Tianjie Street on Mount Tai

Tianjie Street on Mount Tai

Tianjie Street on Mount Tai refers to the section of street extending eastward from the South Heaven Gate to the Bixia Temple, with a total length of about half a li. The section of road north of the South Heaven Gate, approximately 100 meters long, is called the North Tianjie or the Heavenly Street at the Summit. Lined with numerous shops, it functions as both a marketplace and a street, forming a unique local culture.

A large number of pilgrims and tourists visiting the mountain need accommodation and food, leading to the emergence of Tianjie Street. When exactly Tianjie Street was formed remains unknown, but large-scale mountain worship began in the Western Han Dynasty, and the service street for pilgrims likely emerged around the same time. The earliest written record of Tianjie Street dates back to the early Northern Song Dynasty. During the Yuanyou era (1086–1093) under Emperor Zhezong of Song, the official Shao Bowen from Yanzhou Prefecture visited Mount Tai and wrote an account stating: "After ascending to the summit and traveling forty li, I stayed in the hut of a mountain dweller." By the mid-Ming Dynasty, as the number of pilgrims increased, Tianjie Street began to prosper. During the Longqing era (1567–1572), Feng Shi said in his writings: "Upon reaching the Heaven Gate, you find flat land, with over a hundred households living in shops." In 1599, the writer Xie Zhaozhe visited Mount Tai and recorded: "(At the Eighteen Bends) the steps end and you reach flat land, where there are small houses and alleys forming little villages, all making a living from the Goddess Yuanjun Temple."

Although there are quite a few shops on Tianjie Street, they are all run by poor mountain villagers. The houses have stone walls and thatched roofs, with cramped and dim interiors. Even such modest homes usually have only two or three rooms; those rare ones with five or six guest rooms can be considered large establishments. This situation continued until the 1980s. In 1961, the renowned writer and translator Li Jianwu stayed overnight on Tianjie Street during his visit to Mount Tai and noted the condition of the guest rooms at the time: "The more spacious ones had tea tables, while the smaller ones only had kang tables. The back wall was right against the rugged mountain rocks, and the front faced a sheer cliff."

In 1982, Tianjie Street underwent large-scale widening and renovation, and the low thatched houses were demolished, giving the street a completely new look.

Since the first guesthouses appeared on Tianjie Street, their number and scale have served as a barometer of Mount Tai's rise and decline. Historically, the number of guesthouses peaked at over a hundred, typically ranged between twenty and thirty, and at its lowest, there were only three or four. In the early years of the Republic of China, the area was desolate, people had fled, and in 1928, when the Shanxi Army garrisoned the mountaintop, the damage was severe. Only three or four households remained, causing great inconvenience even to enthusiastic visitors, except for the Taoist priests at the summit who still offered tea and food to guests — though in a rather crude manner. The operators of Tianjie Street guesthouses generally sold incense, joss paper, and gold ingots during the day and accommodated guests at night.

The shop signs on Tianjie Street are quite interesting. Unlike the text-based signs of ordinary shops or common object-based signs, they are unique symbols — such as winnowing baskets, golden bulls, parrots, whips, coins, clubs, gongs, and colanders... Some signs come in duplicate forms, such as double winnowing baskets, double whips, double clubs, double bulls, double bells, double coins, and double shoes. Some of these indicate differentiation — for instance, if a whip sign already existed and another shop used the same, it would be called the “Double Whip Shop.” Others use pairs for luck, such as the Double Coin Shop or the Double Shoe (homophone) Shop. Some carry auspicious meanings, such as Double Winnowing Baskets symbolizing continuous promotion.

Most of these symbolic signs are carved from wood, then painted and decorated with patterns to achieve a refined look. Guesthouses are named after these signs, such as Golden Bull House, Golden Bell House, Parrot House, Double Winnowing Baskets House, and so on.

The origin of these physical shop signs is not documented, but according to local elders, they existed since the late Qing Dynasty and have been used unchanged ever since. Over time, worn signs would be repainted, and the signs in front of shops were always eye-catching. By the early days of the People’s Republic of China, there were ten long-established shops on Tianjie Street, locally known as the “Ten Big Families of Tianjie.” These included the Twin Birth Old Shop, the Winnowing Basket Old Shop, the Golden Bull Old Shop, the Colander Old Shop, and others.

Currently, there are 19 guesthouses and shops on Tianjie Street. These businesses are operated by various entities stationed at the summit, including the Mount Tai Management Committee, Mount Tai Tourism Cableway Company, Taiqian Neighborhood Committee, Meteorological Station, and TV Transmission Station.

To protect the mountaintop landscape, building sizes are strictly limited. As a result, these shops are generally small, with only four exceeding 500 square meters: the Divine Rest Hotel, South Heaven Hotel, Tianjie Comprehensive Service Company, and Immortal Residence Hotel. Eleven shops are between 100 and 200 square meters, and four are just over ten square meters.

Dai Temple on Mount Tai

The Eighteen Bends on Mount Tai

Tianwai Village

Confucius’ Ascension Site

Fan Cliff

Dai Zong Archway

Mount Tai’s Body-Sacrificing Cliff

Doumu Temple

Cloud Step Bridge

Zhongtian Gate

Scripture Stone Valley

Cypress Cave