Day 1: All day program from Taiyuan downtown to Mt. Wutai
Program:
Your guide and driver will meet you at your Taiyuan hotel around 8:00 and transfer you to Mt. Wutai (200 km, about 2.5 hours driving). Visit Mt. Wutai, include
Bodhisatva Peak and Xiantong Monastery. After all program, drive you back to Taiyuan.
--Mt. Wutai covers an area of 2,837 square kilometers (1,095.4 square miles), and its five main peaks, positioned east, south, west, north, and in the middle, embrace one another with broad and plain terraces rather than forests on their tops. It is the most holy land of Chinese Buddhism.
--Bodhisatva Peak. It was said that Wutai Mountain was the ancient temple of Wenshu Bodhisattva. The Bodhisatva Peak is the dwelling of Wenshu Bodhisattva in the fable. Therefore, Bodhisatva Peak was once named ZhenRong Temple and Great Wenshu Temple.Pusa Ding, approximately translated Buddha´s Summit or Buddha´s Hat, sits on the top of a hill in the northwest of Taihuai village. This is a well looked after lamasery, a Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911 AD) complex that has seen a number of renovations and restorations.
--Xiantong Monastery. Another of Taihuai village´s Buddhist complexes, the Xiantong Monastery (Xiantong si) distinguishes itself by being the largest of the Wutaishan temples, with a total of 400 rooms, and by being the oldest, apparently dating as far back as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).
Meal: lunch
