Rare sunrise awes visitors at Mount Emei in Sichuan Province

The amazing beauty of sunrise at the summit of snow-covered Mount Emei took tourists’ breath away on Sunday morning in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Aerial footage shows that the rising sun lit up the mountain’s “Golden Summit” which is located at 3,079 meters (1.9 miles) above sea level on Sunday morning. A 48-meter-high (157 feet) massive statue of bodhisattva Samantabhadra glittered in the first rays of morning sun, while the cliffs of the mountain glinted in the sunshine.

Tourists cheered when the sun came up from the rosy clouds at around 07:50 in the morning. They took pictures to record the rare natural wonder.

Traditionally considered as the place of enlightenment of Samantabhadra, Mount Emei is regarded as one of China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains.

The mountain is well known for its Four Great spectacles, namely the sunrise, the clouds sea, the halo surrounding the Buddha statue and mysterious green light during night.

Meteorological records shows the summit of the mountain is covered by white snow and clouds for more than 200 days in a year.

Staff members in the Emei scenic region said this year the mountain has witnessed the earliest and largest snowfall in recent five years. The areas with elevations above 2,000 meters have been covered by snow since mid December.