Tongbai Mountain Taibai Peak Scenic Area

Tongbai Mountain Taibai Peak Scenic Area

Tongbai Mountain has long served as a natural barrier to the north of Suizhou, bordering Zaoyang to the west and connecting to Tongbai County to the north. Its main peak, Taibai Peak, stands at an elevation of 1,140 meters and is also known as Lingyun Peak, Baiyun Mountain, and Taizan Mountain. The mountain is divided by a watershed, with Suizhou and Tongbai County each owning half. Centered around this peak, the range extends eastward through Yuanbao Duo, Tianwangzhai, Guanziduo, Yuhuangding, and Jigong Mountain to Dawu County where it connects with the Dabie Mountains.

To the south of the main peak, centered around Qijian Peak, the mountain range stretches through Daxian Duo and Xiangluduo, extending to Huabaoshan and facing Dalangshan from afar, covering a total mountainous area of 2,341 square kilometers. In August 1997, the provincial government approved it as the third batch of provincial-level scenic spots. The area combines natural landscapes, cultural sights, historical relics, religious culture, and revolutionary sites. It features 7 steep peaks, 8 cliffs, 10 unique rocks, 7 caves, 8 temples and 1 shrine, 4 strongholds and 1 hall, 7 valleys and 3 ponds. Among these, the Taibai Red Leaves and ancient fortress walls are especially renowned as its two finest attractions. The scenic area includes over 100 scenic spots and more than 1,000 scenic elements. Regarding the name “Tongbai Mountain,” it first appeared in the "Book of Documents · Yu Gong," which states: “The Huai River originates from Tongbai.” According to the "Tongbai County Annals": “Since the time of Yu the Great diverting the Huai River, people have known it originates from Tongbai County. However, the 'Tongbai Mountain' mentioned in the 'Book of Documents · Yu Gong' is the name of the mountain, not the county.” This shows that the name “Tongbai Mountain” has a history of over 3,000 years.

Historically, the four great rivers—Jiang (Yangtze), He (Yellow), Huai, and Ji (a tributary of the Yellow River)—were honored as the “Four Great Rivers.” The Yellow River was called the “Mother River,” the Yangtze the “River of Life,” the Ji River the “River of Origins,” and the Huai River the “Fengshui River.” Among the four, the sources of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers are sparsely populated, while the Huai and Ji Rivers, originating in the Central Plains, became sites of imperial worship throughout the dynasties. In 221 BCE, Qin Shi Huang decreed the worship of famous mountains and great rivers, including the Huai River. Thus, the first Huai Shrine was built on Tongbai Mountain. Over the dynasties, emperors prayed for blessings and disaster relief, elevating the deity of the Huai River from the “Great God of the Eastern River, the Huai” to titles such as “Longyuan Duke” and “Longyuan King.” Today, atop the main peak Taibai, there is a well known as the “Great Huai Well.” The Huai River begins its over 1,000-kilometer journey here, covering a drainage area of 270,000 square kilometers. The Great Huai Well flows year-round and has never dried up. Lu Yu, the Tea Sage of the Tang Dynasty, when evaluating famous springs for brewing tea, ranked the water of the Huai source as the “Ninth Best Water Under Heaven.”

Due to Tongbai Mountain’s connection to the spiritual energy of the Huai source, hermits and practitioners once ranked it as the “Forty-first Blessed Land” among the “Seventy-two Blessed Lands Under Heaven.” By the reign of Emperor Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, the Yuntai Chan Temple on Taibai Peak had earned the reputation of being “the Southern Putuo and the Northern Yuntai.” It became a renowned Buddhist destination in the Central Plains, producing many eminent monks.

At the mountaintop, there is a cluster of stupas, consisting of over ten ancient pagodas, most built from stacked mountain stones.

Autumn is the most beautiful and enchanting season in Tongbai Mountain. Every year before the Frost’s Descent in October, the hillsides are ablaze with the fiery red foliage of the smoke trees. The globe-shaped tree crowns glow like fireballs in the backlight, tree after tree, in a pure, uniform hue stretching to the horizon. Walking through the red leaf forest feels like entering a passionate, radiant, and festive paradise, where smiling faces seem to greet you everywhere.

Around the main peak of Tongbai Mountain, there are many ancient strongholds, such as Anhe Stronghold and Tianwang Stronghold, with well-preserved walls that are winding, continuous, tall, sturdy, and majestic.

Lu Yu (733–804), from Jingling in Fuzhou (present-day Tianmen City, Hubei Province), styled himself Hongjian, also known as Ji, with the courtesy name Jici. He went by the names Jinglingzi, Sangzhu Weng, and Donggangzi. A lifelong tea enthusiast, he was an expert in tea ceremony, skilled in poetry and calligraphy, and gained everlasting fame for authoring the world's first monograph on tea—The Classic of Tea.

Lu Yu’s life was filled with hardship and legend. According to the Tianmen County Annals, Shangrao County Annals, and Lu Yu’s own autobiography, he was born in the 21st year of the Kaiyuan era (733) during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and was abandoned in infancy in Tianmen... More detailed information about Lu Yu++