Monkey mountain magic

Upon disembarking, we gazed out over Emei's second "miracle", the Cloud Sea - white swaths of cirrus, swirling as far as could be seen.

 

Viewing these fleecy cloud billows from above reminded us of archetypical depictions of heaven, and we half expected to see winged harpists flittering from puff to puff.

Emei's other two miracles have yet to be explained by modern science. The Holy Lamps are a mysterious scattering of eerie green lights that flicker and dance around the 60-m-tall Buddha Cliff at night.

Only visible a few times a year are the Buddha Halos, techni-colored auras that ring the shadows of those who walk on the Buddha Cliff and appear to move with the people who cast them.

The Sichuan government recently invested 300 million yuan ($43.9 million) in refurbishing the 16-sq-km Golden Summit Scenic Area and finished construction last year.

The treasure trove of structures here includes the Golden, Silver and Bronze monasteries. Its crown jewel is the 48-m-high multidimensional Samantabhadra Buddha statue.

This 66-ton bronze likeness is endowed with 10 heads to catch winds from 10 directions. Emei is not only among China's Four Buddhist Mountains but is also believed to be the alp from which the religion radiated throughout China after arriving from India.