Mt. Taishan and 6,660 stone steps

The leader of the 'Five Sacred Mountains', Mt. Tai

In ancient times, the first thing for an emperor (and crazy American's) to do on ascending to the throne was to climb Mount Taishan and pray to heaven and earth or their ancestors. It was said that 72 emperors of different dynasties made pilgrimages to this mountain. It started out with a misplaced BOSTON MARATHON group. No kidding we are some of the honored guest... These people are going to run the 6,660 steps, hopefully in less than 2 hours so they can have a long life. Yes, there were ambulances at the top!!! The honored guest drove up a switchback road to the extremely steep cable cars. Oh my, I am afraid of these almost as much as 6,660 steps. Of course I took hundreds of photos here are few of my favorite. You would have thought we had two heads... so many people took pictures of us, and wanted to talk to use and interview us... This is crazy.... We walk with the runners for a little, they are attempting to run up all 6,660 steps to have the blessing of a long life. A 8,000 RMB first place prize is the goals of some. We are driven up the switchback road to the cable cars.... VERY STEEP AND LONG CABLE CAR RIDE>>>>>>>> then a few hundred steps... no problem I want to go to the summit. I want a long life if the stairs don't kill us. This is just amazing to see this first hand... of course the pics are a close second... This is one of the padlock shrines... You lock your wishes and dreams on the top of the mountain for blessings. Each have special red character printed on them. I wish you could have seen some of these other wonderful sights...