Han Shan temple was too busy

20.04.2024 - 20.04.2024

I woke up with massive period cramps and stayed in bed in and out of consciousness until noon. The owner of the hostel was very nice and she gave me some "brown sugar water" which was supposed to help. It did for a bit I think. I went to a temple called Han Shan and it was also crazy busy. That's because there is a poem that every school child must recite about this temple. Here it is:

The moon is going down
And the crows make a ruckus
The sky is covered with frost
There are maples on the riverbank
And the lights of fishing boats
Drift with the current
I fall into a sad sleep
from the monastery on Cold Mountain
The sound of the bell
Reaches the guest boat at midnight

I had some vegan noodles at the buddhist restaurant on site, and then the cramps started up again. It's a bad idea for me to eat heavy food like noodles on my period ugh.

This was actually the least busy spot, but I thought it was the most interesting. Inside that building is a giant bell that they ring every new year 108 time because people will have 108 "annoyances" all year long. The bell is supposed to help get rid of some of them for you.

I caught the wrong bus back and Baidu maps helped me fix my mistake, so I still made it back just without the subway.
I bought some really expensive Advil and then went to sleep as soon as the pain subsided, again drifting in and out of sleep until 5 a.m. when I woke up, had a shower, and left for home.

Posted by baixing 08:25 Archived in China