Wutaishan Things to Do

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Taihuai is the central town in the Wutai Shan area. It is basically a larger village with more and more hotels erratically spreading through the valley. The main attractions are many Buddhist temples and monasteries located in the town itself and surrounding mountain peaks. In addition to the temples there is a beautiful and fascinating landscape and many hiking trails revealing serene mountain scenery.
Wake up early and climb the little trail to Nanshan Si (Si – Buddhist temple) and enjoy the quiet morning hours watching the valley spreading bellow. Walk down, have a breakfast, stroll around the town and check the temples there. There are Tayuan Si - with it’s dominant white pagoda and always crowded, Dailuo Ding – on the east side of the river with it’s 1080 steps (108 is the number of beads on a Buddhist rosary, this is 10 x 108!!!) and many more. My favourite was Cifu Si, somehow secluded, off the way temple that was just being renovated. There were no tourists, just couple of monks, one even spoke English and gave us a little tour of the place.
It is a nice, easy going and relaxing spot off season, but during the summer months there are crowds of Chinese tourists. A bit of the problem can be the communication – not many people speak English.