Yinding Mountain Park

Yinding Mountain Park

Yinding Mountain Park is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Yinding Mountain Park is located in the core area of Linshui County and covers an area of approximately 280 acres. It includes two parts: Línshān Park and Yinding Mountain Urban Park, preserving ancient military and cultural relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties such as old artillery batteries, city walls, pavilions, and stone carvings. Two of the ancient Eight Scenic Spots of Linzhou — "Distant Views from Dǐngshān" and "Morning Sunlight on Yùpíng" — describe Yinding Mountain Park. Línshān Park was first built in the Ming Dynasty and expanded during the Qing Dynasty; the urban park covers 170 acres, was established in 2015, and is now a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a cultural landmark of Linshui County, and a spiritual home for the people of Linshui.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yinding Mountain Park consisted of three peaks: Yinding Mountain, Yùpíng Mountain, and Shāmào Mountain. The Qianlong-era (1736–1795) Linshui County Annals recorded that Yinding Mountain “has the elegance of silver in its beauty and the shape of a cauldron,” while Yùpíng Mountain “resembles a screen; at sunrise, the green cliffs reflect the glow, and the morning clouds are spectacularly beautiful.” Both “Distant Views from Dǐngshān” and “Morning Sunlight on Yùpíng” were among the Eight Scenic Spots of Linshui. In the 33rd year of the Kangxi reign (1694), Yao Honglie, a tribute scholar from Fengtian (now Shenyang), was appointed county magistrate of Linshui. He built a thatched pavilion on a flat rock behind the county office, where he and his subordinates often held banquets during their leisure time. Based on this, the history of Yinding Mountain Park dates back about 320 years. In the 2nd year of the Jiaqing reign (1797), Magistrate Yang Weilong (from Dabu, Guangdong) constructed sentry towers and artillery batteries on Yinding Mountain to defend against attacks by the White Lotus Sect on Linshui County. Wang Sanhuai, leader of the White Lotus forces in Dazhou, led an assault lasting seven days and nights but failed to breach the defenses, thus protecting the lives and property of the local residents. In the 20th year of the Jiaqing reign (1815), Magistrate Wu Xiuliang (from Quanjiao, Anhui) converted the original thatched pavilion into an octagonal pavilion and added three sides of stone walls. In the 3rd year of the Daoguang reign (1823), Magistrate Chen Zhizhou rebuilt the octagonal pavilion into a round pavilion, naming it Dǐngyuán Pavilion (鼎元阁). In the 5th year of the Guangxu reign (1879), Magistrate Zhang Xigu reconstructed it and built winding rooms and corridors around the pavilion, naming the site “Urban Mountain Forest.”

In 1926, Wang Yuanhu, a brigade commander of the Sichuan Army stationed in Linshui, used Yinding Mountain as the main feature along with Yùpíng Mountain to expand Línshān Park to 45 acres. Major attractions and structures included the Bell Tower, the Spring Purification Pavilion, the Trouble-Washing Village, the Liberation Pavilion, the Monument, the Ceasefire Tower, and the Cloud-Reaching Pavilion. By 1982, Línshān Park had expanded to 108 acres, centered around Yùpíng Mountain, with attractions such as Yùpíng Pass and the Ceasefire Tower. In 2001, the Octagonal Tower was rebuilt and became a cultural landmark of Linshui. Existing ancient stone carvings include “Morning Light on Yùpíng,” “Swan Track,” and “Cliff Edge.” The Linshui County Annals include over 20 poems composed between the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty and the present day, celebrating Yinding Mountain and Yùpíng Mountain. Yinding Mountain Urban Park features facilities such as plazas, lawns, corridors, pavilions, and walking trails, and has planted over 30,000 precious trees including crabapple, osmanthus, ginkgo, Machilus nanmu, and more than 20 varieties of ornamental fruit trees, making it a popular recreational destination for local residents.