One of the most amazing temples in Yunnan
We started the day with a trip to the Changshan Mountain National Park near Dali. The weather did not look too nice, but you have to to work with what you get, right? (We visited end of September, we have been told during November to March, in winter, there is always blue sky…)
We went up by the Gantong cable car, which costs 70 RMB / person one way. The base station is at around 2,200m, going up to around 2,700m.
Despite the rainy weather, the views were really breathtaking. The almost untouched nature was amazing.
Despite the upcoming national holidays, there were really almost no people at all.
We took a hike from the Gantong mountain station to the Ximatan base station, which is around 5km / 1hr walk.
From there, there is another cable car going from around 2,900m to 3,900m elevation. (70RMB/person) The weather got pretty rough, so we could not see a thing, only the sign showing the altitude.
Ok, I guess it was not our day to see the mountain top and hike to 4,000m as planned. So we went back down again with another cable car and ended up near the „Three Pagodas of the Chongsheng Temple“. A 5 minute taxi ride later, we arrived there. The entrance fee was quite reasonable, around 40 RMB/person.
We did not think much of it, but it turned out to be the most amazing temple installation we have seen so far in all Asia.
The pagodas themselves are already impressing, but as we ascended the mountain we discovered always another layer of additional temple buildings. Totally 8 „levels“ were there, each with a more impressing set of religious statues.
The temple is over 1,380 years old and used to be the royal temple of Dali.
This is definitely a must see on your visit to Dali. Don‘t miss it!
2GIC 