Day19 & 20 in Hubei

“Come as we are in One, Climb as we are as one, together we are one, in mountains we peaked, in time we spend, we are one. “
-IaN Ignatius Lim

This time it’s different. I started out using a quote.
So unusually, we set out at 0600 early in the morning for the 6hours long bus ride to Wudang Mountain. Just a note that Wuhan is in Hubei so you can imagine how big Hubei is. Unlike Singapore, end to end at most takes you approx. 1hour and here, not end to end takes you a long straining trip of 6hours. Well as usual, having to wake up so early in the morning means that one will be super duper tired and yes! We slept throughout the 6long hours of bus ride.

We arrived at around 12pm and settled for lunch at somewhere near the foot of Wudang Mountain. Food there was not bad only that it’s filled with lots of vegetable and not that tasty after all considering that it is in a quite posh restaurant. And on a side note, toilet there was super disgusting as its filled with many unwanted stuff ranging from un-flushed shit to vomits to overflowing urine. But surprise surprise! No smell at all. This shows the power of the ventilation they installed there.

So soon after lunch, we set off to Wudang Mountain officially and toured 3 main destinations at the mountain which is Tai zi slope, zi xiao gong and nan yan gong respectively. Wudang Mountain is known for its Taoism and Wushu blended in with peace and tranquility and essences of the earth. But after it has been turned into a tourism hotspot, some of its hidden essences of the mountain have been literally killed by tourism. As I walked through parts and parts of the mountains, I realized that there were rubbish such as plastic bottles that was thrown freely into bushed and trees ruining its original serenity of the place. Tourism can bring a place to life but at the same time ruin its original image.

So firstly, we got onto the bus that travels around destination spots of Wudang Mountain to our 1st stop which is Crown Prince Slope. This slope includes the Dragon- Return temple, Old monarch’s hall and some other temple. Transport there is very convenient and the buildings there were built according to story of Emperor Zhenwu’s cultivation. One of the most amazing things there was the one pillar twelve griders which shows the intelligence of human beings to be able to come up with such architectures. It’s just how amazing they can come up with this kind of buildings with simple tools available in that era.

2nd place we visited is the Purple cloud palace; this place is thought to be the blessed place. All the buildings in the region are arrayed along the axis and it includes the Green Dragon and white tiger palace and many others. The palace is used as a place for prayers for royal families in that time so its furnished with many exquisite furniture. This place is a lot the source for Taoism.

The last place we visited is the South Cliff. This place is filled with the beauty of dense forest and magnificent mountains and a touch of grand building which is very imposing. This is the good spot for scenery. The most amazing thing about this place is The Dragon-head perfume which is a stone sculpture of a dragon’s head which faces the Golden peak for praying purposes. At the head, there is a incense burner where people in the past walked through the thin and narrow dragon body to offer incense to the God’s , at the same time endangering their own life. Thousands of life has been claimed by it and it has since been forbidden to do so anymore since the Qing Dynasty where Emperor KangXi set fence around the dragon head. Well it is simply Magnificent and amazing.

After the whole tour, we settled for dinner at the same place we had our lunch. Dinner wasn’t good either. So after dinner, we were settled to our hotel for rest. Anticipating the conditions of our hotel. It’s only a 5mins ride to the hotel. Seriously surprised about the greatness of our hotel as we settled into Wudang Mountain hotel. Hot water!!! Oh yea. Seriously good. At that very night, we LSCT had meeting in our room on the topic, “To climb or not to climb “as the other group, MDE, EE, ECE were planning to cable car up the mountain of altitude of 1612m. So we either had to join in with the others or stay insistent on climbing up the mountain. So the verdict is, we shall all climb! So we went to the nearby provision shop to stock up stuff for the climb.

Slept at around 1+ and woke up early in the morning 6am with a morning call from the lobby desk. Service there was wonderful and fantastic. No complains about it at all. So we set off about 6.30 to the very same restaurant for breakfast. Well breakfast was the very usual ones, porridge, man tou and soy bean and more.

So after the hearty breakfast, we’re all set to peak Wudang Mountain! Although the way up the mountains was filled with lots and lots of steps approx. around a thousand or so. Seriously straining and tiring. But as long as we’re together as one, we can make it. Through the way up, we almost gave up and went back down. But we had each other to encourage and push us on and finally, we reached the peaked of the Mountain after all ordeals. Well all I want to say is Congrats XinHui!! You made it!!! Seriously touched and inspired by her to continue to preserve on even though she really could not take it anymore. But all in all, we have officially conquered Wudang Mountain. Well Done peeps. =) We have made it to the Golden Peak which is the highest point of the mountain. At this spot, you can enjoy the sense of surprise and piety that will imbue you and the sight of clouds below your feet left you astonished and loss for words. From the point, you can see the panoramic view of the beauty of Wudang Mountain with its 72 peak view. The bridge there is filled with locks that symbolize love, personal and families.

After which, we cable car down to the foot of the mountain and went on for lunch at the nearby restaurant. Food there were nicer as compared to the one we had.

So bus back to WUST =) another dreading 6hours ride.

Just Some pictures from Yong Qi's Camera.
Thanks =)

For More pictures, Refer to http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p231/aberfocation/Wudang%20Mountain/