Hanging Bridge Nunnery

Hanging Bridge Nunnery

"Come rest halfway up the mountain, then walk another five li to Heaven Above Heaven." On the mountainside of Tiantai Mountain, the Hanging Bridge was originally a wooden bridge but was rebuilt in 1985 as a single-arch stone bridge. The bridge is constructed from large slabs of stone, measuring 15 meters long and 2.5 meters wide. It spans the valley between two peaks, suspended against the cliff above and overlooking a deep abyss below. The bridge deck serves as the corridor of the Hanging Bridge Nunnery, which is built on the bridge, and the bridge is built within the nunnery—hence the name Hanging Bridge Nunnery. Also known as Cuiyun Nunnery, it is a key Buddhist temple in Anhui Province. Originally built during the Qing Dynasty, the monk Falong passed away at the age of 97 in the first year of the Xuantong era (1909). Before his death, he experienced a brief return of consciousness, and his body remained incorrupt for three years after his passing, once displayed inside the temple, but was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The current nunnery is a two-story residential-style building. On the rock face beside the nunnery is carved the inscription "First Mountain South of the Yangtze," written by Xu Shiyin, Governor of Anhui Province during the Republican era. Surrounded by peaks, rugged rocks, and murmuring mountain streams, the scenery around the Hanging Bridge Nunnery is picturesque.

After crossing the Hanging Bridge, steep stone steps challenge travelers' endurance on the "Stairway to Heaven." As you look back north along the steps, the mountain vista unfolds in breathtaking grandeur: suddenly, clouds surge up from the valley slopes, enveloping the entire range in an instant; then, a sudden mountain breeze blows away the mist, revealing the scattered villages of Minquan District like stars in the night sky. Little Lion Peak nods and crouches alternately amid the clouds; Cloud Gate Peak appears and disappears as the wind stirs the fog. A massive boulder bears curved cracks resembling a broadsword, said to be the transformed "Green Dragon Crescent Blade" once carried by Guan Yu. Friends: there’s still nearly half the journey left to reach Tiantai. We must press on. Someone composed a couplet here on the way up to Tiantai: "To climb Tiantai, there remain tens of thousands of steps—how do your feet hold up? To enjoy the view, you’ll need courage that reaches a thousand feet—take stock of your own resolve."

Source: Jiuhua Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee

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