a.Brief Introduction
Here there is a well-protected landscape that contains a diversenatural environment and a rich cultural heritage. Biologically, thearea hosts some 3,200 plant species and 2,300 animal species. There area number of threatened species, some being endemic to Mt. Emei. Atopthe Golden Summit, which is 3,077 m high, one can enjoy the sunrise,seas of clouds, the "Buddha's halo and the sunset glow.
Mt. Emei's history has been recorded for over 2,000 years, duringwhich time a rich Buddhist cultural heritage has accumulated. Withinthe beamless hall of the Wannian Temple, a hall with outstandingarchitectural features, towers a bronze statue of Samantabhadra. Castin 980 AD in the Song Dynasty, it is 7.85 m high, weighs 62 tons and isone of China's important cultural relics. The Baoguo Temple is the siteof flourishing Buddhist activities. The Fuhu Temple, the largest templeon the mountain, is surrounded by ancient nanmu trees.
The Leshan Giant Buddha scenic area, which covers 2.5 sq. km, isfamous for its Giant Buddha statue, said to be the biggest Buddhastatue in the world. The way in which the cultural features have beenintegrated with the natural scenery is considered to be a preciouslegacy. The Giant Buddha statue, carved on the mountain, stands 71 mhigh, with its back against Mt. Jiuding and facing the confluence ofthe Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. There are more than 90 stonecarvings and Buddhist shrines on both sides of the Giant Buddha.
Other cultural artifacts include the Lidui (a large rock cut in thecenter of the river for irrigation purposes by Li Bing of the QinDynasty), Mt. Wuyou, Han tombs, Buddha statues of the Tang and SongDynasties, and pagodas, temples and architectural complexes of the Mingand Qing Dynasties.
b.Cultural Heritage
With large number of cultural and historic relics, Mt Emei and theLeshan Giant Buddha scenic area leave rich historic and monumentallegacy. They are common heritage of the mankind.
c.Natural Heritage
Mt. Emei is blessed with a world-acclaimed natural heritage. Beloware details of selected items of landscape, geomorphic features,vegetation and fauna.
1. Major scenes
The Site contains a diverse natural environment. Along the 60kilometers trail up to the mountain there are hundreds of naturalscenic spots. Brief information of major ones are given as follows:
Scene
| Location
| Features
|
Palaces in Clouds
| Golden Summit
| Atopthe Wanfoding Summit, looking east, one will enjoy the seas of cloudsunder blue and clear sky. The Golden Summit is just towering aloft inthe clouds. Magnificent temples and other buildings can be dimly seenin the sun, just like the mysterious Buddhist palaces.
|
Sunrise on the Golden Summit
| Golden Summit
| Theday is dawning. On the eastern horizon, a purple sun rises slowly.Suddenly it jumps up with all its shimmering rays. The whole mountainthen is in the golden sunshine.
|
Leshan Giant Buddha
| Mt. Lingyun
| Theworld's highest stone statue of Maitreya is carved on the Mt. Lingyun,facing the Dadu River. Viewed from a distance, the mountain is in thefigure of a Buddha while the Giant Buddha also looks like a mountain.The cultural heritage is in perfect harmony with the natural landscape.
|
Surging Spring
| Maohe-gou Ravine
| Thespring is near Maohegou. It is too deep to be sounded, with a diameterof 4 meters at the mouth. Every noon in fine weathers, water spurs outand a colorful ring of light appears over the spring in the sunshine,moving with the surging water.
|
2. Physical features
The most varied topography of Mt. Emei includes a range of landscapeof high peaks and deep gullies. These landscapes are direct result ofspecial geological structure of Mt.Emei. The majority of the latePrecambrian sedimentary strata are well developed. The Mt. Emei basaltof late Permian is of particular stratigraphic significance.
d.Buddha's halo and Holy lights
Buddha's halo
This is a special physical phenomenon. When the sun projects theshadow of the viewer on the clouds in front of him or her, ice crystalsand tiny drops of water in the clouds may reflect the light to form arainbow around the shadow. Only in few places with appropriate sync oflight, landform and clouds could the halo be enjoyed.
Holy lights
On evenings when the moon can not be observed (either in the earlyor late period of a lunar month), and after rain, tourists may seecountless shining balls of light rising from the foot of the cliff andfloating up in the air. This is the mysterious scene of holy lights.
