On Way to & from 九寨沟 Jiu Zhai Gou, China

Along the journey to Jiu Zhai Gou, we visited a Taoping Qiang Village, 羌寨.

The village has history about 2000 years, with only about 98 families left staying in these traditional Qiang style houses made of solid stones.
It is like taking geography lesson travelling to Jiu Zhai Gou via buses. Along the route, it is like revising my secondary geography lessons, seeing the mountain valleys, river meanders, all the nature's works that we used to learn in our textbooks coming alive. I would strongly encourage geography students to travel this route to practically experience what is being taught. It will surely leave deep impression in their mind and help them score As in their Geo exam.

I could still recall 10 years ago when we 1st visited Jiu Zhai Gou when its tourism just started to develop. The roads were still bumpy stone roads & they were narrow, barely enough for 2 buses. 1 wrong judgement, off you go down the cliff to the rivers. I could recall praying hard then while travelling:P. Now, with the emphasis & development of tourism, the roads are well-developed roads that we see in city area & the tunnels are also well-built. Really must salute to the Chinese for their development.:-)

Thick snow as we travelled higher up the mountain and our bus had to stop to put chains on its wheels to create fiction to travel on the slippery snowy roads. We also took the opportunity to take some snow pictures during the break.

On our way back, we stopped at this spot to take some pictures with the beautiful white mountain ox. With RMB5, you could take pictures with the ox & even ride on it under the supervision of its owner.
It is common to see the skeleton of the Ox's head :-( as a decor in front of houses etc. To them, it is an auspicious decor.
Beautiful scene it is, some parts of the river started to defrost as the weather got warmer on our return journey.
It is certainly a different experience to travel in winter. Personally, I would still prefer Autumn weather & scenery.

峨嵋山 Er Mei Shan, China

We finally reached the JinDing Scenic Region: 2000-3099ms above sea level with the help of cable car. The climate there is as cold as in winter all year around and especially so in this winter season. The snow was thick & we had to be careful with our steps. That had also brought about business opportunities for the locals. With the thick snow & the slippery surface with ice on it, we had been offered a simple equipment: nail shoe stacks at RMB10. Without it, we could hardly move around, especially on the slippery stairs where most of us had a good fall. (A pity I forgotten to take a picture of it:P)
The pond was covered with snow & people are using umbrella to shelter slight rain of snow. It is really cold when wind is blowing. Though the distance is not far, it appears quite a distance in this snow especially to all of us who 1st encountered such thick snow.

Finally, after climbling the long stairs, we reached where the famous JinDing temple & where the large statute of PuXian Pusa are.

Most of us surrendered after coming down from the JinDing and decided to take the "sedan" at RMB60 as the route down the hill is even more difficult & time is running short for us to meet our guide.


I wish we had more time to explore the place, maybe I will return at a warmer season then.

乐山 Le Shan, China

Located at east of Leshan City of China, and with a height of 71 metres, it is known to be the largest stone Buddha statute in the world. It's a pity that in this tour, we could only take pictures from the river cruise. The colorful dots on the left centre of picture are actually lines of people climbing up the hill taking a closer look at the Buddha.

The tourism of Le Shan Buddha has brought about economic development for the city as you can see from the picture.
Our sweet local guide, Xiao Mei told us that the Le Shan city citizens believe that the Buddha is watching over them & that although people generally like to buy high height accomodation, the local developers will not build any buildings higher than 71metres as the locals will generally not buy accomodation built higher than the height of the Buddha. A unique feature in Leshan city.

Tai Pei Buddhist Centre

Thanks to J who gave us a free ride to Lavender MRT & since I had some time before my next appointment, I decided to pay a quick visit to Tai Pei Buddhist Centre which is just near Lavender MRT, at the Road Junction opposite the new condo project: Citylights. It's easy to identify the building as you can see a Buddha statute on top of its building.

Tai Pei Buddhist Centre is a non-profitable Buddhist Organization with objective to disseminate the Buddha's Teachings as well as to promote and develop Buddhist activites in Singapore. According to its web introduction, the hall on its ground floor can accomodate 600 people and the centre always welcome other registered Buddhist organisations to hold events at its premises.

On its 2nd floor, they have a child care centre and it's an interesting sight to see some young children paying respect to the Buddha at the ground floor hall before leaving for their home. :-)

You may find out more about the centre from their official website: http://www.dabei.org.sg/00home.html

It is located at 2, Lavender Street, Singapore 338823

Tel: 62983343

Nearest MRT: Lavender MRT

Singapore Botanical Gardens

Another refreshing morning at the garden!!! I love its Symphony Lake greenery & nature.

The bandstand, built in 1930s, though no longer used to stage musical performances, is still one of the best known features of the Gardens.

Passing of Knowledge Sculpture at the Cactus landscape area

It is also easily accessible.
By Bus:Get to the Gardens by Public Bus via Holland Road or Bukit Timah Road. Via Holland Road
SBS Transit 7, 105, 123, 174
SMRT 75, 77, 106
Via Bukit Timah Road
SBS Transit 66, 151, 153, 154
SMRT 67, 171
Its official website is http://www.sbg.org.sg/

Bright Hill Temple 光明山普觉禅寺

Just want to share more photos of the temple with all...

(Hall of Universal Brightness with statues of the 3 Buddhas)

Not sure why this is not in the official temple tour map, but this is my favourite shrine/hall. One will just feel peaceful entering the hall.

(The Hall of Great Compassion)

(The Hall of Amrta Vinaya (Precepts) fronted by Rocana Buddha)

I think it is not often that we can see the 2 halls lighted up at night except during special occasions (e.g. the New year eve) when the opening hours extend to the night. I am glad to be able to visit then & hope to share with more people through these photos. :-)

Its official temple tour map: http://www.kmspks.org/about/visiting/

Bright Hill Temple 光明山普觉禅寺

Welcome to 2008!!! May All Be Well & Happy!!!

(31st Dec 2007, lights to welcome 2008 )

(1 Jan 2008, 108 rings of bell to welcome 2008)

This year Abbot welcomes 2008 with 108 rings of bell again. The sound of the bell strikes to our heart, refreshes our soul & prepares us for a new year.