Birthday trip to Xuan Kong Si
The famous Hanging (or Suspended) monastery close to Mount Hengshan was built by Taoist monks, starting in the sixth century on a rockface, 30 meters above the bottom of the valley. Yes, I walked through all of it, and yes, I was terrified (very low barriers especially for someone of my height, obviously old wood, very far to fall).
It is very hard to convey in photographs the utter sence of constantly balancing on the edge of a precipice, but perhaps this picture might go some way towards illustrating this. I am not very much given to acrophobia (höjdskräck), but this was a nerve-wracking experience. All the stairways and balconies, etc., were clearly designed for people much smaller than I. The valley in which the monastery is situated is very beautiful: steep walls on most sides, which contributed to the feeling of being a very small creature in a very large context.
The drop below is about 30 meters.
Apparently, these plugs into the mountain is what holds the monastery up on the side of the mountain, together with the long "stilts" under the buildings.
My driver and the car. He drove very well, calmly but fast. The car was clean when we started. This is a picture from when we got back to the hotel.
It is very hard to convey in photographs the utter sence of constantly balancing on the edge of a precipice, but perhaps this picture might go some way towards illustrating this. I am not very much given to acrophobia (höjdskräck), but this was a nerve-wracking experience. All the stairways and balconies, etc., were clearly designed for people much smaller than I. The valley in which the monastery is situated is very beautiful: steep walls on most sides, which contributed to the feeling of being a very small creature in a very large context.
The drop below is about 30 meters.
Apparently, these plugs into the mountain is what holds the monastery up on the side of the mountain, together with the long "stilts" under the buildings.
My driver and the car. He drove very well, calmly but fast. The car was clean when we started. This is a picture from when we got back to the hotel.
Kommentarer
Postat av: Anna Winrooth
Mäktiga bilder! Kul att följa dig på bloggen:) Kram
Postat av: h-ej
Happy birthday and watch out terracottaarmen är nu i Sthlm.
Postat av: Anonym
Fantastiska bilder och mycket stilig jag idag! :)
Postat av: Erica Miao
Such stunning pictures! Thanks so much for keeping this blog, which I'm really enjoying. I hope you continue to have a wonderful time in China. And happy birthday!
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