Twin Pinnacles of Qiongtai

Twin Pinnacles of Qiongtai

Located about four li north of Gaoming Temple. Here, the stream winds through a narrow valley flanked by two mountains, with a solitary peak rising straight up from the deep gorge like a 30-meter-high stone pillar—resembling either a bamboo shoot or an inverted snail shell drinking from the water. The ancients likened the valley to a boat and the spiral peak to an oar, hence the name “Fishing Boat on the Snail Stream.”

Upstream of the stone pillar lies Bihuilan Pool, whose emerald waters are as lush as greenery. To the left of the pool, a sword-shaped waterfall cascades between the cliffs, with a horizontal stone slab embedded above, resembling a stone beam—this is the “Little Stone Beam.” Within the beam lies a gourd-shaped pool, with waterfalls plunging down steep cliffs. Xu Xiake described this scene as “surpassing even the Stone Beam.”