Chinese Language Blog

In Eastern China’s Shandong Province, you’ll find the most sacred of China’s 5 Great Mountains – Mt. Tai. According to Chinese legend, if you climb this mountain, you’ll live to be 100. Over the years, countless Emperors, poets, and scholars have visited this holy site, and tons of people make the pilgrimage here every day to scale the 7,000 plus stairs. Take a tour from the Red Gate at the bottom all the way to the Heavenly Street on the top with this video.

山东省 – shān dōng shěng

Shandong province

泰山 – tài shān

Mt. Tai

五岳 - wǔ yuè

Five Great Mountains

饺子 – jiǎo zi

dumplings

煎饼 – jiān bǐng

Chinese pancake

第一山 – dì yì shān

first mountain

红门 – hóng mén

Red Gate

道教 – dào jiào

Taoism

佛教 – fó jiào

Buddhism

一起锁 – yì qǐ suǒ

together locks

手杖 – shǒu zhàng

walking stick

茶馆 – chá guǎn

teahouse

步行上山 – bù xíng shàng shān

climb up the mountain

斩云剑 – zhǎn yún jiàn

Cloud Cutting Sword

上天门入 – shàng tiān mén rù

go into the gate of Heaven

第一天下名山 – dì yì tiān xià míng shān

the first famous mountain under Heaven

这个我看不懂 – zhè ge wǒ kàn bù dǒng

I don’t understand this one.

云步桥 – yún bù qiáo

Cloud Stepping Bridge

瀑布 – pù bù

waterfall

万丈碑 – wàn zhàng bēi

Ten Thousand Zhang Tablet

加油！- jiā yóu

add oil! (go!)

南天门 – nán tiān mén

South Gate of Heaven

天街 – tiān jiē

Heavenly Street

山上有很多兵官和饭店 - shān shàng yǒu hěn duō bīng guǎn hé fàn diàn

There are many guest houses and restaurants on top of the mountain.

我们早上四点半起床了 - wǒ men zǎo shàng sì diǎn bàn qǐ chuáng le

We woke up at 4:30 in the morning.

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000, the Longmen Grottoes outside of Luoyang, Henan province, are one of the best examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Here, over 100,000 statues of Buddha and his disciples are carved into the limestone caves of the Xiangshan and Longmen mountains. It’s an amazing sight, and certainly worth a visit if you are traveling in China.

火车站很拥挤，也很脏 – huǒ chē zhàn hěn yǒng jǐ, yě hěn zàng
The train station is very crowded, and also very dirty.

*Note: I made a mistake on this one with the tone – 脏 in the 4th tone (zàng) means “inner organ”… it should have been the1 1st tone (zāng)

洛阳 – luò yáng
Luoyang

我们买了硬卧票 – wǒ men mǎi le yìng wò piào
We bought hard sleeper tickets.

带了葡萄酒和奶酪 – dài le pú táo jiǔ hé nǎi lào
…and brought wine and cheese.

河南省 – hé nán shěng
Henan province

龙门石窟 – lóng mén shí kū
Longmen Grottoes

中国佛教艺术 – zhōng guó fó jiào yì shù
Chinese buddhist art

北魏 – běi wèi
Northern Wei Dynasty

唐代 – táng dài
Tang Dynasty

香山 – xiāng shān
Mt. Xiang (lit. fragrant mountain)

龙门山 – lóng mén shān
Mt. Longmen (lit. dragon gat mountain)

伊河 – yī hé
Yi River

孝文帝 – xiào wén dì
Emperor Xiaowen

北宋 – běi sòng
Northern Song Dynasty

晋 – jìn
Jin Dynasty

元代 – yuán dài
Yuan Dynasty

步步生莲 – bù bù shēng lián
Seven Steps at Birth/Step by Step Lotus

万佛洞 – wàn fú dòng
10,000 Buddha Cave

奉先寺 – fèng xiān sì
Ancestor Worshipping Temple

大日如來 – dà rì rú lái
Vairocana Buddha

武则天 – wǔ zé tiān
Wu Zetian

钟楼 – zhōng lóu
bell tower

鼓楼 – gǔ lóu
drum tower

蒋宋别墅 – jiǎng sòng bié shù
Jiang Song Villa

蒋介石 – jiǎng jiè shí
Chiang Kai-shek

国民党 – guó mín dǎng
Kuomintang (KMT)

To understand the vast Buddhist influence upon Chinese culture, one must travel to the Longmen Grottos (龙门石窟－Lóng mén shí kū) located just outside of Luoyang (洛阳－Luò yáng), Henan province. Nestled around the Yi River (伊河－yīhé), these Longmen Grottos are home to some of China’s most famous stone and rock sculptures, depicting, among other things, images of the Buddha, Bodhisatva and Bodhidarma–central elements of local religious culture.

These grottos epitomize the influx of Buddhist (佛教-fó jiào) culture in Henan province from the 5th century on. Walking along each side of the river, you truly experience the size and scope of these Buddhist artisans and merchants, who continued the work of mother nature by carving even deeper into the river-eroded cliff-sides. As centuries passed, these walled cliffs were added to and augmented by disciples and pilgrims traveling across the Silk Road and into central China. Today they stand as a historical relic of Buddhism’s crawl across Asia.

Check out the gallery below:

Follow Steve on twitter: @seeitbelieveit