Woke up and organized some photos while the guys slept. We left some laundry and heavy backpacks with the hotel. They kindly offered to hand wash the clothes for free. We grabbed some hot fresh noodles next door where a little girl sat shyly looking over at us..except when the camera was on her :). We grabbed a cab and started out towards the long distance bus depot. We passed some beautiful gardens en route. 
On the way Andy spotted a tower in the distance and we decided to take a detour there. 
It was a large Buddhist temple and monastery. Just past the entrance statues in the second room there were some amazing towering golden Buddhas. This place had a real sense of peace and holiness to it. More so than the one in Shanghai to me. 
There was an amazing garden in the complex and the tower ticket taker was happy to tell us more about this beautiful place. Some students introduced themselves to us and then came up with us up the tower. The wind whipped harder the higher we went, but the view all around was wonderful. The students asked us questions. Some entrancing singing led us around the corner, to two seated women slowly singing "". 
We sat down with them and Andy asked them to write down their chant for us. The were glad to share and before we knew it, were sitting in a row singing together. 
A few other people around the temple came down and sat with us. After singing for a while, we stopped and they insisted that we eat a melon like fruit. Coincidentally the ladies had purchased four that day and there were four of us guests. They insisted on each of us having one. We peeled the fruit and I cut mine up to share with the students and temple people and singers. I really had to coax people into taking a piece, and in the end only a few students out of all the people ate the fruit with us. The women said it was fate that they should buy 4 fruit for the 4 guests they were to meet later that day. We said goodbye and head back to the bus station from which we head off to Jiuhuashan. Mike as usual went in line to figure out and deal with our ticketing needs. Tickets had run out, but Mike figured out a bus route. We jumped on the first bus which I think called the next one and made it wait for us. We just jumped from one to the next several hours later from which we got on a third bus up the mountain to Jiuhuashan.The view coming up the mountain was gorgeous. You could see temples dotting the mountains above. Once there we got a place to sleep and walked further up the mountain.
Beautiful temples were everywhere. 
Many had swooping, more traditional looking roofs. 
There was a bronze/gold colored tower further up. Exhausted before we even got there, we trudged up and met a monk by some more temples before we continued up to the tower. We lazed around took in the serenity of the tower temple. As the sun went down, the commando monk from earlier came by and hung out for a bit. We started back to the town below before it became dark. The town was well lit and full of tourist shops that sold low quality tourist trinkets as hawkers tried to rip us off. It was kind of annoying and we all had a negative feeling about the town. It was safe and clean, but the people working there just put us off in contrast to how beautiful the temples were. 
On the way Andy spotted a tower in the distance and we decided to take a detour there. 
It was a large Buddhist temple and monastery. Just past the entrance statues in the second room there were some amazing towering golden Buddhas. This place had a real sense of peace and holiness to it. More so than the one in Shanghai to me. 
There was an amazing garden in the complex and the tower ticket taker was happy to tell us more about this beautiful place. Some students introduced themselves to us and then came up with us up the tower. The wind whipped harder the higher we went, but the view all around was wonderful. The students asked us questions. Some entrancing singing led us around the corner, to two seated women slowly singing "". 
We sat down with them and Andy asked them to write down their chant for us. The were glad to share and before we knew it, were sitting in a row singing together. 
A few other people around the temple came down and sat with us. After singing for a while, we stopped and they insisted that we eat a melon like fruit. Coincidentally the ladies had purchased four that day and there were four of us guests. They insisted on each of us having one. We peeled the fruit and I cut mine up to share with the students and temple people and singers. I really had to coax people into taking a piece, and in the end only a few students out of all the people ate the fruit with us. The women said it was fate that they should buy 4 fruit for the 4 guests they were to meet later that day. We said goodbye and head back to the bus station from which we head off to Jiuhuashan. Mike as usual went in line to figure out and deal with our ticketing needs. Tickets had run out, but Mike figured out a bus route. We jumped on the first bus which I think called the next one and made it wait for us. We just jumped from one to the next several hours later from which we got on a third bus up the mountain to Jiuhuashan.The view coming up the mountain was gorgeous. You could see temples dotting the mountains above. Once there we got a place to sleep and walked further up the mountain.
Beautiful temples were everywhere. 
Many had swooping, more traditional looking roofs. 
There was a bronze/gold colored tower further up. Exhausted before we even got there, we trudged up and met a monk by some more temples before we continued up to the tower. We lazed around took in the serenity of the tower temple. As the sun went down, the commando monk from earlier came by and hung out for a bit. We started back to the town below before it became dark. The town was well lit and full of tourist shops that sold low quality tourist trinkets as hawkers tried to rip us off. It was kind of annoying and we all had a negative feeling about the town. It was safe and clean, but the people working there just put us off in contrast to how beautiful the temples were. 