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Alphabetical Listing of China Travel Tips
Famous Taoist Holy Mountains
Mount Wudangshan in Hubei Province

About 400 kilometers in circumference, the great mountain is well-known for its clouds and changed in weather. The steep peaks comprise poles of strangely shaped rocks and deep split ravines. Seas of clouds enshroud the peaks, forming a scene of great natural beauty. Wudangshan embraces 72 peaks. The highest point, Pillar of Heaven, is 1613 meters above sea level. Many magnificent buildings can be found there. Some of them were built in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties marking the heyday of architecture in Wudangshan. The whole architectural design symbolizes a legend about Heavenly King Zhenwu, who happened to stay there during the stoic years of his self-cultivation in Taoism. The tasteful architecture of the buildings, the juxtaposition of buildings with the natural formations, the landscaping and the tranquility seen cares the whole.

The mountain is a natural store of herbs of all kinds. Li Shizhen, the great ancient Chinese physician, ever gathered different herbs here in the mountain. In his masterpiece "The Encyclopaedia of Herbs"(Ben Cao Gang Mu), 1800 different kings of herbs are recorded in it . Among them 400 are found in Wudangshan.


Wudang Taijiquan (known as Shadowboxing in the West) is one of the two main schools of the Chinese Gongfu (Kongfu).


At that time, Wudang Taijiquan was used by the monks for keeping fit and self-defence. At present it has become a king of sports activities for health-care exercises among the broad masses of the people.

 
Mount Longhushan in Jiangxi Province
Mount Longhushan(Dragon and Tiger) is located 20 km south of the Yingtan city in JiangXi Province. It is one of the key scenic areas in china and the birthplace of Taoism. It covers an area of more than 200 square kilometers, including six major sights: Supreme Purity Palace, Mountain Dragon and Tiger, Celestial Spring Rock, Heavenly Echo Mountain, MaZu Rock and Hong Hu Lake. Mount Longhushan has always been well known as "Residence of Celestials" or "Blest Earthly Abode". The first chapter of the Chinese classic "All Men Are Brothers": "Priest Zhang prayed against the god of plague. Marshall Hong let out the demons by mistake" provides us with a most vivid description of this sacred place: "To watch it from a distance, the peaks pierce through the chaotic clouds. While from a closer footing, the mount looms up seemingly eating up the bright moon." "Hundreds of peaks compete their beauty, while thousands of streams meanders through them. The waterfalls pour down from frightful height while creepers hang down from every cliff. A gust of wind moans over the empty valley,
when a tiger growls. And when the moon turns up halfway up the mountain, the monkeys' chattering travels miles away. What do the mountains look like? Heaps upon heaps of jades dyed into dark green, and clouds of smoke shrouded by emerald screen. "Thanks to the increasing prosperity of tourism---the new industry, Mount Longhushan attracts more and more visitors at home and abroad with its culture of Taoism whose source traces back to the ancient times, as well as its picturesque landscape and mysterious "Cliff Tomb".

Mount Longhushan was originally named "Mount of Splendid Clouds". In the middle of the East Han Dynasty, the first Tian SHi( a Taoist priest ), Zhang Dao Ling, started to distill elixirs here. According to the record, when the elixirs were made, a dragon and a tiger were seen winding above the oven. Then the mountain was named after the celestial animals.

The mountain is the cradle of Taoism, because Zhang Dao Ling created and practiced Taoism here. Ever since then, Taoism stepped onto the Chinese historic stage. During Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Zhang was granted the highest official rank by the court. Therefore, the original source of Taoism, Mount Longhushan, leading all the Taoism schools in southern china, became the centre of the development of Chinese Taoism practice and became renowned throughout the south, ranked the family of Confucius in QuFu of Shan Dong Province and both received great attention from the court. Therefore, people always refer to them as "Zhang in the south , and Confucius in the North". The so-far still intact architecture of the Tian SHi Mansion if Han Dynasty in Supreme Purity Palace on the mountain is magnificent and tempered with celestial atmosphere. The Grand Supreme Purity Palace, known as the original site of Taoism and the place where all gods received their official ranks, was built in the East Han Dynasty for Zhang Tian Shi as his workshop. In the palace, there is a well, entitled Demon Suppressing Well, from which many an evil spirit is sand to have sprung out and taken the reincarnation of the one hundred and fight outlaws in the book "All Men Are Brothers" by Shi Nai AN. The whole splendid building is one if the miracles in Chinese architecture.

As the sacred place of Taoism, Mount Longhushan today is greatly worshipped by Taoists at home and abroad. Every year, domestic and foreign pilgrims keep on pouring in. Mount Longhushan has the most peculiar and beautiful landscapes. Numerous grotesque and sky-scraping peaks, formed mainly by jagged red gravel rocks, lend enchantment to the mountain. There are totally ninety-nine peaks, twenty-four huge rocks, one hundred and eight natural and artificial sights, over twenty wells, ponds, streams and waterfalls. The most wonderful scenery of them is the winding Lu Xi River which meanders westwards through the whole mountain area and links sights scattered along the banks like a string of brads. Celestial Water Rock, with its large numbers of delightful sights, boasts the most concentrated places of scenic beauty. Many famous historic literary men, such as Gu Kuang, Zeng Gong, Wang An Shi and Wen Tian Xiang, had visited the mountain and left behind poetic lines like:
On the mountain peak towering in the air, A cloud-wreathed celestial city turns up,
Making its appearance flickering high on the very summit.
The stunning scenery there ranks that of Penglai, the divine isle.

The Cliff Tombs of the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period(475-221 BC), another wonderful scenery of the Mount Longhushan, have a history of over two thousand six hundred yeas. It is entitled the best natural archaeological museum of China by "Our Beautiful Motherland"--- a television program of CCTV, owing to its wide disposition, large quantity, dangerous location, unique shape and rich historical relics.

 
Mount Qingchengshan in Sichuan Province

 

Mount Qingcheng is located at the Dujiangyan scenery spot of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is a famous mountain in Taoism. Surrounded by countless peaks and densely covered by ancient trees with branches reaching towards the sky, the mountain was named "Mt. Qingcheng" (Green Town in Chinese). The mountain consists of two parts - the anterior Mt. Qingcheng and the posterior Mt. Qingcheng. The anterior mountain is famous for its beautiful scenery and numerous cultural and historic sites, while the posterior mountain is noted for its paradisiacal scenery, which is primitive and brilliant, gorgeous and mysterious.

Among its famous scenic sites are the Shangqing Palace, the Jianfu Palace, and the Tianshi Cave. The Jianfu Palace stands against the cliff under the Zhangren Peak with an extraordinary bearing. The palace was built in the Tang Dynasty and repaired several times in the successive dynasties. Now, only two halls and three compounds are preserved. On the left side of the Jianfu Palace lies the princess of Mingqing mansion site. Visitors venturing one kilometer to the west can find the "the natural pictures". When looking at the rocks standing erect with the clouds and mist thickly wreathing, visitors often fancy that they are in the pictures.

Two kilometers towards the north lies the Tianshi Cave, which is the major temple of Mt. Qingcheng. According to a legend, Zhang Daolin was here for preaching in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the Three Kings Palace, the main hall of the Tianshi Cave, stone inscriptions of three kings of the Tang Dynasty were laid. The palace contains wood and stone tablets of past dynasties. The most famous include the Tang Xuanzong's imperial decree and Yuefei's handwriting of Zhuge Liang's famous piece Chu Shi Biao.
After exiting the Tianshi Cave, visitors may cross over the Fangning Bridge to reach the Zhushi Palace. Following the visit to the Zhushi Palace, an unceasing walk straight north will lead the visitors to Chaoyang Cave. Exiting the Chaoyang Cave, climbers will be able to see the Shangqing Palace, which is situated on a high platform. The Shangqing Palace was first built in the Jin Dynasty and the extant temple was built during the reign of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty. There are stone inscriptions in the palace such as "the fifth famous mountain under the sun", " the first peak in Mt. Qingcheng" and so on. With an annual average temperature of 15 centigrade, Mt. Qingcheng falls under the humid subtropical monsoon climate. It is reputed as "Dong Tian Fu Di" (which means wonderful mountain and happy place), "the fairyland on earth".
 
Mount Laoshan In Shandong Province


With its highest peak rising 1,133 meters above sea level, Mount Laoshan is situated on the southeastern Shangdong peninsula. Facing the Yellow Sea, it is one of China's major scenic resorts and has long held the reputation as the No. 1 Famous Mountain on the Sea.

The entire mountain covers 446 square kilometers and has 218 places of interest, big and small.

It is a famous Taoist mountain boasting both mountainous and coastal scenery. Among all the well-known mountains across China, it is the only one on the coast. It has a coastline of 87.3 kilometers, with 13 bays and 18 islets nearby. Rambling along a stone-planked path on the mountainside, you will be touched by both huge tides on the sea and lush pine trees and misshaped rocks on the shore, and will thus feel broad-minded and relaxed. Legend has it that some 2,500 years ago, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) came here hoping to meet immortals, and later so did Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), giving a mysterious air to Mount Laoshan.

At the peak of Taoism, there were nine palaces, eight Taoist temples, and 72 nunneries that housed nearly 1,000 Taoist priests and nuns on the mountain. At present, the Taiqing Palace is the largest and oldest among the preserved Taoist establishments. First built in the early Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), the palace has a history of nearly 1,000 years and features a simple architectural style. It is surrounded by countless scenic spots and is the center of the entire tourist area.

The Western Memorial Temple for Guan Yu and Yue Fei in the Sanqing Palace is a must for visitors to Mount Laoshan, because it was formerly a residence of Pu Songling, a renowned novelist of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Many stories in his novel Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio have Mount Laoshan as the backdrop. In front of the Sanguan Hall there is a 700-year-old camellia shrub. Among the largest camellias in the world, it is 8.5 meters tall,

and its trunk is 1.78 meters around. When blooming in midwinter, its flowers look like a layer of deep-red snow covering its green leaves. There was originally a white peony that reached the hall's eaves. Pu Songling dwelled here during his late years, with the camellia and the peony as his neighbors. The two flowers turned into two pretty women who fell in love with a young literati in his fairy tale Xiangyu.

Among the places of interest near the Taiqing Palace are the Elm Shaped Like a Dragon's Head and the Stone Carvings on the Cliff.

Mount Laoshan is known for its oddly shaped rocks, ancient trees, and crystal-clear springs. Among the most famous springs are the Tianyi Spring on the mountaintop, the Shenshui (Immortal Water) Spring in the Taiqing Palace, and the Shengshuiyang (Ocean of Holy Water) Spring in the Shangqing Palace. People say the mineral water produced here can cure chronic diseases.

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