There is a mountain (very large hill) by our house. It is called Jiangjun Mountain. I like that I can walk to it because I can take Coco there for walks and it is a nice place to get a workout in. I walked up it for the first time last week. I just went up the hill and back down because I was just trying to get familiar with my surroundings. This week I went for a further walk up the mountain and I came across this sign.
I decided to follow it. And where it lead me was an awesome scenic park in Jiangjun Mountain. It was a Monday when I went there, so I saw only a handful of people there. I liked that because it was just a nice place for me to walk peacefully and meditate. I think that it is supposed to be a popular place. They had people working there at food stands and a little souvenir place. But it was dead the day I went there.
I just wandered around because I could not read the map. And the things I came across were awesome.
I first came across the Dragon's backbone.
They said this rock is called the dragon's backbone because it looks like a dragon's backbone. ;o) Thought I should write that out in case you were wondering. ;o)
This is not the best picture. You take the steps up to the dragon's backbone. It was rather steep, but not very far up. Coming down was actually the tricky part because it was rather steep and the rock was very smooth. I am glad I did not slip and crack open my skull because I probably would have just laid there and bled out because no one would have been around to rescue me anytime soon. Anywho..moving on! ;o)
Next I came to one of my favorite features of the park. The Metasequoia trees, they were AWESOME.
The sign said China fir bridge. And it pointed to this...
It was this awesome maze made out of logs. The Metasequoia trees were all in water, probably about 6-8 inches. It looked really cool. It was rather daunting walking on the logs because they were not flattened out, they were still rounded. There was a warning that if it was raining or snowing they would be very slippery and it had been raining that day. Luckily, I did not have any mishaps, but I can totally see how someone would could fall in. Especially if there were other people on the bridge and you had to pass them, because the walkways were not that wide.
Next I came to a cute fat Buddha carved into stone.
He was totally cool...just chillin' in the side of a mountain. ;o)
Last I saw something really awesome.
Guanyin is a Buddhist goddess of Mercy. She was really awesome. Even though I am not a Buddhist, there is still something very relaxing and awe inspiring when you are around such a awesome work of art, right out in nature. I mean someone carved this goddess into the side of a mountain, in stone. It is really cool and I can totally appreciate all the time and effort it must take to do something like that.
Needless to say, I feel very fortunate to have this essentially in my backyard. I mean it did take a while to get there. I left the house at 12:30p and did not get home until 5:30p. So my little feet were feeling the burn. I walked pretty much for 5 hours straight, just stopping now and again to admire the carving. And a lot of the time I was walking up hill! It was a good workout and I definitely want to bring Michael back to check it out. There was other stuff in the park that I did not even get to see. For 5 hours and 40 Yuan, not bad!
I hope everyone out there takes the time to explore what's around them. No matter where you live, country or city, big town or small town, north or south, east or west, God has placed beauty all around us. Sometimes they are things that hit us in right in the face like these statues and the beautiful path over water through beautiful trees. And sometimes it takes a bit more effort to see the beauty around us. Nothing irked me more than when people would complain about Detroit or Michigan because I believe there is beauty EVERYWHERE, sometimes you just have to take the time to open your heart and your mind to see it.
I decided to follow it. And where it lead me was an awesome scenic park in Jiangjun Mountain. It was a Monday when I went there, so I saw only a handful of people there. I liked that because it was just a nice place for me to walk peacefully and meditate. I think that it is supposed to be a popular place. They had people working there at food stands and a little souvenir place. But it was dead the day I went there.
I just wandered around because I could not read the map. And the things I came across were awesome.
I first came across the Dragon's backbone.
They said this rock is called the dragon's backbone because it looks like a dragon's backbone. ;o) Thought I should write that out in case you were wondering. ;o)
This is not the best picture. You take the steps up to the dragon's backbone. It was rather steep, but not very far up. Coming down was actually the tricky part because it was rather steep and the rock was very smooth. I am glad I did not slip and crack open my skull because I probably would have just laid there and bled out because no one would have been around to rescue me anytime soon. Anywho..moving on! ;o)
Next I came to one of my favorite features of the park. The Metasequoia trees, they were AWESOME.
The sign said China fir bridge. And it pointed to this...
It was this awesome maze made out of logs. The Metasequoia trees were all in water, probably about 6-8 inches. It looked really cool. It was rather daunting walking on the logs because they were not flattened out, they were still rounded. There was a warning that if it was raining or snowing they would be very slippery and it had been raining that day. Luckily, I did not have any mishaps, but I can totally see how someone would could fall in. Especially if there were other people on the bridge and you had to pass them, because the walkways were not that wide.
Next I came to a cute fat Buddha carved into stone.
He was totally cool...just chillin' in the side of a mountain. ;o)
Last I saw something really awesome.
Guanyin is a Buddhist goddess of Mercy. She was really awesome. Even though I am not a Buddhist, there is still something very relaxing and awe inspiring when you are around such a awesome work of art, right out in nature. I mean someone carved this goddess into the side of a mountain, in stone. It is really cool and I can totally appreciate all the time and effort it must take to do something like that.
 |
| at this point I had walked halfway up the stair |
 | |
| this, of course, was when I reached the top |
I hope everyone out there takes the time to explore what's around them. No matter where you live, country or city, big town or small town, north or south, east or west, God has placed beauty all around us. Sometimes they are things that hit us in right in the face like these statues and the beautiful path over water through beautiful trees. And sometimes it takes a bit more effort to see the beauty around us. Nothing irked me more than when people would complain about Detroit or Michigan because I believe there is beauty EVERYWHERE, sometimes you just have to take the time to open your heart and your mind to see it.
There is beauty everywhere. Glad you had a great adventure Ling Ling!! - tn
ReplyDeleteYowzas! That is so cool! What an awesome discovery! Jon and I are taking your advice and exploring Monroe, MI today for our 1 year annie. We are staying in a hotel and going to dinner and a cider mill in Erie, MI. Glad you had your camera with you - that sequoia forest was really interesting. And the steps leading up to the goddess lady remind me of Kill Bill when Uma is training to be an awesome ninja. Did you ever see Kill Bill? Anywho - great post, Kim!
ReplyDeleteI too get annoyed by the MI complaints. Loved the encouragement to notice the beauty. Love your life, friend.
ReplyDelete