Qingcheng Mountain

It's nice, no--necessary, to get out of Chengdu every once in a while.  Qingcheng mountain was our first official outing after getting those diplomatic plates slapped on our car.  It was super COLD, which worked to our advantage as we were some of the only people on the trails.  It was a definite bonus to be the tourists, and not the attraction on this excursion.

The entrance to the mountain:

A few scary stories to be told about this man of the mountain, and you'd better believe Shaun took full advantage of the opportunity:

 After climbing what seemed to be thousands of stony stairs, the kids were begging for a break and a snack.  Good thing we found the snack bar.  Seriously, the Chinese think of everything.  How did they know pig face would be exactly what we'd need?  (And the trotters to go please.)

We reached the end of the trail and decided to take the tram up to a mountain-top temple.  Here we are at the tram station:

It was too foggy to see anything on the way up, but the kids are always game for a ride.

 The final destination:  White cloud temple.  It truly was up in the clouds.  We couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us.

 

This plaque in the forest was our payment for enduring the cold and endless stony steps with 3 less-than-thrilled children.  Of course this wise Chinese saying is going in my bathroom above the toilet.  How could I ignore such wisdom?