Xuecheng Panlong Mountain

　　    Panlong Mountain is situated two kilometers northeast of Zaozhuang New City. It earned its name because its eastern part is round and resembles a coiled dragon. The dragon’s head rises to 271 meters above sea level and faces west toward Panlong River, as if gazing into the distance. The stone stalagmites on the dragon’s head resemble whiskers, and beneath them lie two springs known as Dragon Eyes. In front of Panlong Mountain is a smaller, nearly round hill that closely resembles a turtle, hence called Turtle Mountain. To the west of Panlong Mountain lies another hill that looks like a phoenix spreading its wings, known as Phoenix Mountain. The southern wing of Phoenix Mountain connects with the tail of Panlong Mountain, and one section of the phoenix’s wing is called Golden Foot Ridge, also known as Golden Ox Ridge. The northern wing of Phoenix Mountain links to Kuangshan Head, where a section of the wing is referred to as Kuangshan Waist. The phoenix’s tail is low and flat, extending toward Xigu Mountain, while its head stands at 181.2 meters high, facing the urban area of Xuecheng, resembling a phoenix poised to take flight but not yet airborne. The trio of mountains—Dragon, Phoenix, and Turtle—not only resemble their namesakes in shape but are also closely connected with Panlong River, Zaozhuang New City, Zaozhuang High-Tech Development Zone, and the urban area of Xuecheng (the western part of Zaozhuang Central City), creating a picturesque landscape where mountains, city, and water complement one another.

　　     Panlong Mountain has many alternative names. Since there is a village called Jingziyu to its east, it is also known as Jingziyu Mountain. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi eras of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Jinqi built a mountain stronghold here, leading to another name: Yuan Family Stronghold Mountain. The mountain features several smaller peaks, each with its own name: such as Big Cave Mountain, Small Cave Mountain, and Qifeng Mountain. Each name is tied to its unique scenery. Among its wonders, three stand out: First, Big Cave Mountain: Inside the mountain is a cave, and within the cave is a spring. This spring connects to the river, forming a linkage between high mountain, river, and cave. The *Yi County Annals – Mountains and Rivers* states: “Big Cave Mountain has the Chaoyang Cave in front. The cave sits below the peak, with cliffs a hundred feet high and dense shrubbery. Its entrance is four or five feet wide and twice as tall. After a few steps, you reach the second cave. Crouching down, you enter to find stone formations like standing screens. Walking left and right along the screens for over ten steps, you come to the third cave, ascending dozens of man-made steps. Lighting a torch to enter, you’ll find the stone floor smooth as a whetstone, with gleaming walls that can accommodate hundreds of people. A spring drips from above, collected in a stone bowl. The water is incredibly sweet and cool enough to numb your teeth. Beyond, the depths are immeasurable, and even a torch won’t light—it’s a place explorers dare not venture further into. Some say it connects underground to the Nanming River (now called Panlong River).” After the founding of New China, local authorities conducted measurements: the cave is five meters high, three meters wide, and over a hundred meters deep, able to hold hundreds of people. However, its deeper parts remain unexplored. According to village lore, in ancient times, someone put a duck into the cave in the morning, and by afternoon, it swam out into Panlong River. The distance from the mountain to the river is about two kilometers. Second, Yuan Mountain Stronghold contains stratified rocks—fossils formed by the secretion and deposition of tiny algae in water, appearing in blue, gray, green, and brown hues. From afar, they look like ocean waves, quite stunning. Such fossils are commonly found in rock layers from the seven-hundred-million-year-old Sinian Period. Why are these aquatic fossils found on Long Mountain? Could it be that Long Mountain was once underwater seventy million years ago? Local legend offers a hint: “During a great flood, people fled to Qingshan Head, where grass hung halfway down the mountain. Fortunately, the water didn’t reach the summit, so they survived.” This tale certainly doesn’t date back less than fifteen thousand years, as continuous human remains have been found in the region since then. But geological history tells us this area did indeed experience “several rises and falls” and “epochs of change” around that time. Our region lies on the southwestern edge of the ancient Taishan landmass. To its west and south are lowlands, part of the Huang-Huai alluvial zone. As far back as the Sinian Period seventy million years ago, this was indeed seabed, where such algal fossils likely formed. From then until four hundred million years ago, it remained a marine sedimentary environment. Between four hundred million and three hundred million years ago, the crust uplifted, seas receded, and the area became land. Over the next seven thousand years, tectonic activity caused alternating marine transgressions and regressions—what we call “epochs of change”—until two hundred and thirty million years ago, when terrestrial sedimentation finally stabilized. Later, movements from the Yanshan and Himalayan orogenies altered the landscape, but the area never sank back into the sea for long. Only by thirteen million years ago did the arc-shaped zone spanning Tengxian, Lincheng, Shagou, Zhouying, Yinping, and Gushao finally stabilize, with neither uplift nor subsidence. Yet to the northeast of this arc, the mountainous region continues to rise slowly, while to the southwest, the Huang-Huai alluvial zone keeps sinking. That’s why for millions of years, western Shandong and northern Jiangsu have remained riverine, lake, and marshland areas, prone to flooding. Locals who witnessed these disasters often speak of “floodwaters climbing the mountains.” Want to see for yourself? Visit Long Mountain. Third, Yuan Mountain Stronghold is another “miracle” of Long Mountain—the astonishing feat of a stone fortress over twenty li in circumference built in just ten days, a rarity even nationwide. Divine help or human effort? Worth seeing. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi eras of the Qing Dynasty, as the Nian Rebellion rose along the Huai and canal regions, order collapsed across counties in Shandong, Anhui, and northern Jiangsu. Yuan Jinqi and Chu Shen’zhu from southern Teng and western Yi called on villagers to build a stronghold on Long Mountain to escape the chaos. A massive response ensued, with thousands gathering on the mountain, giving rise to many legendary tales later adapted into operas performed across the country. Examples include: “Yuan Jinqi raises a grand army, divine power aids Long Mountain, blades split stones that roll, thousands build a great city in ten days, drought ends with sweet rain, arrows pierce pines over the hills, united hearts defend the homeland.” The claim that the stronghold was built to resist the Nian Army is unlikely. On the fifth day of the fourth lunar month in the fourth year of the Tongzhi era, a hundred-thousand-strong Nian force passed through Lincheng. Ten thousand Qing troops under the Tibetan Prince and Shandong Governor Ding Baozhen attempted to block them at Xicang Bridge—but collapsed after one clash. Ding Baozhen fled disguised as a beggar, and the Tibetan Prince was killed in western Shandong. Could a small civilian stronghold have resisted the Nian Army? No. But in the chaos after war, scattered soldiers and bandits roamed, kidnapping and looting, throwing rural order into disarray—that much is true. It’s plausible that civilian strongholds could fend off small bands of brigands. What role Yuan Family Stronghold actually played remains unclear, but the tale of thousands building a great city in ten days may well be true. This fortress was no different from a typical county town, except three to four times longer. For such a massive stone project to be completed in ten days is a national rarity, truly a “miracle.” Claims of “divine help” or “blades splitting stone” lack scientific basis—but they do remind us of an old saying: “The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.” Or as the ancients put it: “Unity builds walls.”