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It was my second time visiting Putuoshan since this year. My favorite feeling in Putuoshan was its serenity. Four people, including me, flight to Putuoshan, Zhoushan airport from Beijng capital airport. Putuoshan locates in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, that is why the airport called Zhoushan airport. Zhoushan City is famous because Putuoshan as well. It is a really small airport, but clean and peaceful. No other planes can be seen on the tarmac when I got off the plane.
Since it was only a 2-days tour, we all carried a light baggage, then we can go to the shuttle bus directly. We know the route clearly for we have been here once before. It is safe, cheap and convenient to take shuttle bus to the Zhujiajian Pier.The bus only charges RMB5/PAX and about 7 minutes to arrive the Pier. By the way, don’t take the illegality car or bus, the drivers would charge you more than 4 times of normal price.
It was striking when I saw the It is a steady ride, about 20 minutes from Zhujiajian Pier to Putuoshan by a large liner and charge RMB22/PAX. The first thing after arriving Putuoshan pier was to buy an entrance ticket—RMB160/PAX. Though it is not a low price, still many people were in the tickets hall. FIT and groups were here and there, all were devout buddhists. Hotels in Putuoshan provides guests with free transfer, we can find the shuttle bus on the right side after enter the gate. It was easy to find bus, for some staffs were yells their hotel name.
Our 2-day pray trip was beginning after pass the Putuoshan archway. On the way to Putuoshan was a big road with trees. I like Putuoshan because it is clear and tidy. No one can imagine, how could Putuoshan offers people peace and comfort with such big amount tourists every year. The road is only for shuttle bus, other personal car are forbidden in Putuoshan. With fresh air and tide road, it was pleased to take a walk here. Most hotels and houses are in the middle of mountain. It was about 10 minutes form pier to Landison Putuoshan Hotel. The serene atmosphere made we calm down. After air plane, bus, ferry, we arrived hotel in the afternoon.
We decided to have lunch in the hotel and took rest for the rest time. I have to say Landison is a good hotel.Not for it is a 5 star hotel, but for the careful consideration. Frist was the welcome drink( a glass of green tea) on the lobby. I saw many fiqures of buddha with different expression in lobby, but sharing common feeling—gracious and friendly. The main decoration in lobby is made of sandal wood with unique carvings. Second was the smile from waiters. Third was the welcome gift on the bed in the room. It was a consecrated bracelet. The room with a balcony, 2 chairs and a glass table provided us a good place for chatting with
As a well-known Kwan-yin sanctum, Putuoshan is composed by four temples(Fayu Temple, Huiji Temple,Puji Temple and Nanhai kwanyin) and sightseeings. Our pray route was around these temples. With faithful hearts, we planed beginning pray at Fayu Temple,which was near Landison Hotel; then Huiji Tempel and Nanhai Kwanyin, the last one was Puji Temple. We set off at 8 am. After 5-minute walking, we arrived at Fayu Temple. There were a lot of people there, some people set off at 6 am. These temples need us to buy another ticket RMB5/PAX/Temple. Incense in Putuoshan are all unified price different with other temples which push tourist buy high price incense.
Huiji Temple was the hardest part in this pray trip. But we decided to climb to the top and took a cable car down, which can show our blessing sincerity. Huiji Temple is on Foding mount, more than 1000m high, and it is the highest mount in Putuoshan. It is not high for normal people, but for us who are lazy…it was a real challenge. We put all belongings in a big bag and decided who carried it by finger-guessing game. Each time was 15 minutes. I lost on the first time, but it was lucky, for the first part trip was easy. After 1/3 trip, we were sweating all over, and one of us had to take a rest because of her pale face.
After a 10-min-break, we continue the 2nd section—the hardest one, almost a right angle…during the trip we saw devout buddhists three steps with a kowtow. Some of them were young, some were mid-age, their hands and knees wearing caps. With faithful sprit, it seemed that they had unexhaustible power and no need to rest. It was a good experience when I think about it now. The last section was smooth. There were some stalls for artcaft, cucumber and so on. For the rest of the pray trip were easy and relax.