Jiuhua Shan is over 8 hours train ride and 2 hours car travel from Shanghai into Anhui Province. It is a place of majestic peace surrounded by spectacular views of mountains covered by bamboo forests. I think I have seen at least several hundred buddhist monks during my stay. Most of them live and work at the various monasteries and 99 temples scattered across the mountain range.
I have been lucky enough to be able to photograph some monks who were particularly happy to let me shoot away while performing their daily chores and meditation. I was invariably a great source of comments and curiosity as the only foreigner in a 100 mile radius.
