Qingcheng Mountain

QingchengMountain

A holy Taoist mountain some 65km west of Chengdu, with a summit of only 1600m,Qingcheng Shan is an excellent day trip into the subtropics. It offers beautiful trails lined with gingko, plum and palm trees, picturesque vistas and plenty of atmospheric sights along its four-hour return route. In nasty weather it's a good alternative to Emei Shan as its somewhat sturdier steps are stone rather than slate (and therefore less slippery) and the views here are less likely to be obscured by mist and cloud.

Situated outside the entrance gate, Jianfu Temple is the best preserved of the mountains temples. Of the 500 or so Taoist monks resident here prior to liberation, there are still about 100 living here.

Further up the hill, both Chaoyang Cave and Taoist Master Cave are temples built into hollows in the side of the mountain. In the courtyard of Taoist Master Cave are ancient twin gingko trees planted during the Han dynasty over 1000 years ago. Only 500m from the mountain's summit is Shangqing Temple, established in the Jin dynasty.

The most popular way of ascending Qingcheng Shan is by gliding across Yuecheng Hu on a small ferry and then riding the chairlift up to within a 20-minute walk from Shangqing Temple. This removes most of the hard work and makes it very easy to fit Qingcheng Shan into a day trip from Chengdu. If you do walk only one way, the western trail past Chaoyang Cave and Taoist Master Cave offers the most sights and views. At the southern end of this route is the lush Chunxian Mountain Path, created early in the 19th century by headmaster Chunxian Peng who had each visitor to the mountain plant a tree along the path.