Sanqing Mountain 三清山

Sanqing Mountain is located in Yushan County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province. It faces Huangshan to the north and leans against Wuyi Mountain to the south. Sanqing Mountain integrates the elegance of Huangshan, the grandeur of Emei Mountain, the vitality of Lushan Mountain, and the steepness of Huashan Mountain. It is dangerous in the east, magical in the west, beautiful in the north, and magnificent in the south, with the central peak standing lofty. It not only gathers the essence of famous mountains and great rivers but also displays a unique charm, hence the long-standing reputation of "Sanqing Mountain is the most beautiful under heaven".

Sanqing Mountain has been a place for Taoists to practice throughout the dynasties. Since Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty came to this mountain, it has gradually become a yearning place for famous figures who believe in Taoism. The first to build Taoist temples on Sanqing Mountain were the descendants of Wang Jian, the prefect of Xinzhou in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty (873–888), Wang Jian was ordered to comfort the people and arrived at the northern foot of Sanqing Mountain. Impressed by the beautiful and serene scenery, he retired here with his family after leaving office. In the Song Dynasty, his descendant Wang Lin donated money to build Taoist temples, making it a Taoist cave-heaven and blessed land. During the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty (1450–1456), Wang Hu, a descendant of Wang Lin, carried out large-scale construction on Sanqing Mountain and rebuilt Sanqing Palace. From Buyun Bridge at the mountain entrance to Sanqing Blessed Land at Tianmen, more than 200 structures including palaces, pavilions, stone carvings, stone sculptures, mountain gates, and bridges were built, spreading Taoist buildings all over the mountain. Its scale and momentum can be comparable to that of Qingcheng Mountain, Wudang Mountain, and Longhu Mountain. Therefore, Sanqing Mountain is known as the "Open-Air Taoist Museum".

Nanqing Garden Scenic Area is located in the center of Sanqing Mountain and is the most marvelous area for natural landscapes, with an average altitude of 1577 meters. It centrally displays the granite peak forest landform formed by 1.4 billion years of geological evolution, which is the essence of Sanqing Mountain's natural scenery. Its scope includes a loop from Liuxia Platform via Yuhuang Peak, Giant Python Emerging from the Mountain, Goddess of Spring, Azalea Valley, and One-Line-Sky to Youxian Valley. Several iconic landscapes of Sanqing Mountain are in this scenic area, with numerous strange peaks and rocks, majestic mountains, spectacular seas of clouds, and rare flowers and trees, presenting rich landscapes.

The most remarkable features of Nanqing Garden are several iconic pictographic peaks of Sanqing Mountain, such as Giant Python Emerging from the Mountain and Goddess of Spring, which are vivid in both form and spirit. Several main viewing platforms in the scenic area are excellent spots to watch sunsets and sunrises, such as the sunset glow and sea of clouds at Liuxia Platform, and the sunrise, sunset, and divine light at Yutai, which are magnificent and colorful. There is also a millennium azalea valley covering hundreds of mu in the scenic area, where azalea trees with a history of over a thousand years can be seen everywhere. From May to June every year when the flowers bloom, the mountains are filled with fragrance, presenting a spectacular scene. This scenic spot is indeed a "blessed land" and an excellent place for Taoists to cultivate their minds and nature.

Wanshou Garden is located at the southern foot of Sanqing Mountain and is a scenic area with the theme of auspicious longevity culture. The strange peaks and clever rocks in the scenic area are naturally formed, and the beautiful scenery of the fairy peaks contains traditional Chinese auspicious longevity culture and the Taoist way of cultivating one's nature. The entire scenic area is like a natural bonsai. The attractions in the area are characterized by exquisite charm, and each landscape conforms to the theme of auspicious longevity culture, inspiring the way of health preservation. Its scope includes a circular tour route from Shou Mountain via Guanyin Platform, Heshou Peak, Delu Platform, Xiaoyao Stone to Shukai Stone, with a total length of about 3 kilometers.

Longhu Hall is located on Donglongshou Mountain of Tianmen Peak in Sanqing Palace Scenic Area and was built in the Ming Dynasty. It is an Aoding - style structure dry-built with granite, forming a roofless hall enclosed by 20 small square stone columns, with a width of 6.25 meters, a depth of 7.15 meters, and a height of 3.4 meters. The front of the main hall is a memorial archway-style hall gate. Inside the hall, there are stone shrines in the middle, left, and right, with 21 stone-carved statues enshrined. Most of the statues are incomplete. There are stone dragons and stone tigers in front of the hall, hence the name Longhu Hall (Dragon and Tiger Hall). The entire building was constructed without using a single drop of mortar. It has been renovated today, but its scale is not as large as before.

Sanqing Palace is located in the northern part of Sanqing Mountain, gathering the cultural landscapes of Sanqing Mountain and serving as the "open-air museum" of Taoist ancient architectural complexes. Sanqing Palace is at an altitude of about 1530 meters, ranging from "Jiutian Yingzhi Mansion" at the top to "Fengmen" at the bottom. With a history of over 1600 years, Sanqing Palace saw Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty "building a hut and refining elixirs" to practice Taoism here. In the Tang Dynasty, Laizi Palace was built, known as Sanqing Blessed Land. 

In the 6th year of Qiandao in the Song Dynasty (1170), Sanqing Temple was built to enshrine the Three Pure Ones, which was later abandoned. It was rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty and converted into a palace during the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty (1450–1456). Sanqing Palace was destroyed by fire in the 18th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1813) and later rebuilt. It mainly enshrines Yuanshi Tianzun of the Qingwei Heaven Yuqing Realm, Lingbao Tianzun of the Yuyu Heaven Shangqing Realm, and Daode Tianzun of the Dachi Heaven Taiqing Realm. There are more than 230 ancient buildings and cultural relics including temples, halls, mansions, memorial archways, springs, pools, bridges, tombs, platforms, and towers. These ancient buildings and cultural relics are exquisitely laid out according to the "Innate Bagua Diagram", making it a treasure for studying the design and layout of ancient Taoist buildings in China.