Immortal City

Immortal City

Also known as Immortal City because of a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Gu Kuang that reads: “The towers and terraces stand vivid and bright, / It’s said that immortals dwell in this town so light. / No path leads up to the Immortal City on high, / Yet voices drift from flowers near waterside.” It is one of the main attractions of Longhu Mountain. The entire mountain peak rises abruptly from the ground, like a pillar reaching the sky. Along the way, visitors will see more than ten scenic spots, including Immortal Mouse Rock, Phoenix Bridge, Immortal Water Well, Fairy Nunnery, Clear and Murky Pools, Dragon Transformation Pool, and Tushita Palace.

The entire Immortal City mountain peak rises abruptly from the ground, like a pillar reaching the sky. With its serene and elegant environment and bustling incense offerings, Immortal City once became a widely renowned Buddhist sacred site. A Tang Dynasty poem titled “Gazing at Immortal City from Ancheng Harbor” praises it: “The towers and terraces stand vivid and bright, / It’s said that immortals dwell in this town so light. / No path leads up to the Immortal City on high, / Yet voices drift from flowers near waterside.”

Immortal City is located in Longhu Mountain Town, Guixi City, Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, also known as Xianyan, and lies east of the Luxi River. From a distance, the cliffs tower thousands of feet into the sky, with white lotuses seemingly blooming all over the mountain. The reason this mountain is called Immortal City is that it has been regarded since ancient times as a dwelling place of “immortals.” Historical records indicate that during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the fourth-generation Celestial Master Zhang Sheng discovered that the mountain was full of interconnected caves and stone shafts like wells, surrounded by lush forests and bamboo, with clouds and mist swirling around. Standing atop the summit felt like being in Penglai. He then decided to build a temple at the mountain’s peak — today’s Tushita Palace — and erected a statue of Laozi to honor his virtues. By the Xining era of the Song Dynasty, the monk Baoyue came here from Pucheng to establish a temple, but it was the renowned mid-Tang poet Gu Kuang’s poem “Gazing at Immortal City from Ancheng Harbor” that truly made Immortal City famous throughout the land. This poem has inspired countless visitors throughout history, who, driven by a sense of exploration, brave the climb up 720 steps to the summit. The overwhelming experience they gain far surpasses what the eye can capture.

Immortal City is a key sightseeing area within the Immortal Water Rock Scenic Zone of Longhu Mountain. The so-called “Immortal Water Rock” refers to the collective name for both Water Rock and Immortal Rock — Water Rock denotes the water-influenced lower part of the mountain, while Immortal Rock refers to the upper section. Immortal City is a massive peak, adjacent to the Luxi River to the east. From afar, it appears steep on all sides, with sheer cliffs dropping into a deep abyss and the summit embedded in the blue sky. The central peak is the highest and was historically known as “Tianzhu.” To the south lies the “One-Line Sky,” where the cliffs are so sheer they seem to go on forever; the north side is steep and rugged, rarely visited by people; only the western side features 780 steps carved into the mountainside, spiraling upward to the summit. The mountain contains interconnected caves and stone shafts like wells. It is called Immortal City because it has been a dwelling place of “immortals” since ancient times and is often referred to as a “fairy cave heaven.”

The summit of Immortal City offers one of the best vantage points to view the entire Immortal Water Rock scenery. Visitors can look east to see “Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,” “The Red Phoenix Facing the Sun,” and “The Lion Looking Back”; north to admire “The Love Affair of Monk and Nun”; west to enjoy the farmland landscape; and south to view “Seven Stars Arching Over the Dipper.”

At the very top of the fairy rock is a grand and imposing structure called Tushita Palace. It faces east, has five tiers, and is supported by nine large pillars that symbolize the imperial authority of the “supreme ruler,” covering an area of 670 square meters and standing 19 meters tall. It features crimson walls and red doors, double eaves with red pillars, grey-glazed tiles on the roof, granite railings all around, and an overall majestic appearance.

The nunnery is built against a cave, which is divided into front and back sections and can accommodate people. The front hall houses a full-body statue of Guanyin, with Manjushri and Samantabhadra on either side; to the east of the front hall is a shrine to Kṣitigarbha, and to the west is one to the Flower Fairy. The back hall serves as the living area — in the past, over a dozen nuns resided here. Fairy Nunnery was first built during the Song Dynasty and was originally named “Upper Temple of Xianyan,” functioning as a monastery. During the Xining era of the Song (1068–1077), the monk Baoyue came from Pucheng. At that time, there was no path to the top, but the monk managed to scale the rocks to reach the cave. Gradually, more visitors began to come, and the monk started teaching disciples. In the Yuan Dynasty, the monk Bin renovated the temple buildings. After nuns began residing on the mountain, the monastery was converted into a nunnery and renamed Fairy Nunnery, dedicated to Guanyin, Kṣitigarbha, and other bodhisattvas. The incense offerings grew even more popular, continuing until the Republican era when, at its peak, the nunnery housed 18 nuns. When I visited the nunnery, I saw that the statues of Guanyin were newly made, and there was a cave at the back that used to be the living quarters for the nuns. Now, no one lives here anymore.

Xianyan Gate is the first of the three ancient mountain gates of Immortal City. The two characters “Xianyan” (Immortal Rock) were inscribed by the late Jiangxi calligrapher and painter Peng Youshan. In front of the gate stand a pair of stone qilins, symbols of good fortune and protectors of Immortal City.

In those days, the 30th Celestial Master Zhang Jixian, also known as the True Lord of Vacuous Serenity, enjoyed the beautiful scenery here and joyfully composed the exquisite verse: “A stream of ravine water merges like translucent glass, / Countless clouded peaks pile up in hues of purple and jade.” The “Lion Looking Back” peak serves as the boundary. To the south, clusters of peaks rise densely, appearing as if galloping forward — this group is called “Hundred Phoenixes Facing the Sun.” To the north, seven peaks stand together, pointing directly toward the Big Dipper in the sky, forming the “Seven Stars Arching Over the Dipper” group. Scenic spots along the Luxi Riverbank such as Immortal Peach Stone, Lotus Stone, and Mosquito-Free Village can all be seen clearly from here.

On the mountain, there are two main structures — Tushita Palace at the top and Fairy Nunnery at the bottom.

No wonder ancient visitors would spontaneously exclaim: “On cliffs a thousand feet high, the immortal rock blooms with white lotuses; wandering atop the summit, the view surpasses even Penglai.”

Immortal City, commonly known as Xianyan, is a massive peak adjacent to the Luxi River to the east. From a distance, it looks steep on all sides. The mountain is filled with interconnected caves and stone shafts like wells, lush forests and bamboo, with clouds and mist swirling around. It is called Immortal City because it has been a dwelling place of “immortals” since ancient times.

Nowadays, the Immortal Wind Bridge spanning the cliffs and the mountain-looping walking trails have been fully opened. From the summit, the majestic sight of Longhu Mountain’s ninety-nine peaks, like dragons and tigers leaping, can be fully appreciated — just as the poem goes: “On cliffs a thousand feet high, the immortal city blooms with white lotuses; wandering atop the summit, the view surpasses even Penglai.”

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the fourth-generation Celestial Master Zhang Sheng built a temple at the summit of this mountain — today’s Tushita Palace — and erected a statue of Laozi to honor his virtues. In the Xining era of the Song Dynasty, the monk Baoyue came from Pucheng to establish a temple, and the incense offerings flourished. In April 2002, a rare cultural relic — a seven-layer “Spiritual Casket” — was unearthed at the peak of Xianyan, engraved with the words “Baoyue Follows the Source, Heart Remembers Pure Emptiness.” The great Tang Dynasty poet Gu Kuang’s poem “Gazing at Immortal City from Ancheng Harbor” depicts Immortal City as ethereal and otherworldly, captivating the imagination.

Volume 32 of the “Geographical Records of Famous Sites,” under the section “Scenic Spots of Raozhou,” states: “Immortal City is located by the river in Ancheng (now Yujiang County). The cliffs feature many large caves, inside which are ironworks, salt storages, granaries, coffins, and the like, all situated thousands of feet above the ground. It is said that the immortals of Wuyi reside here after their return.” The location of “Immortal City,” Longhu Mountain, with its uniquely beautiful natural scenery and rich cultural heritage, has attracted many scholars, celebrities, and literati throughout history. The Tang Dynasty poet Gu Kuang wrote in “Gazing at Immortal City from Ancheng Harbor”: “The towers and terraces stand vivid and bright, / It’s said that immortals dwell in this town so light. / No path leads up to the Immortal City on high, / Yet voices drift from flowers near waterside.” Immortal City refers collectively to Xianyan and Shuiyan. This area lies at the junction of Guixi, Yujiang, Jinxi, and Yingtan, and is now under the jurisdiction of the Longhu Mountain Tourism Bureau of Yingtan City.