{"id":2018,"date":"2019-12-18T17:07:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T17:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/999millas.net\/?p=2018"},"modified":"2026-08-15T16:20:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:20:45","slug":"wutai-shan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/999millas.net\/en\/2019\/12\/18\/wutai-shan\/","title":{"rendered":"Wutai Shan"},"content":{"rendered":"

WUTAI SHAN<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Wutai Shan is a small, mountainous region in China's Shanxi Province that is, in a sense, secluded from the rest of the world; it consists of a cluster of Buddhist temples arranged around its five hills (Wutai Shan literally means \u201cMountain of the Five Terraces\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It became a magnet for international pilgrims from India, Kashmir, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Korea. With strong support from the Chinese court, the mountain came to be home to more than 360 active temples. The Nanchan Temple and the Foguang Temple, which house the oldest wooden structures in all of China, survive from this golden age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sin
Los siempre alegres y coloridos templos tibetanos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so what\u2019s there to do in Wutai Shan? When you read the travel guides, they\u2019re sure to tell you about the sacred nature of its Five Peaks, the spiritual atmosphere, blah blah blah\u2026 well, it\u2019s not that big of a deal, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let's take a look at the reality\u2014the good and the not-so-good<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WUTAI SHAN: THE GOOD THINGS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where to stay?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wutai Shan is not a \u201ccity,\u201d but rather a sort of region made up of various villages that have sprung up along the winding road leading to its center: the village of Taihuai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So when you're looking for a hotel, it's easier to search within this urban center\u2014in other words, make sure you enter \u201cTaihuai\u201d into the search engine. I say this because once you enter the \u201cregion,\u201d there are hotels being built all along the highway that, while they look nice, are located in desolate areas with no amenities whatsoever: the hotel, the highway, and that's about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn't mean that if you stay at one of these hotels you won't enjoy your visit, but you'll have to take the bus since almost all the \u201cgood stuff\u201d is in Taihuai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to wrap up this topic, don't put too much trust in hotel search engines or the information they provide: some hoteliers are very crafty and tell the search engine that their hotel is in downtown Taihuai when it's actually farther away.... Check the hotel's location through every possible source before booking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Wutai Shan<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Las
Las colinas de Taihuai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Okay, this is what Wutai Shan was like at first: on every hill, a little temple\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you'll have to do some legwork, going up and down hills. There is a paved road leading to the main temples, but for the more remote ones, it's better to walk. Ask your hotel for a map of Taihuai\u2014they all have one\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than ramble on about every little temple (with its accompanying photos), I'm going to talk about the overall atmosphere, what to see in Wutai Shan, and what to expect from each place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the temples\u2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

All the temples are really, really beautiful (especially the ones in Tayuan and Xiantong), but to be honest, there\u2019s not much spirituality to speak of: the (Chinese) tourists are going crazy taking selfies, and the monks seem bored by all the commotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Atav\u00edo
Estar en la taquilla del templo no es nada divertido….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My (humble) impression is that now that they make a living from tourism, they don't really care about much of anything: in addition to the general admission fee to enter Wutai Shan (see below), some of the main temples charge about 10 RMB for admission, so they're certainly not short on money\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it must also be said that there are pilgrims who do take coming here seriously; scenes of devotion are constant and spectacular: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Una
Mirando el m\u00f3vil entre rezo y rezo…..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A curious ritual at the Pusading Temple <\/em><\/strong>(and in all Tibetan temples, to tell the truth): it is the offering of the khata<\/em> to the monks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The khata is a kind of scarf (traditionally white, symbolizing purity) that you buy at the temple when making an offering. People would approach the altar where the monks were seated and raise it above their heads while bowing in reverence. The monks would chant something while the person making the offering remained bowed, and at the end, the person would place the khata at their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, there were khatas of every color here, and a bunch of monks sitting in a row while people crowded around them to receive their \u201cblessing\u201d? I have no idea, but the scene was very moving because these people were really taking it seriously\u2014no selfies, no laughter, no nonsense\u2026
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Tayuan Temple<\/em><\/strong> I was able to watch the Buddhist prostration ritual. What does it involve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There you\u2019ll see some rectangular, marble-like slabs laid on the floor. They aren\u2019t tombs. What people do is perform a full prostration: they kneel at one end and then begin to slide forward, backward, and stand up, forward, backward, and stand up\u2026. One monk did it several times at full speed; he looked like Rocky doing push-ups\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constant prostration is supposed to eliminate your pride and help purify your karma. Except for this hyperactive monk, people would do two or three \u201cpush-ups\u201d and bow their heads to the monks present while\u2026 \u201cpraying\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to leave your mark on history, the wall surrounding the Yuanzhao Temple\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0It's covered with red chalk that lets you write on it. Hundreds of Chinese autographs filled this wall, and, of course, I couldn't be left out\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mi
\u00abMiguel estuvo aqu\u00ed\u00bb….que pintada tan original la m\u00eda….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, it's really nice to visit each of the temples; you discover something new at every one of them. If you go to the Xiantong Temple<\/strong> You'll see this building that shone like gold\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
No es oro todo lo que brilla…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but it's made of bronze\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other activities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you get an early start in the morning, you'll have time to visit them all (the ones on the \u201cmain mountain\u201d)\u2026 but what to do the rest of the day? On the hill across the way, there's another temple (Dailuo) that you can reach via cable car<\/strong>, on foot (phew) or on horseback (right next to the cable car there's a \u201chorse rental\u201d service with a ton of horses crammed into a sort of huge corral)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you're in the mood for some shopping, another option would be to leave the cable car behind and follow the riverbank to a typical street lined with little shops, which leads you up the mountain via a staircase with 1,080 steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Recorriendo
\u00bfA quien no le apetece comerse unas setas desecadas de vez en cuando?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here's this friendly vendor selling what looked like dried mushrooms (?) who agreed to serve as my impromptu model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's all very nice, isn't it? Now let's move on to what the guidebooks don't tell you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WUTAI SHAN: THE WORST PART<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. The Tour of the Five Peaks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You arrive at your hostel late at night, drop your backpack on the floor, and head to the front desk to check in\u2026. Does the owner ask if you\u2019re tired? If you\u2019re hungry? To leave your passport with him? No! He asks if you want to go on the Five Peaks Tour tomorrow\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suppose the profit margin hotel owners make by offering this tour must be enormous (they wanted to charge me a whopping 350 RMB, which I refused); in any case, you only had to see the huge fleet of minivans parked in the Taihuai parking lot to understand just how much demand there must be for this tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think there's a shuttle that takes you to one or more of these hills for free, but since I don't speak Chinese, I couldn't find out any more information (when I went\u2014during the off-season\u2014I didn't see a single Westerner there to ask).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Exorbitant prices at restaurants<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While in China you usually pay 20\u201335 RMB for a meal at a \u201ctypical tourist\u201d restaurant, here they\u2019ve gone completely overboard with prices as surreal as 60 or even 88 RMB for a single dish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The owner of my hostel was pressuring me in the rudest way possible to order one of these dishes, using all sorts of tricks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n