Of all the places I visited during my first trip to China, Mount Emei is the one that has stayed with me most clearly.
It wasn’t just the mountain itself. There were several experiences I remember particularly well: discovering a liking for green tea, seeing snow for the first time in my life, the long cable car ride, and a view from the summit unlike anything I had seen before.
Even after almost seventeen years, those memories are still surprisingly vivid.
A taste for green tea
One of the smaller pleasures of the journey to Mount Emei was discovering the local green tea.
Until then, I had always been accustomed to Indian-style tea. Green tea wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed.
What fascinated me was the tea itself.
Unlike the green tea I had seen before, the dried leaves were brown. But once hot water was added, they turned a beautiful bright green.
I remember enjoying that tea so much that it became the beginning of my liking for green tea.
Even after all these years, I still remember that transformation. It’s one of those small experiences from a journey that stays with you, alongside the places and scenery.
The journey to the summit
Another experience I remember clearly was the cable car ride up Mount Emei.
It was a long ride, and the views along the way were spectacular. Even before reaching the summit, the journey up the mountain was an experience in itself.
And then there was the snow.
That was the first time in my life I had ever seen snow. Looking back at the photographs, I can see patches of it around the Golden Summit and along the walkway lined with white elephant statues.
After the cable car ride and seeing snow for the first time, the view from the summit was something else altogether.
We were standing above a sea of clouds, with distant mountain peaks rising through the white expanse.
I was above the clouds myself, looking towards mountain tops that seemed to be floating above them.
It was breathtaking. For a moment, it really did feel like being in heaven.
I remember hearing that those distant peaks might be part of the Himalayas. I don’t know whether that was true, and the photographs don’t establish it. But the sight itself was unforgettable.
The temples on the mountain
The photographs also show another part of our visit to Mount Emei.
One photograph shows Wannian Temple, including its traditional architecture and a plaque with Chinese characters.
I don’t remember the details of that particular visit as clearly as the summit, but the photographs have helped identify some of the places.
They remind me that Mount Emei wasn’t only about the spectacular view from the top. There were quieter places along the journey as well.
Looking back on my first journey to China
When I first travelled to China around Christmas 2009, I couldn’t have known which memories would remain with me all these years later.
There were the illuminated streets of Chongqing, the language difficulties, a small act of honesty at a neighbourhood pharmacy, and the enormous Giant Buddha at Leshan.
Then there was Mount Emei.
The tea leaves changing colour in hot water, seeing snow for the first time, the long cable car ride, and those distant mountain peaks rising above a sea of clouds.
Some of the details of the journey have faded, but those moments haven’t.
It was my first visit to China, and it gave me memories that I still carry with me today.