Hengshan National Forest Park

Hengshan National Forest Park

Hengshan National Forest Park is a national-level forest park.

Hengshan National Forest Park, a national-level forest park, is located 1.5 kilometers west of Guangde City. As a suburban-type forest park, it leverages its locational advantages to develop humanistic landscapes and attractions centered around Cishan culture, viewing-focused scenic areas and spots primarily for forest tourism and leisure, the Bamboo Technology Park and Bamboo Species Garden, as well as supporting service facilities such as entertainment and hotels, gradually becoming a renowned scenic area in southeastern Anhui.

Hengshan National Forest Park preserves historical and cultural relics centered around Cishan culture. The park’s main peak, Hengshan Mountain, is a historic and culturally significant mountain in the Jiangnan region. It was once conferred the title “The Foremost Sacred Mountain under Heaven” by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. Cishan culture extends across thousands of miles in the Jiangnan area, with Guangde’s Temple of the Cishan Emperor recommended as the “Ancestral Shrine of Cishan,” also known as “The Foremost Incense Site under Heaven,” making it the soul of Hengshan National Forest Park.

The planned area of Hengshan National Forest Park spans 1,000 hectares, with the core functional zone covering 335 hectares. Comprehensive development projects include: humanistic landscapes centered on Cishan culture, such as the Tomb of Zhang Bo (Zhang Bo being the Cishan Emperor), the Stele Pavilion of Emperor Taizu’s Encampment, the Stone Archway of “The Foremost Sacred Mountain under Heaven,” the Yuewang Temple (Temple of Yue Fei), the Fan Zhongyan Stele Pavilion, the Lidou Platform (Zhang Bo’s worship platform), the Cishan Culture Stele Corridor, the Rhino Watching the Moon Pavilion, and the Tianmeng Pavilion; forest tourism and leisure-focused scenic areas including the Bamboo Technology Park, Bamboo Species Garden, Forestry Ecological Sightseeing Garden, and Forest Bathing Area; and major amusement and service facilities such as a Water Amusement Park, Park Hotel, Bathing Center, Reception Center, Fishing Center, and the Hengshan Cable Car.

Though not high in elevation, Hengshan boasts beautiful scenery and has since ancient times been a favored spot for literati to roam and compose poetry, as well as a popular destination for urban residents to enjoy spring outings during Qingming Festival and hike on Chongyang Festival. The park is home to a rich diversity of plant species, with over a hundred varieties of woody plants alone. Many of these are rare, nationally protected species or special economic tree species. Verdant bamboo covers the mountainsides, lush phoenix-tail trees sway, and elegant pines stand tall, creating picturesque scenery. Also called Cisi Mountain, Hengshan gained fame for sheltering Zhang Bo, a historical hero known for his water control achievements. It has received multiple imperial recognitions through the ages and remains a place of enduring reverence. The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, praised Hengshan as “The Foremost Sacred Mountain under Heaven.” For millennia, countless poets have celebrated Hengshan in their verses, leaving behind a wealth of literary works that have established it as a renowned cultural and historical mountain in the Jiangnan region.

The mountaintop once featured scenic spots such as the Sidalou Platform and the Panluo Pavilion, but unfortunately, they were destroyed in war. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, extensive afforestation efforts were undertaken, and now the mountain is covered with lush pine forests. In the early 1990s, it was designated as a national-level forest park by the state.

Hengshan was historically one of the Ten Scenic Spots of Guangde. Today, climbing to its summit offers a different kind of view: fields blanketed in green, rivers like ribbons, ancient pagodas standing solemnly, modern buildings scattered about, and the renewed face of the ancient city all spread out before your eyes.

After years of development, the current Hengshan National Forest Park features forest landscapes as its main attraction. It has been developed into a suburban forest park characterized by Cishan culture and bamboo culture, integrating urban entertainment, leisure, vacation, and shopping. The Temple of the Cishan Emperor, the Bamboo Exposition Garden, and Hengshan Reservoir are distributed throughout the park. With its beautiful scenery and classic elegance, it attracts visitors from all directions and leaves them lingering with delight. Future project development will further shape it into a scenic destination that harmoniously blends humanistic, forest, and natural landscapes with leisure and recreational activities.