We had a slower morning to relax a little and then assembled to go to Qingcheng mountain which has many Taoist temples. It is one of the four Taoist mountains in China and considered the birthplace of taoism. We visited the front mountain which contained the cultural and historical relics.
This is a shrine for prayers for a good harvest for local villagers.
These lions represent obtaining wealth (mouth open) and keeping that wealth ( mouth closed).
We took a cable car up to bypass much of the steepest parts. The gentleman here did not seem happy we were there and covered his mouth. Our tour guide seated next to him told him he should be wearing a mask which was required in the first place.
As we started climbing the stairs to the top, we passed through several temples.
Of course there are other ways to get up the stairs if you are willing to pay.
On each side of the Temple are other places to pray for something specific. In this one, the right side is for health. The left side is for fertility.
These are female monks or as we would know them as nuns.
At the next temple, there was a cute kitten that wanted some attention. It was so cute and playful I stopped to play on the way down too.
The Taoist monk at the Temple.
I’m folklore, the dragon had 9 children but they are a combination of dragon and turtle. It symbolizes strength and easy pace.
We stopped to enjoy the view from the top and cool off in the nice breezes.
We followed a different path down. Besides the temples, all other structures blend into nature.
From here, we learned our flight was cancelled and we had to book an earlier flight making the next day’s itinerary difficult to complete. We also need to get a COVID test to fly. So we headed to another panda base where testing was nearby and hoped we would see pandas. Of course they were all sleeping inside as it was very hot out. We were supposed to do this the next morning when it was cooler, but the change in flight changed those plans.
We went to the hotel to clean up then ride a bike 2 km to Jingli street. This is a pedestrian street similar to what we went to in the other town. It is a good place to people watch and eat street food. As it turned out, it was a great place for us to be watched. Many people took videos and our pictures which were slightly annoying.
We did not make it very far before we decided we should have a beer as we walked a lot today in hot conditions. Actually, who needs a reason? We also ate sticks with thin sliced veggies and dunked in a spicy sauce. Potato, lotus root, bitter melon…. We also stopped to try other food but I chose stinky tofu. It is fermented but does not taste as some people think. It was pretty spicy.
There was entertainment on the center stage.
There were places to buy and hang prayers for yourself or loved ones.
I have been wanting to try ear picking and they were set up everywhere along this street. They clean your ears and it feels so good as often the inner part of my ear is itchy. They do this thing with a tuning fork kind of device and it feels like the inside of your canal is being tumbled. Not sure how to describe it. In the end I didn’t feel a lot different but over the next few hours my ears felt less clogged.
