Hongyu Mountain

　　Hongyu Mountain, also known as Hong Mountain, is a famous valley in Linlu Mountain, located thirty Chinese miles southwest of Lin County. It features towering mountains, bizarre rocks, and deep, winding streams, and has long been praised as “Among the beautiful peaks of the Taihang Mountains, Linlu stands out; among the scenic spots of Linlu, Hong Valley ranks first.” The area is rich in cultural relics, with Tang Dynasty pagodas, Song Dynasty steles, and Northern Qi cliff carvings found everywhere. Jing Hao, a painter from the Five Dynasties period, once lived in seclusion here. Wang Tingyun, a poet and calligrapher-painter of the Jin Dynasty, also left inscriptions on marble here. Many notes and writings from the Song Dynasty mention Hongyu, and to this day, a Song Dynasty stele still stands in the Xie Gong Shrine. The Xie Gong Shrine was built by later generations to commemorate Xie Sicong, the magistrate of Lin County during the Ming Dynasty, who diverted water out of the mountains and built canals for the benefit of the people. The “Xie Gong Canal” still exists. The people of Lin County have long excelled at carving through mountains, laying stones, building bridges, and constructing canals—this likely became a tradition starting from the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, if visitors are feeling adventurous and physically fit, they can travel about seven or eight li northward along the valley to reach the summit and climb to Jindeng Temple. Jindeng Temple is one of the more intact temples in the Huabei region.