Mt.
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".
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