Qingchengshan Mountain

That "the tranquility of Mountain Qingchengshan ranks No.1 under the heaven" is a title for Mountain Qingchengshan with deep valleys and rolling ridges and peaks. Mountain Qingchengshan lies in Dujiang yan municipality, Chengdu Sichuan, and is 54km away from Chengdu. It is a state--level scenic spot and the birthplace of Chinese Taoism. Qingcheng Mountain (Qingchengshan) is one of the ancient cradles of Daoism. The area is green all year round and is known for its secluded tranquility. The mountain has numerous Daoist temples and sites along the paths to its peak. For example, Jianfu Temple (Jianfu Gong) sits at the base of the mountain and is a large, well-preserved Daoist temple from the Tang Dynasty. About halfway up the mountain sits Tianshi Cave (Tianshi Dong) the temple and school of Zhang Daolin, a famous Daoist master who taught here and contributed greatly to spreading Daoism in China. The present Tianshi Cave buildings were built at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Lastly, near the peak sits Shangqing Temple, which was originally established in the Jin Dynasty, while the current temple buildings are Qing Dynasty constructions.

It first became famous because the Taoist master Zhang Daoling once held Taoist activities on the mountain. Lu You, a great poet in Song Dynasty, composed a lot of works in Mountain Qingchengshan. His verses: Clouds, Like peaks of mountains, are rising up in the north Mountains, like green waves, are flowing to the east are true portrayals of Mountain Qingchengshan. Great painters Xu Beihong and Guan Shanyue, and the master of traditional Chinese painting Zhang Daqian in modern time once stayed in Qingcheng for a long time. Zhang Daqian even brought his whole family to Qingcheng and stayed there for as long as 3 years, long enough to show his favor of Qingcheng.

With its luxuriant vegetation, green trees, streams and waterfalls, peaks and ridges, blossoms and birds, Mountain Qingchengshan deserves the title of a "Heavenly View", and Mountain Qingchengshan Scenic Spot consists of front and back mountains. The Front Mountain boasts over 10 magnificent palaces and temples of Taoism dotted in green peaks and ridges, trees and woods. Among many historic relies are more than 40 kiosks, bridges, mills and pavilions in different styles and architecture. There are 36 world-famous peaks in Mountain Qingchengshan, one rising higher than another. The mountains are in all directions, the streams are quiet and the trees are green all year around. The Back Mountain Qingchengshan is featured of natural and ecological beauty, primeval gullies and ravines and peculiar vines, and has 4 deep green and parlous gullies respectively named Feiquan, Wulong, Shenxian and Hongyan, cache in length of 5 km. Inside the gullies are magnificent and marvelous cliffs, valleys and plank paths, deep ponds and water screens, waterfalls flying down to valleys, caverns and stalagmites, and over 50 such natural wonders, with a changing and enchanting picture scroll formed. The newly found crystal corrosive cavern in the Back Mountain Qingchengshan is even more grotesque with forests of stalactites, and is among the few large crystal corrosive caverns in China.