Emei Mountain 峨眉山
November 12, 2024
The weather was uncooperative today—cloudy and chilly. I traveled to Emei Mountain (峨眉山) alone. By now, I had become familiar with the typical way of visiting popular scenic spots in China: high-speed train → direct shuttle bus → park shuttle → cable car or hike → summit, and then the reverse on the way back. This time, I opted for the cable car up.
When I reached the summit, the grand statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva was still shrouded in clouds. Then, suddenly, the sun broke through, and the clouds began to slowly drift away, revealing the statue in all its glory. The crowd in the plaza erupted in cheers. What a stroke of luck! For the next 30 minutes I spent at the summit, the clouds came and went, but most of the time, the sun shone brightly.
Afterward, I hiked down the mountain. Watching people struggling to hike up made me feel I had made the right choice to take the cable car up and hike down. The descent was easy and enjoyable, surrounded by lush forests. As I walked, I wondered where the famous Emei Mountain monkeys were. Soon enough, a large group of monkeys appeared along the side of the footpath.
Some tourists started feeding the monkeys snacks and even energy drinks. One of them threw a plastic bag of food into the valley. The whole valley near the trail literally was covered with plastic wrappers left by tourists. It was a shameful sight. To my surprise, there were a few animal protection workers in the area, but instead of stopping the tourists, they yelled at the monkeys or used slingshots to scare them away. Were they protecting the animals or the people?
Despite feeling upset at this scene, I did enjoy watching the monkeys and took plenty of pictures. However, it was clear to me: this is the monkeys’ home, and we are merely rude guests.
2024年11月12日
今天的天气不太配合——阴沉而寒冷。我独自一人前往峨眉山。到现在，我已经对中国热门景区的典型游览方式非常熟悉：高铁 → 直达景区大巴 → 景区观光车 → 索道或徒步 → 登顶，返程亦是如此。这次，我选择了乘索道上山。
到达山顶时，雄伟的十方普贤菩萨像依然隐没在云雾之中。忽然，阳光穿透云层，云雾开始缓缓散开，菩萨像逐渐显现出它的壮丽面貌。广场上的游客顿时欢呼雀跃，这真是幸运的一刻！接下来的半小时里，云雾时聚时散，但大部分时间阳光明媚，风景令人叹为观止。
欣赏完山顶美景后，我开始徒步下山。与那些仍在艰难攀登的游客擦肩而过时，我暗自庆幸选择了索道上山——乘索道上山。下山的路程轻松愉快，周围环绕着郁郁葱葱的森林，让人身心愉悦。一路上，我不禁自问峨眉山著名的猴子在哪里。不久后，一大群猴子出现在小路旁。
然而，这段经历让我有些无奈与不安。一些游客开始喂猴子零食，甚至还有人递给猴子能量饮料。更夸张的是，有人直接把装食物的塑料袋扔到山谷里。无数被游客留下的塑料包装散落在小路附近的山谷里，景象令人惋惜。让我意外的是，现场有几位动物保护工作人员，但他们并没有制止游客的不文明行为，而是对猴子大声喊叫，甚至用弹弓驱赶它们。他们是在保护动物，还是在保护人类？这样的讽刺让我感到不安。
尽管如此，我很幸运能近距离与峨眉山猴子们相遇，拍了许多照片。这里是猴子的家，而我们不过是粗鲁的、不受欢迎的客人。
