dajueshan will not kill the peaceful and quiet spirit that I felt in that temple today.

Continuing up past the temple. This picture was taken by a group of professional photographers, so that must make it a good picture right?

A nice view at the top of the mountain.

Another view at the top, in the other direction. Mountains as far as the eye can see.

Anyways, along the path, I met and talked with quite a few people - most of the people there are from Zixi, and I think that entrance fees in a couple years will probably make it impossible for many who live there to visit this mountain. Really - I wish that this company had never gotten control of this mountain - they are going to take it and turn it into the cheap circus that I experienced at Longhushan. In a couple years, I think it will be much more difficult to enjoy the mountain as much as I did today. Really, it makes me grateful for the national parks systems that we have in Canada and the US - yes, those can be overtouristy as well, but at least they actually take care of the environment there as opposed to turning it into a cheap tourist attraction (by building a dam so you can control the water flow for your cement-covered river). If only China had a stronger government, they could take more control of these things.