Qingcheng Mountain 青城山

Qingcheng Mountain is located in the southwest of Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, on the northwestern edge of the Chengdu Plain. It was ancient name "Zhangren Mountain". It is about 68 kilometers away from Chengdu and about 26 kilometers away from Dujiangyan City. Qingcheng Mountain is adjacent to the Minshan Snow Ridge and faces the Western Sichuan Plain. The main peak, Laoxiao Summit, has an altitude of 1260 meters. The entire mountain is covered with green trees, evergreen in all seasons, and the peaks stand around like a city wall, hence the name Qingcheng Mountain. With thousands of stone steps and winding paths leading to seclusion, it is famous for its tranquility and purity, and has long been reputed as "Qingcheng is the most secluded under heaven".

Qingcheng Mountain is a famous Taoist mountain in China and one of the birthplaces of Taoism, with a history of nearly 2,000 years since the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the second year of Han'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (143), Celestial Master Zhang Daoling came to Qingcheng Mountain, chose its deep and serene beauty, built thatched huts to preach, and thus Qingcheng Mountain became the birthplace of Taoism and was listed as the "Fifth Cave Heaven" by Taoism. The Taoist temples on the mountain are centered on the Celestial Master Cave.

is divided into the Front Mountain and the Back Mountain. The Front Mountain covers an area of about 15 square kilometers, with beautiful scenery and numerous cultural relics. The main Taoist attractions in the Front Mountain are:

Jianfu Palace
Jianfu Palace is located at the foot of Zhangren Peak. It was first built in the 18th year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty (730), and has been repaired many times in subsequent dynasties. Now, only two halls and three courtyards remain, which were rebuilt in the 14th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1888). There are three main halls, dedicated to Taoist celebrities and various gods respectively. The 394-character couplet on the pillars in the hall is praised as "a unique feature of Qingcheng". Jianfu Palace is built under the cliff, with extraordinary bearing. Fan Chengda, a poet of the Song Dynasty, prayed here for the Song emperor, and the emperor specially named it "Ruiqing Jianfu Palace". The poet Lu You described Jianfu Palace at that time in "Zhangren View" as "the golden seal script lists the golden gate, and the giant bamboos on both sides of the road gather green clouds. The cliffs and ridges are divided as if heaven and earth are separated, and thousands of pillars stand solemnly on their borders".

Natural Picture Pavilion
Natural Picture Pavilion is located on the ridge of Paifanggang in Longju Mountain. It is a ten-cornered double-eaved pavilion built during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1875-1909). The scenery here is beautiful, and visitors feel as if they are in a painting, so it is called "Natural Picture". Natural Picture is located between Jianfu Palace and Celestial Master Cave, at an altitude of 893 meters, flanked by two peaks. When visitors arrive here, they can see the pavilion standing among green cliffs, standing walls and dense green shade, as if in a painting. Behind the pavilion is Zhuhe Village, where "cranes often gather in groups and cry in the mountains"; on the right is a horizontal stone lying on the cliff between the two mountains, called "Tianxian Bridge", which is said to be a place where immortals gather and play.

Celestial Master Cave
Celestial Master Cave, also known as Changdao View, is the most important Taoist temple in Qingcheng Mountain. In the cave, there are statues of Celestial Master Zhang Daoling and his 30th grandson, Xu Jing Celestial Master. Walking 2 kilometers north from Jianfu Palace, you reach the main view of Qingcheng - Celestial Master Cave. Celestial Master Cave was first built during the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing a stream on one side, with towering ancient trees and a very quiet environment. The existing halls were built in the late Qing Dynasty, with magnificent scale, exquisite carvings, and many precious cultural relics and ancient trees. It is said that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling once preached here. The main hall in the view is the Sanqing Hall, and behind the hall are historical sites such as the Yellow Emperor Temple and the Celestial Master Cave. Next to the Celestial Master Cave, there is a hall called the Sanhuang Hall, which contains stone statues of Xuanyuan, Fuxi, and Shennong. In front of the cave door, there is an ancient ginkgo tree, about 50 meters high, with a chest circumference of 7.06 meters and a diameter of 2.24 meters. It is said that it was planted by Celestial Master Zhang himself, and has a history of more than 2,000 years.

Patriarch Hall
Patriarch Hall is located on the hillside to the right rear of Celestial Master Cave, and can be reached by passing Fangning Bridge from Celestial Master Cave. Patriarch Hall, also known as Zhenwu Palace, was founded in the Tang Dynasty. Du Guangting and Xue Chang of the Tang Dynasty, and Zhang Yu of the Song Dynasty all lived in seclusion here. Princess Yuzhen, the daughter of Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, also practiced Taoism here in order to become an immortal. The hall is in a quiet environment, and inside there are statues of Zhenwu Patriarch, Lü Dongbin, Dongyue Emperor, etc.

Shangqing Palace
Shangqing Palace is located on the first peak of Qingcheng Mountain, about 500 meters from the peak on the hillside. Shangqing Palace was first built in the Jin Dynasty, and the existing halls were built during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (1862-1874). There are cliff inscriptions such as "the Fifth Famous Mountain under Heaven" and "the First Peak of Qingcheng". The three characters "Shangqing Palace" on the palace gate were inscribed by Chiang Kai-shek. The palace enshrines Laozi, the founder of Taoism, with a statue of Laozi and a woodcarving of the 5,000-character "Tao Te Ching", as well as relics such as Magu Pool and Yuanyang Well. Behind Shangqing Palace is Laoxiao Summit, where a Sun Viewing Pavilion is built, which is an excellent place to watch the sunrise, divine lamps and the wonders of the sea of clouds.

The total area of the Back Mountain of Qingcheng is about 100 square kilometers, with beautiful waters, secluded forests, and majestic mountains that are unattainably high, going straight up. It is extremely cold in winter and extremely cool in summer, which is a magnificent wonder. The main Taoist attraction in the Back Mountain is the Holy Mother Cave. The Holy Mother Cave is located on the hillside of Guakou Mountain. It is said to be the cave where Mrs. Sun, the wife of Zhang Ling, the founder of Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, practiced. There is also a local legend that Mrs. Sun planned to kill the evil dragon in Wei River here to eliminate harm for the people, and people honored her as "Qingcheng Holy Mother" in memory of her, hence the name of the cave. It is also said to be the cave where "Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman" practiced. Du Guangting of the Tang Dynasty called this cave the seventh of the "Eight Caves of Qingcheng" in "Records of Qingcheng Mountain", named "Holy Mother Cave". The Holy Mother Cave is hidden in the dense forest with towering ancient trees, which is a natural cave. The main cave is more than 300 meters long, and the total length of the branch caves is more than 1,000 meters, winding and extending slowly upward. The cave is warm in winter and cool in summer, with numerous stalagmite mountains, strange rocks, gurgling clear springs and rippling green pools.