Wild China #1

Recently watching the BBC2 documentary 'Wild China' made me yearn to return to a country I was fortunate enough to visit a couple of years ago. Instead I had to content myself by revisiting my photographs. 

I thought I would therefore share some of these with you through occasional pages in this blog, focusing on the more remote areas away from the main cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Xian and Hong Kong.

This tour begins in the southwestern Yunnan Province on the outskirts of the historic city of Dali.




The symbol of this ancient and beautiful city are the Three Pagodas (San Ta), These once formed part of the monastery of Chongwen Si which was destroyed during the Qing Dynasty. The central pagoda was built around 800 AD while the smaller two which flank it, date from the 11th century.





Situated within beautiful landscaped gardens near the foot of the Cangshan mountains, the pagodas guard the entrance to what is once again an active Buddhist monastery. Set higher up the side of the mountain, the monastery is made up of a series of ornate temples overlooking the spectacular countryside and the nearby Er Hai Lake.







In front of the main temple, the air was literally thick with the smoke from burning incense sticks while walls and marble balustrades were  festooned with multicoloured prayer flags. Set against the backdrop of the cloud-capped mountains and overlooking the majestic lake, there were wonders to be seen in every direction.






Inside the temple, yellow robed monks prayed and chanted, surrounded by fantastic gold statues and relics and masses of colourful flowers.

As we made our way downhill towards the lake, we took in our last views of this spectacular place. It was with great regret that we left but there were still more fascinating sights to see in and around this wonderful city.