Mt. Huashan
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1 A general review：
Mt. Huashan is composed of a huge granite rock, and its development and evolvement date back 2.7 billion years. It is the most precipitous one among the Five Sacred Mountains in China. Along the 12-km-long winding path leading up to the mountaintop are steep cliffs.
Among the five peaks, the East Peak (rising Sun), the West Peak (Lotus Flower) and the South Peak (Landing Wild Goose Peak) are comparatively high. The East Peak is the best place to watch the sun rise early in the morning. The West Peak is also the most graceful and the most unique peak, and the South Peak is the highest in Mt. Huashan. The other two peaks are the Central Peak (Jade Maiden) and the North Peak (Stands in the Cloud). As the legend goes, a young girl (the Jade Maiden) once rode a white horse among the mountains (In Taoism legendary stories, Golden Boy and Jade Maiden are the attendants of the Taoist immortals who live in the Heaven).
Mt. Huashan is a famous Taoist mountain. Many famous Taoists in Chinese history once lived here. As the legend goes, Laozi, the famous Chinese philosopher in Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC) and founder of Taoism, preached Taoism here. Chentuan, a famous Taoist in Song Dynasty (960-1279), lived in seclusion in Mt. Huashan and he studied and promoted Taoism quite a lot. In Mt. Huashan, there are some state-level Taoist temples, such as Jintian, Zhenyue and Chunyang temples. There are also some popular mythological legends related to Mt. Huashan, such as the legends of Juling Deity, the River God of post-antique China and Lotus Lantern (Baolian Deng), an old Chinese fairy tale that tells the story of how Chenxiang, a young man, split Mt. Huashan and rescued his mother out of it.
Mt. Huashan boasts lots of places of interest and historic sites. There are numerous temples, pavilions, terraces and towers, statues and stone carvings here. Some famous historic sites include Yuquan Temple, Zhenwu Temple, Jintian Temple, and so on. Xiyue Temple, 7 km north of Mt. Huashan, is the place where ancient people paid tribute to the God of Mt. Huashan.
2 Tourist attractions：
East Peak
The East Peak, the peak of Rising Sun, is like a platform for people to view the sunrise. If you want to see the sunrise, you should start climbing the peak at night because it takes 4 to 6 hours to reach the top.
There are many scenic spots on the East Peak. The statue of Chentuan is in Sanmao Cave. Outside the cave is Sweet Dew (Gan Lu) Pool. In front of a nearby cave called Qingxu Cave is an isolated peak. At the top of the peak are a pavilion called Iron Tile (Tie Wa) Pavilion and a set of Iron chess. The story has that Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu (reign time: 960-976), once played chess with Chentuan here. He lost the chess, and as a result, he gave Mt. Huashan to Chentuan. Therefore, the pavilion is also called “Losing-Chess Pavilion”.
West Peak
The West Peak, the peak of Lotus flower, is named after the huge rock that shapes like a lotus flower in front of Green Cloud (Cui Yun) Temple located at the peak top. The West Peak is the most beautiful and precipitous peak of Mt. Huashan. There is a large stone known as the “Ax-cut Stone” beside Cuiyun Temple. The stone seems to have been cut open by an ax. What is interesting is that there is a huge stone ax beside the stone. According to the legend story of Lotus Lantern, Chenxiang split the stone with an ax and saved his mother, who had been held in captivity under the West Peak.
South Peak
The South Peak is the highest one of Mt. Huashan. The South Peak has the scenery of pine trees meandering for several miles interspersed with Chinese junipers and cliff paths enshrouded with dense leafy shades.
At the top of the peak is a cave known as Laojun Cave (Laojun is another name for Laozi, the founder of Taoism). Other tourist attractions related to Laozi are Laozi Peak, the Furnace of Making Pills of Immortality and the Eight Diagrams Pool. North of Laojun Cave is Taishang (another name for Laozi) Spring with jade-green water flowing east and dropping into a gully downside, forming a pool called Yangtian (looking up at the sky) Pool. The South Heavenly Gate Stone (Nan Tianmen) Archway is located down a cliff east of Laojun Cave. A famous Taoist Palace, Jintian Temple, or Baidi Temple, was built to pay tribute to Shaohao, the God of Mt. Huashan. There are two other tourist attractions along the cliff path from South Peak to East Peak. One is “Avoiding Imperial Edict” (Bi Zhao) Cave, where, as the legend goes, is the place where Chentuan stayed to avoid accepting the emperor’s appointment to an official position. Another is the Plank Road built suspended along the cliff. It is another perilous part of Mt. Huashan. Brave tourists can hang on to the iron chains and the wood rails to travel this road.
North Peak
The North Peak, with sheer cliffs on three sides, is also called Cloud Terrace Peak. Only one road leads up to the south of the peak. There is a story of Capturing Mt. Huashan Wisely. In 1949, the PLA soldiers had a fight with the KMT soldiers who had escaped here and blocked the road to put up a desperate struggle. Fortunately, the villagers helped the PLA soldiers use bamboo poles and ropes to climb up the peak from the northern cliff and killed the enemy. Zhenwu Temple is located at the top of the North Peak.
Central Peak
The Central Peak is also called Jade Maiden Peak. The Jade Maiden Shrine is located on a huge natural stone tortoise. The legend has that in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC), a young girl named Nong Yu fell in love with Xiao Shi, a young man who was good at playing bamboo flute. Nong Yu was the daughter of Duke Mu of Kingdom Qin, but she gave up all the wealth and the comforts of luxury in her life and married poor Xiaoshi. They went to Mt. Huashan and lived here for the rest of their life. People built the shrine to commemorate Nong Yu. In front of the shrine are five stone mortars where Nong Yu washed her hair. Beside the mortars is a stone horse Nong Yu had rode when she came to Mt. Huashan. Pinxiao (Listening to the bamboo flute) Tower and Yinfeng (attracting the phoenix) Pavilion behind the Jade Maiden Shrine are the places where phoenixes were attracted to listen to Xiao Shi’s flute. All of these constitute an intriguing love story.
On the cliff is a pine tree named Sheshen (Sacrificing oneself) Tree with smooth and shining root and big crown stretching high up in the air.
Jade Spring Temple
Jade Spring Temple enshrouded with big ancient trees is located at the foot of Mt. Huashan. It is said that the temple had been built by Chentuan. The temple was named after the sweet and clean jade spring that is said to be connected with the jade well of Zhenyue Temple located at the top of Mt. Huashan. Xiyi Ancestral Hall in the temple was named after Chentuan, who was conferred a title of “Mister Xiyi” by Emperor Taizong (Reign Year: 976-998) of Song Dynasty (960-1279). The ancestral hall consists of two halls: the front hall and the back hall. On the left side of the front hall is a “stele with the map of Mt. Huashan”, and on the right side is a stone monument with three Chinese characters meaning “the first mountain in the world” written by Mifu, a famous calligrapher in Song Dynasty. In the back hall is the statue of Chentuan. It is said that when Chentuan lived in Mt. Huashan, he often came to Shansun Pavilion built on a big stone to enjoy the scenery and write his books. Beside the pavilion is an ancient tree named “Carefree Tree” planted by Chentuan. Jade Spring is usually the first stop of many tourists. They usually have a rest here and then start their climb.
Three Precipices of Mt. Huashan
Along the cliff path from Jade Spring Temple to North Peak are several magnificent and breathtaking scenic attractions, including the three precipices of Mt. Huashan. The first precipice is near a huge stone east of Qingke Ping (Flatland). The stone is called “Turning round stone” because in the past the guides would advise the tourists not strong enough to go back from here since it was too precipitous from this point up. In front of the stone is the Thousand-Chi (1/3 meter) Precipice with about 370 steps hanging on to the sheer cliff. Tourists should carefully grasp the iron chain to climb up. At one point of this part, if you look up, you can only see a gleam of light. The exit of the precipice, called the Dooryard, is known as the “throat of Mt. Huashan”. If the “dooryard” is covered with an iron board, then the only path is blocked.
The Second Precipice of Mt. Huashan is the Hundred-foot Valley located not far from the Thousand-Chi Precipice. Two steep cliffs sandwiched a huge stone. Tourists should walk through the narrow path under the stone. It is really breathtaking because the stone seems to be dropping at any time. Other minor precipices include the Immortal’s Bridge, Overlooking Weihe River Cliff and Black Tiger Mountain Ridge.
The Third Precipice of Mt. Huashan is Laojun’s Furrow, a perilous furrow-like path with 570 steps in the deep cragged cliffs. As the legend goes, when Laojun found that there was no path, he led his ox here and let it plough a valley overnight. At the end of the valley is a steep cliff called “Monkeys Cry” (Even monkeys find it difficult to pass the cliff). Then it is near to the North Peak.
Xi Yue Temple
Located at Yuezheng Street that is 5 km north of Mt. Huashan, Xi Yue Temple, built during the reign of Emperor Han Wu (Reign time: 140BC-86BC), was where the emperors stayed when they came to pay tribute to the God of Mt. Huashan. The temple faces south with the front gate facing Mt. Huashan. From north to south along the axes of the temple are the gates, halls, sleeping quarters of the emperors and the pavilions. The whole temple is low in the front and high in the back.
The constructions of Xi Yue Temple are quite magnificent. Standing on the 20-meter-high Wufeng Tower in the temple on a high flatland, you can have a clear view of the five peaks of Mt. Huashan. Haoling Hall, the main hall of the temple, with a roof with colored glaze tiles and single eaves, is situated at a wide platforms shaped like the Chinese character “凸”. The hall has a width of 7 rooms and a depth of 5 rooms. There are grand winding corridors surrounding the hall. Some steles of the inscriptions written by emperors Kang Xi (Reign year: 1662-1723), Dao Guang (1821-1851) and Ci Xi [the queen mother of Emperor Tongzhi (reign time: 1862-1875) who controlled the political power for almost 50 years until Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911] are hung in the hall. Covered with luxuriant foliage and interspersed with rugged stones, the temple looks like a garden.
There are many table inscriptions of Later Zhou (951-960) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. A picture named the “recumbent picture of Mt. Huashan” has the map of Mt Huashan and the inscriptions of the poems written by some famous poets of Tang Dynasty (618-907), such as Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu and Chentuan. There is also the stele inscription written by Emperor Qian Long (Reign time:1736-1796).
Changlong Ridge
After passing several perilous parts from the North Peak, you will arrive at Chang Long Ridge, a sheer mountain ridge that is tens of zhang (3.333 meters) long and two chi (1/3 meter) wide.
With steep cliffs on both sides, the ridge is the only way to reach the opposite side. One can’t help trembling when he steps on the ridge. As the legend goes, once Han Yu, a famous writer in Tang Dynasty, called up all his courage and climbed up the ridge. Then he turned around and found it was so dangerous and he was so frightened that he thought it was impossible for him to go back home. He cried and wrote his letter before his death and threw it into the valley, hoping somebody would pick up it and gave it to his family.
After crossing Changlong Ridge, tourists can arrive at the South Peak. Then coming down the peak, they can go to the East Peak and the Central Peak.
Deity’s Palm Cliff
The Deity’s Palm Cliff is the eastern cliff of Stone Peak Tower located northeast of the East Peak. As the legend goes, in the ancient time, the Yellow River was blocked by a huge mountain and there were floods every year. The Deity of River held up Mt. Huashan with his left hand and pushed Zhongtiao Mountain with his right foot and opened a riverway for Yellow River to flow into the ocean and saved the people. The Deity’s Palm is the palm print left by the Deity of River when he held up the mountain. The shiny half circle on the cliff is called “stone moon”.
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