49 Hours to Taiwan: Written for those who want to go to Wutai Mountain and hike to Taiwan

I got on the bus to Beijing Station at around 8pm on August 16th. That Friday, there were not many vehicles heading towards Beijing, and the buses drove very fast. I sat by the window, leaning my head on the window and looking at the crowded countercurrent traffic. The memories of the colleagues I met on my first trip to Mount Wutai rang in my mind. What people say: Conquering Taiwan is not that easy.

This trip was decided a month ago. At this time of year, I want to go to Wutai Mountain for a walk. This is the third time in a row. There is a direct train from Beijing to Mount Wutai, departing at 10:20 and arriving at 4:20 the next morning.

Forty minutes later, I arrived at Beijing Station, carrying my travel bag. However, I did not go directly to the station. Instead, I sat down on the street opposite the Hunan Building as in previous years. Every time I come to Beijing Railway Station, I like to sit here for a while and watch the flow of people and the people soliciting accommodation. I am waiting for my companions who are going to Mount Wutai, and I like to wait for them at this location. Seeing that it was still early, I called my friend who was traveling with me and told him I was waiting for him, and asked him again if he had any down jackets among the clothes he brought. Wutai Mountain has its own weather system. Although I brought a backpack of clothes, I knew that if it rained, the clothes I brought would definitely not be enough. Therefore, when going to Wutai Mountain, you must bring enough clothes. You must bring long johns and down jackets no matter whether it is summer or autumn. This is the lesson I learned when I went to Mount Wutai for the first time. At that time, short-sleeved shirts were still worn in Beijing, but when I was hiking on Beitai Road in Wutai Mountain, the altitude was more than 3,000 meters, and the wind was blowing like a knife, and later it started to snow on the west platform. I was wearing short-sleeved clothes at the time. If I hadn’t received free clothes at the Lion’s Den, my life would have been in danger. I was really hungry and cold. However, the Lion's Den no longer provides free clothing, as I learned after visiting this time.

After a while, my friend who was traveling with me called me and said it was almost there. I felt a little excited. Just like my second trip to Mount Wutai, it was a farewell trip for a friend and I was extremely excited. In fact, I was excited both times I went to Mount Wutai. I don’t know why. I clearly know the path I’m going to take, the scenery I’m going to face, and even the animals and plants I’ll encounter, but I still think there will be surprises and I’m still willing to go. It is said that Mount Wutai is the dojo of Manjushri Bodhisattva. Anyone who goes to the court in Mount Wutai will have Manjushri Bodhisattva accompanying him in various forms.

I was in a trance with those memories, and my companion called me at the subway exit. He brought a bag of food. This is what I asked him to bring. He must bring enough food and water for breakfast and lunch. In this way, we walked to the station together. When I was about to enter the station, I raised my head back at the entrance and looked at the sky. The moon was high, bright and round, and I plunged into the station. The train left on time and was full of expectations. My companion in the car asked me about my itinerary, so I told him our route.

I told him that this route starts from Zhang Xianggou Village, because I found on the Internet that Wutai Mountain is currently building a road, and cars cannot go on the section from Zhang Xianggou Village to Hongmenyan, so from The bus from the train station to Hongmenyan can only go to Mr. Zhang Valley. It’s about twelve kilometers from Mr. Zhang’s ditch to Hongmenyan. Usually the hike starts from Hongmen Rock. Starting from Hongmen Rock, we went to Dongtai to watch the sunrise. After watching the sunrise, we returned to Hongmen Rock and walked to Beitai, then to Zhongtai, West Taitai, and finally passed the Lion's Den to Golden Pavilion Temple. This was the first day of the itinerary. The next day we will go to Nantai and Taihuai Town. This is the five-stage route going backwards, which is also the route taken by most people. Of course, there are also those who travel along the way, that is, walking along the southeast, northwest, from Dongtai directly to South Platform, West Platform, Middle Platform, North Platform, and finally back to the Hongmen Rock Time Circle, with the starting point and end point coinciding. But reverse wearing is not suitable for beginners or amateurs. This time, we will go directly to Beitai after arriving at Hongmenyan from Mr. Zhang’s ditch, and then we will arrive at the Golden Pavilion Temple before dinner. I have contacted the accommodation provider at the Golden Pavilion Temple on WeChat. It costs 50 yuan for breakfast and dinner for one room. Several people live in his house every year because they live in the mountains and the conditions are pretty good. I plan to get up and climb Nantai the next day, or if I can’t climb anymore, I’ll take a bus to Taihuai Town to see the temple.

Finally, the bus back to Beijing will take you at 3:30 in the afternoon, and you will arrive in Beijing at 8 or 9 in the evening.

He listened carefully to everything I planned and looked forward to it. But I was muttering in my heart. This is my third trip to Taiwan. In the past two times, I didn’t climb Nantai on the second day because I was too tired. I went to Taihuai Town to see the tourist attractions. This time I really wanted to climb it. Nantai, I don’t know if he can hold on. Later I learned that Nantai is worth climbing, and I also encountered different scenery and different people, such as the lone girl who picked up mineral water bottles along the way. Of course this is a story for later.

The train arrived at Wutaishan Station on time. As soon as I arrived at the station, I put on all the clothes in my bag. It was still a little cold in the early morning. In fact, most of the backpackers on this bus came to Wutai Mountain for hiking. So as soon as we got out of the station, they all crowded into the red bus. The bus driver said that the bus can only go as far as Mr. Zhanggou, which costs 15 yuan per person. There are off-road vehicles from Mr. Zhanggou to Hongmenyan, with a total cost of 70 yuan. In the past, before roads were built, the cost per person to go directly to Hongmenyan was 20.

I generally don’t accept this kind of service. At first I felt that a five-yuan trip had turned into fifty-five dollars, which was a bit unacceptable to me. After all, I came here to travel on a budget. Secondly, since things are like this, is this another test or a clever arrangement? Is it really considered a kind of perfection to rise from the horizontal line to the height of more than 3,000 meters in Beitai? In this way, with these reasons, we began our journey to Taiwan.

It takes more than 40 minutes by car from Wutaishan Railway Station to Mr. Zhang’s Gou Village. From Zhang’s Gou Village, you can climb up along the creek, as if you are in a valley. There were many free-range cattle on both sides, and the cows brayed from time to time, along with the coldness, and the large army started like this. I am not familiar with the road, but I know the general direction. Of course, I am not alone on the way to Taiwan, there are always people on the way.

At about half past six, we stopped for breakfast. When we climbed to the middle of the mountain, we could see the sun shining, but we couldn't see the sun. In the past, if you took a car directly to Hongmenyan, you could see the sunrise. This time, you would be a little disappointed, but being in this valley is another kind of fun.

It was already past eight o'clock when we arrived at Hongmen Rock. The wind was very strong and it was freezing cold. There were very few people following us, so we had no choice but to abandon Dongtai and go straight to Beitai. From Hongmenyan to Beitai, passing by Fayun Temple, it is about 3.2 kilometers, all the way uphill. The altitude of Hongmen Rock is already more than 2,000 meters. Braving the strong wind, we moved forward. As we chased, there were still many people on the road. Walking in groups, some were walking against the strong wind, some were hiding on the side of the mountain to rest, and some were taking advantage of the wind to pose for photos.

I also took advantage of the wind to take a few pictures, and people can directly tilt it 70 degrees. But because of this wind, my mobile phone will have no service for the next two days. Because I just finished sending the message before taking the photo, there was no service at all after taking the photo. At first, I thought it was because there was no signal in the mountains, but later I found out that the card was broken. Being blown by the wind is the only explanation.

The section from Fayun Temple to the North China Rooftop Archway is difficult. You can almost only walk on faith and walk alone. The total length is about 3.2 kilometers, and it is slowly circling up. road. At first glance, it looks like a long dragon, entrenched. The hiking route runs almost straight through the middle of the winding road. Just like kebabs, you have to take a small path, which reduces the distance and increases the difficulty. I still had enough physical strength to keep up when I walked to the Huabei Rooftop Arch. Later we stopped for something to eat. I know that there is a more difficult road waiting for us next. From the roof of North China to Beitai. This section is quite difficult, usually it’s around eleven o’clock by now. At twelve o'clock, we have to go up to the top of Beitai. It is 2.1 kilometers from the North China Roof Arch to the top of Beitai, and it is all uphill.

I gritted my teeth and walked against the wind. After a while, I became exhausted. At that moment, I felt like I was older, not as good as I was last year. I thought, maybe this is the reason why I have done too little or no exercise recently. But in previous years I was far ahead, but now I am talking about it.

The North Platform will eventually arrive, and the time to reach the top of the North Platform is half past twelve.

But this time, I was calm, not in a hurry, not slow, and walked quietly. Of course, I also thought about taking a car, as I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to climb Nantai tomorrow, but the vehicles were not allowed to carry people, which was the travel company’s rule.

Just walking like this, the two of them stopped talking and stayed quiet along the way. It was about 6 o'clock when we arrived at the Lion's Den. I knew there was a small supermarket there, and the couple had been there for many years. After arriving there, I bought some water and chatted with the store owner for a while. When I left, I said thank you, but the store owner said it was us who thanked you, and you thanked me for buying something. The smile on the female shopkeeper's face belied her facial features. In fact, I sincerely thank them. They don’t know that if they hadn’t provided me with clothes the first time I came to Mount Wutai, I wouldn’t have been able to go on.

The Lion's Den is an important stopping point. Many hikers hang out and rest here on the first day, or pitch tents nearby. But I always walk through this section to stay at Kinkakuji Temple. It is also a highway from the Lion's Den to the Golden Pavilion Temple. It is a brisk walk. Firstly, it is downhill. Secondly, it seems that the tired body has been relieved a little. Thirdly, there are more people coming up from this road. They all went to the accommodation in Xitai. Time passed quickly as we chatted along the way, and we occasionally saw hares on the roadside.

At about seven o'clock, we arrived at the Kinkakuji Dainanzhu accommodation. The two of them washed their hands and soaked their feet, then drank some wine in the yard and looked at the full moon in this quiet village. After eating, he fell into bed and fell asleep. The first day ended like this. The bitterness during this period can only be experienced on the road.

We woke up at around six o'clock the next morning. We are going to climb Nantai. To go to Nantai, we go through the woods. There are traces of people walking in the woods. Even if you haven't walked there, you can still follow them. If you are afraid of taking a fork in the road, just look at the red cloth hanging on the tree and follow the red cloth. This is what I heard from my fellow travelers during my last hike. Going to Nantai gave me so much strength that I could almost jog along the way. I felt like I had regained my youthful strength. My companion wanted to give up after the first half hour, so I threatened him, saying that firstly, I would not come back, and secondly, I had to hurry up to avoid missing the 3:30 bus. This has proven to be very effective. It was only twelve o'clock when we finished climbing Nantai and came down from Kuantan Village. You can also go down from Nantai through Buddha Mother Cave, but there is a ticket check there.

In fact, if you enter the Wutai Mountain Scenic Area directly by car, you need a ticket, and the ticket price seems to be more than 160. The hiking routes we took were almost all fare evasion routes. This is probably why travel companies control vehicles and prohibit carrying pedestrians on foot. Taking a taxi from Kuantan Village to Taihuai Town will only cost 25 yuan per person if there are many people.

In fact, there are some places worth seeing in Taihuai Town, such as Wutai Mountain’s landmark buildings, Dabai Tian, ??Wuye Temple, Bodhisattva Peak, Big Luoding, etc., which are all very close. Monks can be seen everywhere, and there are countless people worshiping. Some people have blood pools on their foreheads. This time we had no time to visit. Of course, I visited it both the first and second time, and it was still very good.

At this point, this trip to Taiwan is over. I wanted to take some photos with it, but then I thought about it, the most beautiful scenery is on the road. This is at best a record or guide. My expression is limited, so I still can’t talk about it. The feeling on the road is expressed, so I hope people who read it can experience it for themselves.