Taishan Temple

　　Towering pines and cypresses form an immortal’s palace

　　Morning bells and evening drums spread the sacred chants

　　Life and death, reincarnation—guarded by the City God

　　Karma of good and evil judged by the Eastern Peak

　　Too lazy to watch paper ash fly with butterflies

　　Yet enchanted by folk opera songs of peace

　　Scenes endure for millennia, captivating all who visit

　　Myths echo through ages, heard by generations to come

　　—A View of Taishan Temple

　　Taishan Temple lies west of Qingni River and south of Phoenix Mountain, forming a connected tourist area with Dayun Temple and Lion Cave.

　　Taishan is a cone-shaped earthen hill. Though not high, the mountain is covered with rare ancient trees. Surrounded by pines and cypresses, it is thickly shaded. The ancient cypresses are armored with scale-like bark and gnarled trunks, while young trees stand tall and graceful. Some old roots are exposed like dragon claws gripping the earth; some tree hollows sprout new trees, resembling an old man holding his grandchild; and some tree trunks intertwine, as if in deep marital affection. The white-bark pines at the mountaintop, with trunks as thick as a person’s embrace, are a rare and precious species. Their trunks rise high, crowned with massive, emerald fronds that span the sky. These ancient trees, like thousands of dancing dragons, create thunderous rustles when the wind blows—a truly spectacular sight. The trees are all over two hundred years old, some even four or five hundred. Trees are the mountain’s attire and soul.