Qingchuang Peak Scenic Area

Qingchuang Peak Scenic Area

Qingchuang Peak Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a national forest park.

The Qingchuang Peak National Forest Park encircles the urban area of Chengde, located approximately 2.5 kilometers from the city center. The park boasts unique natural landscapes, renowned for its spectacular Danxia landform featuring competing rocky ridges and rugged peaks. Covering a total area of 10,600 hectares, it is divided into four scenic zones and blends harmoniously with the world-famous Mountain Resort and the Eight Outer Temples. The resort and temples are like brilliant pearls inlaid within the park. The park is surrounded by continuous mountain ranges, with verdant hills like dark ink-wash paintings, and layered peaks forming a natural barrier. The Wulie River meanders through, organically connecting the resort, temples, forests, and peculiar peaks, all merging into the vast sky. The simple and elegant resort, the resplendent temples, the uniquely shaped peaks, the slender flowing streams, and the vast forests complement one another, creating a breathtakingly magnificent and picturesque landscape.

The Qingchuang Peak National Forest Park features numerous natural attractions, including the towering Qingchuang Peak, the bold and staring Shimen Stone, the bare-chested and open-bellied Luohan Mountain, the cloud-piercing Sengguan Peak, the majestic Jiguan Mountain perched atop the peak, and the grand Jiaoshi Wall. These rock formations are uniquely shaped and massive in scale. Among them, Qingchuang Peak is the most peculiar—it hangs down from sheer cliffs and reaches up to the blue sky, with a thick base tapering to a narrow top, resembling a club. The Northern Wei Dynasty’s Li Daoyuan gave an extremely vivid description of it in his “Commentary on the Water Classic.”

Within the scenic area stands an upright and precipitous stone pillar piercing the clouds. The pillar is 59.42 meters tall, thick at the base and narrow at the top, resembling a laundry bat, hence Emperor Kangxi named it “Qingchuang Peak,” commonly known as “Bangchui Mountain.” Qingchuang Peak is one of the ten famous mountains of Chengde and was historically called “Shiting.” Amidst the undulating peaks, Qingchuang Peak rises solitary like a pillar supporting the sky, blending ingeniously with the rolling hills, majestic temples, and the landscaped gardens of the resort. It has now become a must-visit destination for travelers from home and abroad.

To admire Qingchuang Peak, Emperor Kangxi built the “Hammer Peak Sunset-Watching Pavilion” on the western hill of the Mountain Resort, situated directly opposite Qingchuang Peak. It is the twelfth scene among the “Thirty-Six Scenes of Kangxi” and takes the form of a square pavilion. When the sun sets in the west, the sky turns crimson. At this time, the Qingchuang Peak on the eastern hill glows gloriously, majestic and splendid. Emperors Kangxi, Qianlong, and Jiaqing once led civil and military officials as well as ethnic minority nobles to climb the pavilion around dusk to hold Mongolian-style outdoor banquets and admire the spectacular sunset over Qingchuang Peak. This pavilion, along with the “North Twin Peaks,” “South Mountain Snow,” and “Cloudy Mountains in Four Directions” pavilions, are all located atop the ridges of the resort, responding to one another in the distance.

Halfway up Qingchuang Peak grows a 300-year-old mulberry tree named Mengsang. Though growing in a crevice between rocks, it flourishes with lush branches and bears large, plump white mulberries. It is said that eating them can promote longevity.

About 500 meters south of Qingchuang Peak, on the edge of a cliff, a large rock sits bold and staring, as if ready to leap, resembling a crouching - from afar. This is - Rock. The - Rock faces north and south, with its head peeking out over the cliff and its mouth slightly open—its posture is utterly endearing. The - Rock stands about 14 meters tall and 20 meters long, with two hollows under its belly, connected from north to south and east to west, allowing people to crawl through. Visiting in the height of summer, one can enjoy the cool breeze inside the cave, which is exceptionally refreshing.

There is a beautiful folk legend about the formation of Qingchuang Peak: It is said that long ago, the area around Chengde was an endless ocean, and the site of Qingchuang Peak was an ocean eye. At that time, a sea monster often harmed people. A young man eliminated the menace for the people but angered the Dragon King, who had him bound and taken to the Dragon Palace. A Dragon Princess, passing by, saw the handsome and unyielding young man and fell in love. She then stole the Dragon King’s Sea-Pacifying Needle, escaped the palace with the young man, and sealed the ocean eye with the needle. Gradually, the place turned into land. The Dragon Princess and the young man married and lived a happy life. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he sent troops to capture the Dragon Princess. She chose death over submission and was transformed into a mulberry tree, planted halfway up the Sea-Pacifying Needle—that is, on Qingchuang Peak.