Four Scenic Areas in Diqing Rated “The Most Beautiful Places in China” (II)

The other two scenic areas on the list are:

Hutiao (Tiger Leaping) Gorge: Located 97 km south of Zhongdian, now Shangri-La, this 20 km long gorge is one of the deepest gorges in the world. Its narrowest spot is only 30 meters wide. According to a local legend, a tiger leaped over the rough Jinsha River at this narrowest point and gives it the “Tiger Leaping Gorge” name. Well worth the hike!

Lancang River Meili Grand Canyon: Lies at the foot of the Meili Snow Mountain, this 150 km long Canyon is a natural masterpiece. The 4,734 meter deep Canyon is also famous for its rough water. Lancang River rushes through narrow rocks and generates loud sounds. Breathtaking! Both Hutiao and Lancang Grand Canyon are rated “The Most Beautiful Canyons in China”.

Linda
www.teahub.com

Four Scenic Areas in Diqing Rated “The Most Beautiful Places in China”

A recent survey conducted by Chinese National Geography magazine rated four scenic areas in Diqing, Yunnan “The Most Beautiful Places in China”. Yeah! The four areas are: Meili Snow Mountains, Baimang Snow Mountain High Mountain Azalea Forest, Jinsha River Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Lancang River Meili Gorge. They are also our favorite places as well. Alex was lucky enough to be able to spend quite some time in Diqing few years ago. He is still quite excited whenever he talks about the experiences there.

Meili Snow Mountains: Located some 10 km southwest of Deqin County, the mountain range includes 13 peaks, which also known as the “13 Prince Peaks”, all rising over 6000 meters above sea level. It is a holy mountain to local Tibetans. Its main peak, Kagebo Peak, is the highest mountain peak in Yunnan. In spite of many attempts to conquer it, it remains a virgin peak. Meili Snow Mountain was rated one of the “Top 10 The Most Beautiful Famous Mountains in China”.

Baimang Snow Mountain: Located in Deqin County, this natural reserve covers a total area of 187,977 hectares with the highest peak towering 5,430 meters above sea level. Inside the natural reserve, there are vast amount of azalea forests. Many rare varieties are growing in the virgin forests there. During azalea blooming season of April to June, the whole mountain is decorated by colorful azalea flowers. It is quite breathtaking. The azalea forest there was rated the one of the “Top 10 The Most Beautiful Forest in China”.

To be continued…

Linda
www.teahub.com

Zen Tea (禅茶)

Zen Tea started at BaiLin Temple (柏林禅寺), which was ZhaoZhou GuanYin Temple in Tang Dynasty. Master ZhaoZhou’s (778-897) famous Gongan “go to have tea (吃茶去)” is still widely quoted in many tea houses in Korea and Japan. Over thousand years later, ZhaoZhou Zen Tea Conference (天下赵州禅茶文化交流会) was held at BaiLin Temple October 19 to 21, 2005. JinYuXuan (今雨轩) presented a large Thousand Year Tea Tree Pu-erh Bing Cha (千年普洱茶饼) in the worship ceremony on October 19th. Our house tea master, Di Liu （刘菂）, also presented tea ceremony in the conference. Our special edition of Golden Da Mo (Young Green Ancient Tea Tree Pu-erh Bing Cha 金达摩普洱茶) was selected as conference gift tea. It is also available at temple’s religious article shop. Profits are donated to the temple.

Master Jinghui （净慧法师） said in his speech that the spirits of Zen Tea are rightfulness （正）, pureness （清）, harmonies （和）, and elegance （雅）, and functions of Zen Tea are gratefulness （感恩）, forgiveness （包容）, sharing （分享） and forming ties （结缘）. How much have you experienced while drinking your tea?

Linda
http://www.teahub.com/