Sanqing Mountain

 


With beautiful clouds, mist and strange-shaped pine trees, Sanqing Mountain is a fairyland far from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Admission ticket price:
150 yuan/person in peak season (Feb 1-Dec 31)
130 yuan/person in off season (Jan 1-31)
Cable-car ticket price:
125 yuan/person round trip in peak season
(70 yuan up hill, 55 yuan down hill)
110 yuan/person round trip in off season
(60 yuan up hill, 50 yuan down hill )
Tel:
86-793-8225817 (8218891)
Website:

Sanqing Mountain in Jiangxi province, although not very well-known to many people today, was regarded as a sacred place for Taoists in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when Taoism was at its most popular time. The mountain remained very popular among people seeking immortality until the 18th century, when Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty preferred Buddhism to Taoism.

Sanqing Mountain's fame as a Taoist resort has faded, but its natural beauty remains. Stay on the mountain for a day, and you will understand why ancient Taoist master Ge Hong (AD 284-364) made pills of immortality here more than 1,700 years ago.
With beautiful clouds, mist and strange-shaped pine trees, Sanqing Mountain is a fairyland far from the hustle and bustle of city life.


A huge rock in the shape of a snake

The mountain is shrouded in mist for about 200 days each year. On misty days, dense fog envelops the mountain completely and makes you think you are wandering in the clouds. Once in a while, wind blows away the mist, and a stiff, imposing peak suddenly appears right in front of you. Sometimes you can even see the fog creep up on you, gently penetrating the pine trees on the cliff.

About 80 percent of Sanqing Mountain is covered by primeval forests. More than 2,500 kinds of plants exist here, most of which can be used to make traditional Chinese medicine.



A huge rock in the shape of a Goddess

Because it has plenty of clouds, the mountain is an excellent place to watch the sun rise and set. Huge clouds become splendidly red, as if half the sky were on fire.

Pine trees on Sanqing Mountain are as beautiful as those on Huangshan Mountain in Anhui province, where they are regarded as the most beautiful in China. Many pine trees on the mountain are more than 100 years old. Many years of exposure to wind, sunshine and rain have twisted their branches and wrinkled their trunks and bark, which has given them strength and charm like old men's wisdom.


The mountain is shrouded in mist for about 200 days each year.

A 500-year-old pine tree on the 1,500-meter-high Yutai platform is a good example of the mountain's pine trees. The tree is 1.1 meters in perimeter and three meters in height. Its branches twist like a snake, while its roots are anchored deep in the narrow gaps between rocks.
Like most mountains, the most beautiful view is from the summit of Sanqing Mountain, though the 1,800-meter-high mountain peak has remained inaccessible to ordinary tourists until recently because it is very rugged and steep.

In 1995, a cable car was built to take tourists up to about 1,600 meters high. From 1,600 meters to the peak, a concrete path was built along the sheer rock face. Walking on the path -- said to be the highest tourist trail in the world -- is an exciting experience. On one side the cliffs rise sheer above you, while on the other side a deep valley falls below you. But for the handrail, one would easily fall a thousand meters to the foot of the rock face.


A huge rock in the shape of a Taoist

Travel tips

To watch sunrise, stay near Yuntai Platform. The best seasons for watching sunsets are autumn and winter, when there is less rainfall.

Take warm coats with you even in summertime, as it might be quite cold in early mornings and late evenings.
The area is famous for its local fish, chicken, tea and pears.



The south hill cable car

Longevity Park

Longevity Park is located at the southern foot of the Sanqing Mountain, the east of the cableway. In this spot, the natural shape of strange peaks and grotesque rocks and longevity are in a happy combination and a unified entity. The spot and landscape are in "Taoist natural" law. All of these are closely related with the theme of well-being and longevity. While enjoying and beautiful scenery, visitors can also gain some enlightenment in keeping with good health and long life.

West Seashore

It is a newly developed spot in Sanqing Mountain. It joins the southern natural spectacles and the northern cultural Sanqing Temple together. Throughout the journey, you can see rare landscape, such as Flower and Fruit Mountain, the Monkey King Appreciating Treasure, Guanyin Delivering children, Feixian Valley and so on. It is the best place to appreciate vast clouds and to overlook such gorges as the Primitive Forest, Feixian Valley, the Royal Family etc. In this spot, you can also see black bears, rhesus monkeys and other wild animals. The plank footpath leads you along the West Seashore for 4 km, which is built along the face of a cliff more than 1600 meters above sea level. It is the highest and longest plank footpath in China.

Yujing Peak

Yujing Peak, with an elevation of 1816.9meters, is the highest of Sanqing Mountain. It has a wide range, including Nine Heaven Yinyuan Mansion, Safflower and Tea-oil Tree Valley, Jinyu Pine Ridge, Riding Magpie Bridge, Searching Truth Terrace, Yuhua Peak, Yuxu Peak and the three peaks Fenglai. There you can overlook Feixian valley, the steep Princess valley and cloud seaa and mist waves, sunrise, treasure rays and towering strange peaks. It is impossible for one to truly appreciate Sanqing Mountain without reaching Yujing Peak.

Nanqing Park

Nanqing Park is one of the most spectacular natural landscapes, with an elevation of 1577 meters. It has a wide range of peaks and many beautiful places, spreading from Youxian Valley to Watching Clouds Terrace, including Yixiantian(a thread's breadth to the sky), delicate rocks and grand valleys. There are also vast cloud seas, many rare peculiar peaks, delicate rocks and grand valleys. There are also vast cloud seas, many rare flowers and trees and several hundred-muazalea groves. In Yuhuang Peak, you can see generous sunrise with a good look. Among the peaks in Nanqing, there are "Sichun Goddess", "Gigantic python Rising in the Mountain", "Nine Dragons Joking with Phoenix", "Taoist python Rising in the Moon", "Yunu with Open Arms", "An Island of Flowers", "Beauty Peak ", "Searching for Elixir Terrace", "Watching Clouds Terrace" and so on.

Sanqing Temple

 

Sanqing Temple is a place of assembly for cultural heritage and an "open-air museum” of ancient Taoist architecture.

Sanqing Temple is a place of assembly for cultural heritage and an "open-air museum” of ancient Taoist architecture. It is located at an elevation of 1530 meters, beginning from "Wind Gate” to "Ninth HeavenYinyuan Mansion". There are collected the cream of the cultural relics and Taoist architecture of the Sanqing Mountain, spanning 1600 years of history.

Sanqing Temple is a good place to research the Taoist ancient Architectural design in China. It follows traditional philosophy. The art of selecting and setting obeys "Taoist natural" law and combining nature landscape and human art together. By combining craftsmanship with nature, and planning landscapes in accordance with carefully chosen shapes, Sanqing Temple fully reflects the essence of heaven, the land and human beings.

Entrance of Three Caves

The spot stands in the west of Sanqing Mountain. Here you can probe deeply into the maze-like valley of Sanqing Mountain from the peaks. And, from different angles, you can look far into the distance to Yujing peak, the fairyland of Fenglai and Jeweled Palace, to which nothing can compare.

Stone Drum Ridge
It is located in the north east of Sanqing Mountain. It is a newly opened park, where springs and waterfalls are of great momentum. The Jade Curtain Falls, about 34by 30 meters, as an example, is one of the largest falls here. It is so named because it looks like a crystal jade curtain hanging from the heaven. What's more, there are unique Jinsha (gold sands) basin and rhesus monkey tribe nearby. Among them, "Yunu Pond", "Ice Jade Cave", is spectacles of water scenery, where one can drink and wash. And the rhesus monkey tribe welcomes you to visit and play with them.

Xihua Terrace
This spot, which is located at the northern foot of the Sanqing Mountain, is an old slab stone way climbing the Mountain dating from Song and Ming dynastide. The main character here is the poetic lyricism and picturesque concept countryside scenery, just like Taohuayuan, a beautiful dream place from the writings of Tao yuanming, a famous writer of the Jin dynasty. From Fenshui village to Wind gate, one can hear the songs of the pines and springs and gaze on thick trees and blooming flowers. While the mountain paths wind peacefully under the shade of the trees, a cool respite from the hot weather, even in midsummer. So it is praised as a "kingdom of green" and” A cool and refreshing world".

Yulin Temple
Yulin temple includes an area below the Wind Gate to the Jin sha (gold sands) and Longquan (dragon spring) bridge. It is the passageway in the east, and has such historic sites as Yulin Temple. In this spot, the winding mountain path rounds in the peaks and threads its way under the shape of pines and bamboos until to the mysterious Wind Gate pass, with streams and pine on all sides.