Today we visited Xi Shan (the Western Hills) on the outskirts of Kunming. There are many temples on the hills and it is quite a climb to get to the top. We covered the first part by minibus and then electric cart. We then climbed up 650 steps to the top- but with many stops! My favourite part of the climb was the corridor and grottoes carved out of the hillside by a Taoist monk and helpers between1781 and 1835. What an enormous amount of work! The tunnel on the cliff face is wide enough for two people. Carved into the cliff face along the passageway there are three grottoes with Buddha carvings and other sculptures. Again, what a lot of work.
There were many picturesque temples to visit on the hillside. The most beautiful was the Huating temple, which had some absolutely amazing Buddha sculptures and sculptures of other beings of the religion. This temple was Tim’s favourite spot because of richness of carvings, murals and colour. There were so many great photo opportunities – but not as many as we would have liked as photography in the temples themselves was prohibited
This was a great place to spend the day!
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