Wutaishan — Mount Wutai, the Clear Cool Mountain — is the most senior of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains and the earthly seat of the Bodhisattva Manjushri. Five flat-topped terraces ring a high valley called Taihuai, where more than forty working monasteries stand in gold-roofed clusters; the North Terrace, at over three thousand meters, is the highest point of the North China plateau. It is the only mountain in China where Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist traditions practice side by side, and in summer, when the meadows bloom and the air stays cool, it is one of the most beautiful walks in the country.
