travel x 15CONTACT US AT: 8351-9409, YWENNSONG@HOTMAIL..COM

Monday July 10, 2017

TEMPLE TALES

Master Ji Qun. James Baquet

James Baquetjamesbaquet@gmail.com

LAST time I talked about the time I met Master Ji Qun, abbot of the Xiyuan Temple in Suzhou, in a mountain her-mitage near Huayan Temple on Zhiti Mountain. I had been teaching English to about 100 kids, and he was there shar-ing his deep wisdom.

At the hermitage, I was invited to ask him a question. Such great teachers must hear the same questions repeatedly, so I was pleased when he told my interpreter that no one had ever asked him that.

My question: What is the best way to encourage the “Buddhist Renaissance” that is happening in China?

He replied that his work and that of his contemporaries was based on the foundation laid by the great monks of the 20th century (such as Taixu and Hongyi). An essential part of that work is for temples to teach and support other aspects of Chinese culture, such as traditional arts and music.

Likewise, he said, it would be best if Buddhist lay people were trained as teachers to take the Buddha’s teach-ings out into the broader culture.

When I asked him who his audi-ence was, he replied that he usually spoke only to Chinese people, though this included devotees in such places as Singapore and Australia. When I asked if he would take his mission to the United States, he thought about it for a moment, then (I think wisely) replied that with just some effort in China, he was able to achieve results; but that even with much effort in the United States, the result would be minimal.

That evening, his fi nal words to us were: “Make the most of your life; live fully in the present; seek wisdom.”

More wisdom from Master Ji Qun

The golden world of Menyuan County is famous for its vast green fi elds and yellow canola fl owers.File photos

many other tourist attractions nearby you don’t want to miss out on.

Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is home to over 60 historical sites includ-ing mosques, pagodas, pavilions, temples and imperial tombs as well as natural scenery such as Helan Mountain, Sand Lake and Shapotou. China Western Film Studio is also worth a visit if you fi nd yourself in the neighborhood.

Qinghai Lake, in the northeast part of Qinghai Province, is the largest inland saltwater lake in China. The 8-square-kilometer Bird Island, on the western edge of the lake, is a paradise for more than 100,000 migratory birds, including bar-headed geese, brown-headed gulls, swans and wild ducks.

The golden world of Menyuan County is famous for its vast green fi elds and yellow canola fl owers, and

July and August are the best times to visit Menyuan Hui Autonomous County for thousands of hectares of rapeseed can be seen blooming in all of their golden glory.

Qiyi Glacier, located in the hinter-lands of the Qilian Mountain Range, southwest of Jiayuguan City, Gansu, is one of the most accessible glaciers in Asia and a nice option for moun-taineering enthusiasts.

(Chen Xiaochun)

Chaka Salt Lake at night, with the refl ections of the stars on the lake, will stun you with the beauty and grandeur of the universe, all the while humbling you as you stand insignifi cantly against the sweeping heavens above you.

The enormous salt carvings here are

another source of awe. The huge salt carving of Genghis Khan, the Great Khan and founder of the Mongol Empire, is 50 meters long, 30 meters wide and 8 meters high and is made up of 4,800 tons of salt.

Besides Chaka Salt Lake, there are

RATED by Chinese National Geog-raphy as one of the 55 must-visit places in your lifetime, Chaka Salt Lake, is nicknamed “China’s mirror of the sky.” It reopened this May after upgradation and reconstruction since last October. But due to poor trans-portation, most people have yet to witness its charm.

However, for people in Guangdong, here is good news — a direct high-speed train route linking Guangzhou and Lanzhou is expected to be put into operation in July, which will take less than 10 hours, making the trip to “China’s mirror of the sky” much more convenient.

Maybe some of you remember the scene where a train travels through water in Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away.” If you come to Chaka Salt Lake, you will see the real-life ver-sion of it, a train that travels through water like in a wonderland.

Standing in the middle of the lake, the endless sky and water merge into each other in such a distorting way that it almost makes you feel like you’ve entered into a two-dimen-sional space.

China's mirror of the sky - Chaka Salt Lake

A deserted railway stretches into Chaka Salt Lake.

The salt carving of Genghis Khan.