One of the highlights of my second visit to China was taking a pilgrimage up a mountain just on the outskirts of Chongqing. This entire mountain belongs to a Buddhist sanctuary, with numerous temples and facilities scattered throughout the mountain.
I set off with many members of my fiancee's family from the city of Chongqing in the early morning. The weather was a little chilly to start, but climbing the steps ascending from Chongqing warmed us up very quickly, and the sun was welcome that day. This mountain had many trees, and was the closest I had come to seeing a forest near the city of Chongqing - it was quite beautiful.
We eventually reached a halfway point up the mountain, where there was a small vegetarian restaurant with excellent food. We enjoyed lunch there, and sat around taking in the view. There are places to purchase and burn incense along the way, which my fiancee did as an offering. We stopped at numerous mini temples along the way, with various statues of Buddha.
After lunch, we decided to head to the summit of the mountain, where there was another level of temples. There were many steps to climb, and it was quite a workout, but once at the top, the view made it quite worth it. It is hard to imagine how these magnificent temples were constructed so high on the mountain with no roads, just many steps on a path to get there. The view from the top was spectacular, we could see the city of Chongqing through the clouds and haze. This day trip turned out to be quite a rewarding and education trip about my fiancee's family religion.
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