Mount Emeishan

Mount Emeishan, the well-known mountain dedicated to the bodhisattva Puxian, stands 160km/100mi southwest of Chengdu; its highest peak, the Peak of the Ten Thousand Buddhas (Wanfo Ding), reaches a height of 3099m/10,170ft. It is revered by Chinese Buddhists as one of the four Holy Mountains (the others being Mount Wutaishan in Shanxi province, Mount Jiuhuashan in Anhui province and Mount Putuoshan in Zhejiang province), and is shrouded in myths and legends.

The first Taoist temples on Mount Emeishan were built during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220). From the Tang period (618-907) onwards, however, the mountain became one of the major destinations of Buddhist pilgrims because of the 200 or so shrines which had been built on it over