Day 27, 28 - 20, 21 September 2008
Do you know who is 张三丰? Haha. Correct! He is the legendary Marital Arts master reputed to have founded Taji Quan, which in turn founded Wudang Sect. 武当派.
So for the past 2 days, all of us headed to Mt. Wudang!
The 5 hour bus journey starting at 8am is our first obstacle to overcome before heading 武当山. To our surprise, the bus driver and tour guide is the same as the one we went to 长江三峡. Fortunately, this time the tour guide did not asked us to sing song etc as he knew that we needed rest.
Approx. 11am, we reached Mt Wudang town for lunch. To some of us, we were a bit surprised about the whole Mt. Wudang. We were expecting the town to be like "A small village beside the mountain". Obviously, that scene belonged to hundred years ago. LOL
Anyway, after meals, we headed to Mt. Wudang for part 1 of visit. Visited 太子坡and trekked at some part of Mt. Wudang. Seriously, Mt. Wudang is really very big and tall, highest peak being 1612m above sea level. OHYA, we came in contact with something we always see floating above us at ground level - The CLOUDS! (fyi, they look like mist too..)
Making contact with clouds is a very wonderful experience. Although you cannot see the water droplets, you can always feel it around you! =D
Back to the restaurant where we had lunch for dinner before checking in at the hotel together. Unfortunately for ECE, they have to be separated into 2 different hotels as there wasn't enough rooms for everyone.
FYI, our hotel name is Finance and Accountant Train Center (财会培训中心). LOL
Day 2 at Mt. Wudang started at 6am when the hotel service personnel gave us a morning knock on the door (like Mr Puah). Breakfast at 6.30am before we leave the hotel at 7am.
Upon reaching the foot of Mt. Wudang again, the whole group of Ngee Ann students are being divided into 2 main groups - 爬山or 坐缆车 to the peak! Haha. I am the only representative from MDE to climb. =P
If I am not wrong, the distance climbed is either 40km or 53km. I would say, it is a memorable challenge for me. Trust me, if you have the chance to come to Mt. Wudang, pls climb and you will enjoy the process. OHYA, don't forget to bu a walking stick! I bought 1 for S$4. Good quality and more importantly, YOU WONT GET SUCH A LOW PRICE IN SINGAPORE! fyi, a lot lecturers bought this walking stick back to Singapore. wahaha =P
Upon reaching the peak at 10.30am (meaning my climb took 2.5 hours la), I was surprised that all my friends, who chose to take the cable car, HAVE NOT REACHED THE TOP YET! Some of them are either in the cable car, reaching or still at the cable car station waiting to board. Apparently, there was some jam or disorganisation at the bottom. =.=
Anyway, by 11am, almost everyone was here and we went up to the peak, known as the Golden Peak (金顶). Over there, you can have a great view of the whole of Mt. Wudang. The air was cooling btw. Some of us engraved names of our family members on 平安锁where we locked it at the peak. =)
After that, we descend the mountain via cable car before heading to the same restaurant (late) for lunch and headed home. By the time we reached home, it was 9pm.
That's all for the weekend!
Some comments about this trip:
1) Some of us are a bit disappointed about when we did not visit the so called "Main Hall" where Zhang San Feng Statute can be found and Taiji Quan masters train. (Those we always see on TV la). Soon after, I realised that it actually existed. However, while blogging, I realised that this place actually existed. HOWEVER, it was burnt down in 2003. =( one good news is that no one was injured and the Zhang San Feng statue was moved away before the whole palace was burnt into ashes. HAIZ
2) Somehow we felt that Mt. Wudang is too commericalised. When we go to this famous Taoist Holy Mountain, something is lacking. However, we are unable to identify what is lacking . Is the tourist attraction being over-exploited? Maybe.
=P
