Xiangji Temple (香积寺) @ Hangzhou City in China

With a history since AD 978, Xiangji Temple was located along the 1,776 kilometers long grand canal, which was a major commercial canal from Beijing to Hangzhou.

It was impressive but you have to note that the original temple was destroyed in the 13th century, and once again damaged in 1968 during the cultural revolution.

Hence, many of the structures in front of us were much newer, and in fact younger than I am, given that they were restored, rebuilt in 2010, just about 16 years ago. 

Instead of stone lions, typical for most, if not all Chinese temples, we have stone elephants here! And no, I think they were made of marble; expensive woah! 

Getting in via the gantry. Well, there's an admission fee and that's quite interesting since event the super beautiful buddha tooth relic temple in Singapore has free admission. 

Main hall had a relatively strange name, as it is related to cooking. Apparently, the patron deity for the temple was the Kitchen Guardian Bodhisattva (監齋菩薩), the "protector, supervisor, and guardian of monastery kitchens and refectories (dining halls)"!

Incense urn! 

Towering statues in the main hall and I was wondering why they were literally merged as one. Is this a genderless bodhisattva? According to the Buddhist cosmology, "all enlightened Bodhisattvas ultimately transcend earthly binary sex and are fundamentally genderless". 

Nevertheless, the entrance for the lady-looking bodhisattva seemed to infer another being; Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound (妙音菩薩), using "music and subtle sounds to communicate across dimensions, soften the hearts of sentient beings, and spread the Dharma".

Mahavira Hall (大雄寶殿) - a must-have hall for Buddhist temples.

The last of the three main buildings situated in the center of the almost 200-meter deep temple. Like most temples, only the ground floor is open to the general public.

Inside, for reference. Even though I classify myself as Buddhist, I am not that devout and couldn't recognize most of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. And if you are a true buddhist, recognizing them isn't necessary in the first place.

Hence, just more photographs for your viewing pleasure, without much words. In all, Xiangji Temple had a peaceful atmosphere and without the racket from excessive crowds, it's quite nice to walk around to relax. 

Should you wish to donate, there's cash.

And an option to pay via QR code! 

One of the notable attractions for Xiangji temple is located outside the ticketed compound; the set of twin pagodas which originated in 1713 but one was destroyed during the cultural revolution, and rebuilt in 2009. Which was the old one? If you are standing facing the temple, it shall be the one on your right. 

Contrasting red and green leaves.

So beautiful right?!

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Address

No. 1 Xiangji Temple Lane, Gongshu District, 

Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

Map

As above.

Floor Map

As above (in Chinese)

Pricing

Adult - 20 RMB

Child / Senior Citizens - 10 RMB

Click HERE for our 8 Days Huangshan, Tunxi, Yixian, Wuyuan, Mount Qiyun, Thousand-Island Lake, Hangzhou Tour Package to China via CTC Travel Agency

Sộp Bánh Mì & Vegetarian @ Sapa in Vietnam

The hotel we stayed at in our recent trip to Sapa doesn't include breakfast but there's nothing Google Maps can't recommend, and Sộp Bánh Mì & Vegetarian, right across our hotel, caught our attention for its review score of 4.9! 

Open cooking right at the entrance, and I assumed the food was purely for takeaways. Either that or the owner was super confident of its hygiene standards. 

Turned out there was a long passage behind the counter, up a few steep steps, where some camping seats and tables were placed for customers to dine in. Quite a unique experience. 

Banh Mi with Grilled Pork - don't you love it when banh mi was served as above, in a paper bag which hides the product, giving the eater a sense of exciting anticipation? 

Bread was toasted in the oven before it was passed over to us; hence, the exterior was warm and crisp although my first bite was just filled with bread and cucumber! Where was my darn meat, necessary as good source of protein for people my age?! 

Turned out to be hidden deeper in, where there were lettuce, pate and spread of pork floss. Frankly, this was a normal banh mi that can fulfil the requirement of filling your tummy at just S$2.00 but it sure didn't make a deep impression of being spectacular. Maybe we should have gone with the banh mi chao, which was mentioned a few times on the Google Maps review.

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Address

No. 10 Hoàng Liên, Street, 

Sa Pa, Lào Cai 31000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Banh Mi with Grilled Pork - 40,000 Dong.

Second Day @ Huangshan UNESCO World Heritage Site in China!

The second day in Huangshan contrasted with day one, with a light drizzle and a mistiness that hovered on the border of being foggy! But as we were on a tour package, we had to depart on time to ensure the continuity of the itinerary. 

Donning our raincoats with a resigned mood, it's time to trek to the Cloud Valley cable car station. Well, it's not going to be a direct route; for sure there will be some notable attractions along the way which I would generally not mind under good weather.

I think all those who stayed in the hotels around the area were all congregated here since it's a bit too early for day trippers to be at the same elevation as us before 9.00am.

Like many attractions in China, live-action NPCs (non-player characters) can be found at Huangshan too! Dressed in traditional attires, we didn't have time to find out what was the role of the above NPC.

Love locks again.

So cliche. 

Misty scenery in front of us; honestly can't see much, unlike the clarity the day before, and the above photograph was already edited (dehaze function) so that you can see more! 

A snippet of blue-ness gave us hope that the sky would clear soon! Hope was in vain as the wet condition continued all the way, even after we descended from the mountain, and went into the city! 

That's the thing about human psychology; being hopeful is better than being despaired, and it's good to look forward to a positive outcome. If all else fail, the second picture shows us how the view was like in good weather.

Above would have been breathtaking without the mist.

It was already quite impressive with my naked eyes that day.

A stream with likely ice cold water as the temperature that morning was only about seven degrees celcius! I could only thank my jacket for keeping me warm while blaming the drizzle for the cold raindrops on my face! 

Climbing up!

Good to warm the body!

Black tiger pine tree! 9.1 meters tall with a 14.4 x 14.2m crown; its name came about when a meditating monk saw a black tiger on top of the pine tree although he could not find it afterwards. Maybe imagination? 

God knows how old the above stone bridge was.

Hmm.. being shepherded to a single line up a long flight of stairs. In normal circumstances, it would have been fine but I did have safety concerns amidst the rain.

We could only thank our blessing stars that there's no push and shove! 

Guess we were supposed to climb up a peak for some views but as you can deduce from the above; it's best to take safety precautions! Walk slow, hold on to the railing, and pray your shoes have a good grip.

Because of the crowd, we decided not to venture too far up.

Signs were put up to warn visitors not to climb the cliff and even though there were anyone for the above photo, some visitors would still attempt to take a once-in-their-lifetime pictures. I might do the same when I am younger but not at this age.

Happier to just take the "correct" route.

Sometimes, things are better appreciated from afar. And even if I did manage to climb up, it's all clouds, mist and fog; can't see shit anyway, and not worth the danger.

Worn out Chinese carvings on the rocks.

Huangshan is known for endless walking and I always find it funny to see kids being hauled along the journey; many of whom were full of energy in the beginning, and absolutely deflated halfway through.

Making our way down! 

Random photographs as I am short of words, and there's only so much I can remember to jot down on my notepad given that I had to take photographs, and catch up with the rest of our tour mates who were far ahead of me! 

The structure of the pine trees is quite fascinating; unlike most trees with branches inching up towards the sun, the branches were arched as if they were arms that were ready to cradle something. 

Many hikers were going towards us in the opposite direction, likely day trippers. And it's quite fascinating to see the colorful raincoats that contrasted with the natural surrounding and, moving like ants. It would have been quite eerie to have the same scene at night though.

Information panel but this was a bit strange since it talked about a condition (soft rime) that appeared most frequently in January whereas my visit was in April. I thought it was some famous tree.

 

Scenery beside this flight of staircase would have been unforgettable but the mist / fog made it impossible. I had to use the dehaze function on photoshop to give you a better view because in real life, everything was just hazy and we could hardly make out the mountains. 

Up and up!

Stone Shed - a naturally formed landscape due to granite rock formations that collapsed. I would love to explore more but a family was already there and I didn't have time.

A dead tree; lightning strike?

Arrival at the Cloud Valley cable car station! 

The same station that we took on day one.

Availability of drinks at the convenience store; pricings for reference, from 8 RMB for mineral water, 15 RMB for soft drinks and 20 RMB for red bull.

Dad was ecstatic to have finally "conquered" huangshan!

A short introduction of Huangshan where a notable traveller from Ming Dynasty mentioned that "if you visit Huangshan, there is no other mountain worth visiting". Hm.... transportation wasn't as convenient then.

Making our way to take the shuttle bus back to the main station.

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Map of Huangshan

As above.

Click HERE for our 8 Days Huangshan, Tunxi, Yixian, Wuyuan, Mount Qiyun, Thousand-Island Lake, Hangzhou Tour Package to China via CTC Travel Agency