Day 25 武当山

2 routes, we either climb wudang shan or we watch monkeys perform, I decided on climbing the mountain since majority were and I wanted to know how magnificent the view is from the top of the mountain.
Assembling at 7.30am at the hotel lobby, (oh how much I miss you hotel room)

And we headed in the direction of the mountain. At first the route seems simple and it short, but as we walked and walked and walked I realized there was no ending!

This mountain looks like face !

The never ending road!

 

I was lagging behind after the first so one of the WUST staff kept pushing me, like literally push and that made me very annoyed because everyone has a different stamina and different strength she can’t expect me to move at the same speed as the people way in front of me, however if I were to think in her point of view, she needs us to move faster in order not to push back the other plans that were plan for the day. At one point of the journey up all I wanted to do was sit down and just give up, it was really tiring and due to the fact that I haven’t exercised for god knows how many years. BUT I persevere on because no one gave up and for the fact I was already there, why not just continue at my own pace right?! Both Teeli and I climbed up, step after step, hundred and thousand and millions of steps later WE FINALLY REACHED! The sense of satisfaction was great even though we weren’t the first at least we didn’t give up and that’s what matters. Like whatever we do in your studies, we shouldn’t give up half way we have to complete whatever we have started and not just leave it there to dangle and let others to finish it for you.

 

At the top, we were given our tickets to get into Wudang Mountains bronze roof temple. This roof is really special, when sunlight shines upon it, it will turn gold and it really looks very cool and the view was even nicer!

 

 

the detail on the roof very very detailed -I LIKE!

At this viewing platform, it was as if you were in heaven the clouds seem to be at your reach and you could just touch them. When I was up there the same WUST teacher saw me and ask, “Was it all worth it?” (Because on the way up I was telling her I wanted to give up). Indeed it was, cause the sense of satisfaction was something that I will not get to experience again. Even if I climb Mount Everest, it’s not going to be the same route, not the same difficulty, IT’S JUST NOT THE SAME!

don't we look like the picture at the background?

finally back to civilisation!

The journey back down wasn’t as bad as the journey up, but none the less it is still tiring, because of personal stamina and all, we arrived at different timings but that can’t be blamed right?! We were rushed out of the hotel lobby to get into those little shuttle buses and down the mountain, when we reached the foot, my thigh cramped up and I couldn’t walk at all! I felt pretty useless and crippled, but the people around me stayed back and help me, if it weren’t for them I would have looked like a fool sitting in the middle of the road with my leg stretched out. This shows no one can stand in the world be themselves, they need people in their lives. No matter how strong or good you are, you need people to be around to back you up when you fall and to support you in whatever you do.

We had to rush through lunch ( at this time it was already 4pm :O) and we only got back to the hostel at 9.30PM, washed up and went to bed

Day 24- Journey to 武当山

27/03/10
Mac delivery for breakfast to start off our journey to 武当山! As usual on the way there the tour guide will give a breakdown of what’s going to happen in the next few days and what to expect.



She told us that 武当山 is known for its many Taoist monasteries, which lead them to become one of the academic centres for research, teaching and practise of meditation, Chinese martial arts, and traditional Chinese medicine.
The temples and palaces in Wudang date back to the Ming dynasty, thousands of years ago they are still standing strong with only minimal renovations because of weathering and what not. This has shown that china has been through a lot to be where it is now, the epic centre for business, culture and nature.
Lunch at some restaurant, not only was all the dishes were vegetables there was donkey meat which really spoilt my appetite for that afternoon. :/ after this incident I am more cautious with what I eat, anything that doesn’t look like chicken, pork or beef I WON’T TOUCH donkey R.I.P.




A 5 hour journey to the foot of the mountain, and after that the tour guide went to get our tickets while we stood at a corner, the place was all empty, when out of a sudden there was a stampede of people! The local tourist was pushing their way in to get seat in the shuttle buses, this really irks me because there is plenty of buses and there is plenty of seat THERE ISN’T A NEED TO RUSH FOR THEM IT DOENS’T MEAN THAT YOU GET UP FIRST YOU’LL GET A MILLION DOLLARS! We can’t blame them as they are brought up like this the day they were born, and changing them would be impossible unless everyone is willing to start from scratch nothing will happen.



The sudden crowd





According to the tour guide he is coming to the mountain to his Taoism practices. And it’s very common even for girls

On the way up we stopped by different temples, one of the place was called da zip po, however I have no interest with it because I’m not Taoist (no religion war intended).However I am very interested with the structure and how it was built, even after so many years it’s still standing strong and people of this and future generation can visit it and the history will last forever.









Next stop we went to yet another temple. This one was more special, there was this tea tasting place, it was brewed from the finest leaves collected and by the most traditional way with traditional tea sets!





After which we checked into the hotel, and I must say it has to be one of the better stay here in Wuhan, Television, bathtub and way bigger and more comfy bed than the hostel’s, it really reminds me of home.

Heading to yet another temple! But this time we were allowed to walk at our own pace, and explore the wudanshan ourselves, both Teeli and I decided to stay lower part of the mountain because we wanted to conserve energy for tomorrow’s climb up the mountain to see the copper house at the peak!











Dinner was equally tasteless! Seven dish of vegetables. More than enough to make me feel as if i was a nun!

Day 23- IS

It’s our last IS lesson today, we learnt about the history of Chinese philosophy and culture. They have plenty practices such as the boss has to sit facing the door and the smallest staff have to sit back facing the door plus he/she has to foot the bill! This does not happen in Singapore, usually in Singapore, the boss will give the treat and they do not practice such seating arrangements.
After that we were given this worksheet, where we have to give perspective of different scenario, there was one scenario where this guy (the china guy) he plays host to this American guy, he does everything with him when the American guy was in china, but when the china guy went to America he didn’t get the same treatment and the china guy wasn’t happy with him and didn’t want to talk to him ever again. In my perspective I feel that it’s okay however in the perspective of China people, they want the same treatment as they give others and they feel that they are obligated to bring them all around and follow them wherever the visitor wants.