Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Taizhou City

Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Taizhou City

Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Taizhou is a National Scenic Area and a National AAAAA-level Tourist Attraction.

Located in the central-eastern part of Zhejiang Province, Tiantai Mountain borders Ninghai and Sanmen to the east, Pan’an to the west, Xianju and Linhai to the south, and Xinchang to the north. It is a nationally renowned scenic area, famous as the birthplace of the Tiantai sect of Buddhism and the hometown of the legendary figure Ji Gong.

Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Zhejiang

Approved by the State Council as a National Key Scenic Area in 1988, it was listed as one of the “Top Ten Tourist Attractions in Zhejiang Province” in 1992. The scenic area spans a total of 187.1 square kilometers and boasts extremely rich tourism resources. Since ancient times, it has been described as having “major eight sights, minor eight sights, thirty named and renowned attractions, and countless others that are too many to count.” Tiantai Mountain combines the beauty of many mountains, characterized primarily by its antiquity, serenity, lush greenery, and uniqueness. The Eastern Jin Dynasty literary figure Sun Chuo described it in the preface to his “Ode to a Journey to Tiantai Mountain” as: “Tiantai Mountain is truly the most divine and exquisite of all mountains… Its towering magnificence and splendid beauty encompass the richness of mountains and seas, and the grandeur of both human and divine splendor.” Xu Xiake, the great traveler of the Ming Dynasty who journeyed across the country, visited Tiantai Mountain three times, wrote two travelogues, and prominently featured “Diary of a Journey to Tiantai Mountain” at the very beginning of his travel series. The renowned Qing Dynasty scholar Pan Lei, after visiting Tiantai Mountain, sighed: “I have traveled across half the world and seen many famous mountains and peaks, most of which have their own distinct style but offer little variation. None can compare to Tiantai, which embraces the beauty of all, combines countless strengths, and offers endless wonders and mysteries to explore… Tiantai possesses the beauty of all mountains, yet no other mountain can fully embody the wonder of Tiantai. Thus, one can visit all other mountains without seeing Tiantai, but cannot claim to have truly experienced mountain travel without visiting Tiantai.” He spoke highly of the natural landscape of Tiantai Mountain. Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area

Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Zhejiang

Tiantai Mountain boasts exceptional natural landscapes and a long, splendid cultural heritage. Here you’ll find Taoist “fairy mountains” such as Taoye Creek where the Han Dynasty alchemist Ge Xuan refined elixirs, the jade-like Qiongtai known as the “Fairy Capital,” the sacred site of Taoism’s Southern School—Tongbai, and the Sixth Grotto-Heaven on Earth, Yujing. There are also Buddhist sites like the Stone Bridge Fangguang Temple, known as the “Monastery of the Five Hundred Arhats,” the ancient Guoqing Temple from the Sui Dynasty, Hanshi Mountain where the Tang Dynasty poet-monk Hanshan lived in seclusion, the Wan Nian Temple—one of the “Five Mountains and Ten Monasteries” of the Song Dynasty Zen School—and the national key temple Gaoming Temple. Additionally, there are countless uniquely shaped rocks, secluded caves, cascading waterfalls, and clear springs, as well as ancient trees, rare flowers, precious birds, and exotic animals that are impossible to fully describe. Hence, it has earned the reputation of being the “sacred source of Buddhism and Taoism, and a paradise of breathtaking landscapes.”

Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area

The “Buddhist Heaven and Fairy Mountain” has also given rise to countless magical legends. The timeless story of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao from the Han Dynasty, who encountered immortals while gathering herbs here, originated in this very place. Tiantai Mountain is a natural botanical and zoological garden, abundant with rare plants and animals. It is home to the plum tree from the Sui Dynasty, the camphor tree from the Tang Dynasty, the cypress from the Song Dynasty, and the vine from the Song Dynasty. It also cultivates medicinal plants known as the “elixir of immortality,” such as Lindera aggregata, and the “life-saving immortal grass,” Dendrobium officinale. Particularly notable are the Yunnan azaleas spread across the mountains at elevations of one thousand meters—trees over a hundred years old with iron-like trunks, gnarled branches, and lush foliage. Every late spring, pale red and tender yellow blossoms bloom competitively. The large, vibrant flowers cluster together so densely that the trees resemble brocades or rosy clouds. The age of the trees, the extent of the bloom, and the profusion of flowers are rarely seen elsewhere in China, making it a major botanical marvel of Tiantai Mountain. Moreover, there are rare wild animals such as the large Indian civet, the serow, and the clouded leopard, all of which greatly enrich the area's tourism resources.

Tiantai Mountain not only boasts stunning natural scenery and profound cultural heritage, but it also enjoys excellent geographical advantages for tourism. To the east lies the Xuedou Mountain National Scenic Area, home to the former residence of Chiang Kai-shek; to the north are the “Scenic Wonders of Yue Region”—the national historical and cultural city of Shaoxing and the nearby Dafo City in Xinchang; to the south is the Yandang Mountain in Wenzhou; and to the west are the Shuanglong Cave in Jinhua, the Zhuge Village in Lanxi, and the “Oriental Hollywood”—Hengdian World Studios in Dongyang. It is truly a key hub in China’s tourism map and a golden travel belt. Currently, a two-hour tourism economic circle centered on Tiantai Mountain and covering eastern Zhejiang is gradually taking shape. The tourism industry in Zhejiang has even coined a catchy rhyme: “With Tiantai in the middle, you can tour all of eastern Zhejiang.”

Tiantai is one of the earliest tea-producing regions in China. The area is rich in high-quality high-mountain tea—Yunwu tea—and is also the birthplace of Eastern tea culture—Chinese tea ceremony. Tiantai also produces a wealth of Chinese medicinal herbs, including over 1,000 varieties of precious medicinal materials such as Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, and Dendrobium. Among them, “Tiantai Lindera” is unique in quality and considered the “elixir of immortality” in traditional Chinese medicine. The “Shiliang” brand of high-mountain vegetables grows at elevations of one thousand meters, producing pollution-free green products that are sold as far as Shanghai, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangsu, and various cities within the province, and exported to Hong Kong and Macau.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of National Scenic Areas

· 29th Batch of National AAAAA-level Tourist Attractions (October 2015)