Jiuli Peak Scenic Area

Jiuli Peak Scenic Area

The Jiuli Peak Scenic Area is known for its rugged peaks and rocks, combining peaks, cliffs, and caves, embodying the most distinctive features of Mount Taimu. You can start from Yingxian Platform, walk along the ridge path beside Yunbiao Rock, pass through Sanfu Waist — where "civil officials dismount and military officials dismount from their horses" — and the ever-dripping Dripping Water Cave to reach Nantianmen. Alternatively, you can go through Tongtian Cave from Yipianwa or pass through Nantianmen Cave from Xiangshan Temple to directly arrive at Nantianmen. Standing at Nantianmen, flanked by two steep cliffs, you can gaze into the distance at the mirage-like Xiangshan Temple and look up to see the scenes of “A Novice Monk Worshiping the Moon” and “Guanyin Sitting on a Lotus.” Then, pass through Qixing Cave, where a precariously hanging round rock looms overhead, and follow the misty Ziyanshan Ridge. Along the way, you can admire landscapes such as Sadness Rock, Jiang Taigong Fishing, Collarless Suit, and Pumpkin Peak. At Echo Corridor, your voice may echo back threefold. Arriving at Guanyu Pavilion, you can closely appreciate Jiuli Peak and the Two Buddhas Discussing Scriptures Rock. Then continue upwards to climb to the summit of Moxiao Peak and Baiyun Temple.

“Sanfu Waist” is a stacked-rock cave named for the need to bend down not once, but three times in succession due to the cave’s shape — hence the name, which means “three times bowing.” Ancients called it “Official Welcoming Pavilion.” In ancient times, when pilgrims entered the mountain to worship, civil officials had to dismount from their sedan chairs and military officials from their horses here. Regardless of status or rank, everyone had to bow three times to pass through. It was truly “where officials and commoners were most equal.” There is a “U”-shaped rock: one piece, weathered into the shape of a monkey, and another, flaked into an arc, resembling a mirror. The playful monkey holds the mirror in one hand, stretches its neck, and admires its reflection — thus it’s called “Jade Monkey Admiring Its Reflection.” This scenic spot is so vivid in form and spirit that no prompting or imagination is needed for visitors to instantly recognize it — a true marvel of nature’s craftsmanship.

The dripping water from the ceiling of Dripping Water Cave, varying in drop height and pace, is gently brushed by the breeze and lands on stones of different textures, producing a melodious sound like a plucked guzheng or a softly strummed pipa. In sunlight, the droplets glisten crystal clear, and the splashes sparkle brilliantly, creating an enchanting sight. The Qing Dynasty poet Zhou Mingbiao wrote in his poem “Dripping Water Cave”: “Like inverted pearls, the emerald cliffs flow, / Murmuring into a sky full of autumn’s glow. / A moon ladle scoops coolness into the hand, / While jade trickles soothe worries unplanned. / Worldly cares are cleansed by waters bright, / And the heart’s path drifts with clouds in flight. / Cave flowers bloom and fall at the mouth, / Untainted by dust, their hues so pure.” Below Dripping Water Cave lies a small square well, said to be the alchemy furnace well of Rongchengzi, the Yellow Emperor’s royal physician. An ancient poem says: “Enter the cave with three twists and turns, / Cliffs line the long, narrow path. / A gourd drips from halfway up the sky, / A square well forms within a small space. / Grass stays green though rain is none, / Fallen petals scent the spring. / Best for summer guests to sip tea, / Brewing it while facing the breeze.” Strangely, Dripping Rock is a bare expanse with no water-collecting basin, yet it drips year-round regardless of drought or heat. What explains this phenomenon? Thus, it remains an unsolved mystery.

Qixing Cave is a narrow valley formed by water erosion along joints in the rock. Stretching about 40 meters in length and around 20 meters in height, with an average width of 95 centimeters, it runs roughly north-south. The ridge path gently ascends, resembling an alley in a mountain town. Above the alley are seven precariously perched round rocks, and looking up, they seem like seven stars embedded in a slice of sky. Ancients wrote: “These sheer cliffs stand tall and tight, / Forming a cave squeezed from both sides in sight. / Seven jagged rocks hang high above, / Like stars fallen but fixed in love. / Travelers passing beneath them gaze, / At the sky split open in a daze. / Huge boulders weigh down on their heads, / As if void itself in thoughts is spread.” Standing inside the cave and looking up, these rocks seem to twinkle. Especially at sunset or when thick mountain fog envelops the area, casting everything in gray, these seven stars shine even brighter. Hence, they are also called “Seven Star Lanterns” or “Big Dipper Facing the Sky.” Legend has it that when fishermen below the mountain encounter heavy fog while out at sea, if they silently pray to Goddess Taimu, they will see the seven stars shining brightly — a beacon guiding them home.

Standing in Echo Corridor and shouting toward the opposite Jiuli Chaotian Peak, you will hear your voice echo back three times, hence the name “Threefold Echo,” also known as Echo Valley. The Ming Dynasty poet Lin Daochuan praised the Threefold Echo in a poem: “I come to cliffs a thousand ren high, / Whose house is nestled up on high? / A long howl makes the world feel wide, / Its echoes resound through valley’s side. / The blue sky offers no reply, / Nor can red stones choose to cry. / Below are myriad cave holes small, / Their tinkling sounds all merge and call.” The world is so vast and tender, the valley so deep and mysterious — a single shout stirs one’s heroic spirit, and a whispered thought is kept forever by the valley.

The two characters “Yunbiao” (Cloud Beacon) on Yunbiao Rock were inscribed by Cui Huizhong and Xie Zaihang of the Ming Dynasty. “Yun” refers to the White Cloud Ancient Temple atop the peak, and “biao” generally means a signpost — indicating the direction to the White Cloud Ancient Temple, or understood as a marker on the path through the clouded skies. Interestingly, the lower part of Yunbiao Rock has a large notch, and the missing piece rests atop the opposite peak, facing each other from afar, matching in color and contour. Therefore, Yunbiao Rock is also called “Floating Cloud Stone” or “Mother and Child Stone.” There is also a legend: Goddess Taimu, over the years, tested her divine strength by digging her index finger into the rocky peak. With a gentle pry, thunder roared and the heavens and earth churned. In an instant, a triangular rock was pried loose from the solid cliff, carried by the wind and clouds to land atop the opposite peak. You can still see the fingertip mark left in the concave part of that rocky peak.

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Goddess Taimu Statue

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