Wutái Shān - Monasteries and Tourists

The “Five Plateau Mountain” is one of the sacred Buddhist mountains of the north and a lot of temples sprinkle the area. But unfortunately so are the guest houses, souvenir shops and other touristic facilities, dimishing the spiritual flair in the area around the central village.

While you might be able to seek refuge by heading to one of the many more distant temples, this is easier said than done, especially if you don’t speak that much Chinese. No good maps for the area exist and walking along the main road is not that much fun with all the noisy tourist buses around.

Despite all that, I think that Wutái Shān is a place worth visiting. The scenery is nice (although hard to capture in a good photo) and even if you stay in the main area, you might find the calm environment you were probably expecting if you start your day early or head to the temples after the tourist buses have already left in the late afternoon.

But in general I would recommend either to just stay here for a short time (two days) or a lot longer to be able to get really familiar with the surroundings and be able to explore more than just the main sights.