Bijun Peak

　　   Bijun Peak, standing only 502 meters tall, is one of the seventy-two peaks of Mount Hengshan. Nestled among the rolling peaks of Heshan, it stands out as a unique beauty — “A single peak cuts the azure sky, clouds drape upon your clothes.” Its fame spreads far and wide. Legend has it that Yu the Great, who anciently controlled the floods for the people, personally visited Bijun Peak to inspect the water levels of Lake Dongting. To this day, the Yuwang Terrace remains on the peak. When Li Gang, a renowned prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty and then the Pacification Commissioner of Huguang, passed through Yiyang, he was drawn by its reputation and climbed the peak. He found its silhouette strikingly similar to that of Mount Lu in Jiangxi — serene and elegant — and thus composed a poem on the spot:

　　   Twisting stone steps weave through white clouds,    Wind-scattered cliff blossoms dot the path with splashes.    The slanted ridges shelter one another,    In this place truly lies a mini Mount Lu.

　　   Bijun Peak features majestic and verdant mountain forms, covered in lush forests and bamboo groves. On its cliffs and precipices, silver waterfalls cascade down from great heights, while fresh springs flow year-round amid birdsong and floral fragrance — making it a “Little Western Paradise” ideal for summer retreats and spiritual practice. By the Ming Dynasty, a “Leiyin Temple” was built atop the peak. The Qing Dynasty poet Xia Shouqi, after visiting the mountain, left behind a poem expressing his sentiments:

　　   By fate I came to this pure land,    And lingered here for half a day.    With bamboo all around, no heat is found,    The empty hills usher early autumn’s hue.

　　   Clouds float with auspicious haze,    People and nature share the serenity.    Laughing at myself, a dust-bound guest,    I dance beyond worldly bounds in this quest.