Meiling Main Peak Scenic Area

Meiling Main Peak Scenic Area

The Meiling Main Peak Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Originally named Feihong Mountain, Meiling had a post road established as early as the beginning of the Han Dynasty. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Mei Fu, the magistrate of Nanchang County, retreated to Feihong Mountain in the western suburbs to avoid Wang Mang. Later generations commemorated his noble character by building the Meixian Altar on the ridge and the Meixian Temple at the foot of the mountain, and renamed Feihong Mountain as Meiling.

Since the Tang Dynasty, five chancellors — Zhang Jiuling, Zhang Shangying, Zhou Bida, Wang Anshi, and Zhang Wei — as well as literary figures such as Ouyang Xiu, Zeng Gong, Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, and Tang Xianzu, and military generals like Yue Fei, were all drawn here, leaving behind numerous famous poems and cultural landmarks.

Meiling is one of the sacred sites of both Buddhism and Taoism, once home to as many as 136 temples, monasteries, and altars. Taoist texts refer to it as the Twelfth Grotto-Heaven. The Zhaiyan Temple, the foremost of the Eight Great Temples of the Western Mountains, features an 8-foot-tall bronze lotus pedestal, bronze vases, bronze incense burners, and a "Thousand Monks Pot." Beside the former Taoist temple Taiping Guan stands a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, 30 meters tall with a trunk circumference of 7.5 meters. At the mountaintop sits the Ziyang Palace, where stone chambers still remain. Deng Yu, a founding hero of the Eastern Han Dynasty, once visited here. Nearby are the Dengxian Cave and the Zhenjun Tomb.

Meiling has hundreds of peaks, each with its own distinctive features. Meilingtou is lush with secluded bamboo, Shizi Peak is steep and difficult to climb, Ziyang Mountain is graceful and picturesque, and Luohan Ridge offers excellent views. Meiling is also home to many ancient and rare trees, especially the potted camphor, orchids growing from rocks, and bamboo growing on trees — known as the “Three Wonders of Meiling.” The Meiling Scenic Area, also called Meiling National Forest Park, is just 150 kilometers from Nanchang City.

The main peak, Xiyaowu, stands at an elevation of 842 meters, making it the highest point in the city. With an average summer temperature of 22.6°C, which is 8–10°C lower than the urban area, it serves as a rare cool island for Nanchang — one of China’s Four Furnaces — earning it the elegant nickname “Little Lushan.”

Since ancient times, Xiyaowu has attracted numerous literati and accomplished Taoists with its beautiful natural landscapes — including peculiar mountains, rocks, streams, waters, trees, and mists — and its unique climate, inspiring them to compose poetry or build temples and monasteries. It also preserves relics of contemporary figures such as Mao Zedong, Fang Zhimin, Ye Ting, Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Yang Hucheng.

Meiling boasts over 120 natural and cultural attractions. Major sites include: the Xiyao Lake Summer Resort, recognized as one of China’s top 13 summer retreats; Tianning Ancient Temple, one of the largest nunneries in southern China; the birthplace of Ling Lun, the father of Chinese music; Hongya Danjing, one of the ancient Ten Scenic Spots of Nanchang; the Huanggu Tomb, the largest imperial tomb on the surface in Jiangxi; a unique cluster of celebrity villas; towering thousand-year-old ginkgo trees; the steep and dramatic Shizi Peak; the majestic Jiaoyutan Pool; the vibrant Sino-Japanese Friendship Forest with panoramic cloud views; and the solemn Martyrs’ Cemetery.

Meiling Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Wanli District, Nanchang City. One of the city’s suburban tourist and summer resort destinations. Established as the Meiling Commune in 1958, it was renamed Meiling Township in 1984 and became Meiling Town in 1987. The town government is located on Dianqian Street. Situated in the northern part of the district, within Meiling National Forest Park, it lies 4.5 kilometers from the district center. Covering an area of 67 square kilometers with a population of 13,000, it is traversed by the Shengzhuang–Dianqian Highway. The town administers the Dianqian Street Residents' Committee and seven village committees: Meiling, Qianjin, Lixin, Dongchang, Tuanjie, Yuanjia, and Fengjing. Agriculture is dominated by rice cultivation. Over 80% of the land consists of mountainous areas rich in bamboo and fir. More details about Meiling Town++