Mount Emei

Emei in Chinese means "towering eyebrows". ==Relevance to Buddhism==

Chinese people offer burning sandalwood near the mountain to send their "prayers to heaven". As a sacred mountain Mount Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, and is traditionally regarded as the bodhimaṇḍa, or place of enlightenment, of the Bodhisattva Puxian (; Samantabhadra). Sources of the 16th and 17th centuries allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei, which made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as the place of origin of Chinese martial arts. Chinese Buddhist pilgrims regularly travel to the mountain. Cable cars ease the ascent to the two temples at Jinding (3,077 m), an hour's hike from the mountain's peak. == Climate ==

The summit of Mount Emei has an alpine subarctic climate (Köppen Dwc), with long, cold (but not severely so) winters, and short, cool summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . Precipitation is common year-round (occurring on more than 250 days), but due to the influence of the monsoon, rainfall is especially heavy in summer, and more than 70% of the annual total occurs from June to September. ==Flora==

The flora of Mount Emei varies with elevation, from subtropical evergreen forests at lower elevations to subalpine shrubland around the summit. The mountain is notable for both its species richness and abundance of endemic plants. At lower elevations Mount Emei is home to the largest, most intact stands of the native Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forest that once covered the Sichuan Basin. Subtropical oaks, Schima, a tree in the tea family, and laurels of the genera Machilus, Lindera, Litsea, Cinnamomum, and Phoebe are the predominant trees. Above 1500 meters elevation the subtropical evergreen forests transition to mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forests, then mixed broadleaf deciduous and conifer forests and subalpine conifer forests, with subalpine shrubland above 2800 meters elevation. and Magnolia omeiensis, a species of magnolia tree. ==Fauna==

About 2,300 animal species have been recorded on the mountain, including 51 mammals, 256 birds, 34 reptiles, 33 amphibians, 60 fish, 42 oligochaetes, and over 1000 insects. Native mammals include the lesser or red panda (Ailurus fulgens), Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), and mainland serow (Capricornis sumatraensis). Visitors to Mount Emei will likely see dozens of Tibetan macaques, which can often be viewed taking food from tourists. A famously well-fed, one-armed, elderly female macaque named Xing Xing has millions of views on YouTube, seemingly showing the macaques’ complete disdain for the hordes of tourists who are often offering them food directly in their faces. It seems that only one elderly woman who lives on the mountain, and her son, are able to be close to Xing Xing, to feed and pet her. Xing Xing appears to consider the woman her best friend, while shunning the offers of food from strangers. If tourists persist in holding food in the monkeys’ faces, they will aggressively grab at the person’s clothing and stare at them, and not let go. If the person continues to irritate the macaque, they are very easily angered and prone to bite. Still, local merchants sell nuts and other foods for the tourists to attempt to feed the monkeys. Limited-range and threatened birds include the golden-fronted fulvetta (Schoeniparus variegaticeps), grey-hooded parrotbill (Suthora zappeyi), three-toed parrotbill (Paradoxornis paradoxus), Emei Shan liocichla (Liocichla omeiensis), red-winged laughingthrush (Trochalopteron formosum), Omei warbler (Phylloscopus omeiensis), Emei leaf warbler (Phylloscopus emeiensis), rusty-breasted tit (Poecile davidi), and slaty bunting (Emberiza siemsseni). Native amphibians include the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) and Omei toothed toad (Oreolalax omeimontis). There are at least six snake species native to the region, including the Chinese slug snake, Mandarin ratsnake, mountain water snake, Peters' odd-scaled snake, plus some potently venomous species, such as the Chinese green tree viper, the brown spotted pitviper and the Taiwan mountain pitviper. Other local animals include lizards, such as the Indian forest skink and the lacerta Takydromus intermedius, the frogs Rana adenopleura and Vibrissaphora liui, and a giant, half-metre long earthworm species, Pheretima praepinguis. ==Gallery==

File:峨眉山风景区 Mount Emei Scenic Area 06.jpg|Wanfoding File:Mount Emei pic 3.jpg|A temple at the Golden Summit File:Massive golden buddha on the sumit of Eimei Shan.jpg|Massive statue of Samantabhadra at the summit of Mount Emei File:Baoguosi.jpg|Baoguo Temple, a Buddhist temple File:报国寺弥勒殿.JPG|Buddhist temple at Mount Emei File:CrystalStreamOverpass2.jpg|Wooden bridgewalk over the Crystal Stream, western slopes File:MacaqueEmeishan.jpg|Macaque indigenous to the region File:Sunrise at Eimei Shan.jpg|Sunrise over Mount Emei File:Sunrise over clouded sea on sumit of Eimei Shan.jpg|Sunrise over a sea of clouds at Mount Emei File:Guangfu pavilion at Mount Emei.JPG|Guangfu pavilion, with summit visible in background File:Elephant statues in the fog on the steps of the temple atop Mount Emei.jpg|Elephant statues on the steps leading to the statue of Samantabhadra File:Mount emei tour.jpg|alt=mount emei travel guide|Monkeys of Mount Emei File:在峨秀湖远望峨眉山 Mount Emei 1.jpg|Mount Emei and Exiu Lake File:在峨秀湖远望峨眉山 Mount Emei 2.jpg|Mount Emei and Exiu Lake ==See also==