Covering an area of 265 square kilometers, Mountain Wangwu Scenic Area is located 40km to the northwest of Jiyuan City. Mountain Wangwu is one of nine famous mountains in ancient China. Legend has it that once an old man removed two giant mountains in front of his house, of which one of them is Mountain Wangwu. Tiantan Peak, with a height of 1,715 meters, is the place where Xuanyuan emperor, the ancestor of Chinese people, once built an altar to worship the heaven. The whole area is covered with forest with a coverage rate of 98%. The most precious plants are maidenhair trees with an age of more than 2,000 years, which are called living fossils.
Taoism was very popular in the history of China. A famous Taoist of the Tang Dynasty, Sima Chengzhen once cultivated himself at Mountain Wangwu and made Taoism widespread in the area. In one of Sima's works, he called Mountain Wangwu the No.1 landscape under heaven.
Legend has it that the story of removing the mountains took place in the south of Mountain Wangwu, where there was a north-south ridge extending from the peak. Yugong, the old man who removed the mountains, lived in the west of the ridge with Xiaoyou stream running in the east. The ridge prevented people from fetching water, so Yugong led his sons and grandsons to remove the barrier.
The main attractions in Mountain Wangwu are as follows: Yangtai Palace, Ziwei Palace, Tiantan Peak, Quyang Lake and Wangmu Cave.
Standing to the west of Yugong Village, the Yangtai Palace is the starting point of Mountain Wangwu traveling route. The existing buildings, looking magnificent, were constructed along the mountain, from south to north, from the lower to the taller. The Yangtai Palace was built in the Tang Dynasty and the main existing buildings, Sanqing Hall and Yuhuang (Jade Emperor) Pavilion, were renovated during the period of Zhengde (about 500 years ago) in the Ming Dynasty. The most attractive building is Yuhuang (Jade Emperor) Pavilion with three layers of eaves in traditional Chinese architectural style. Besides, dozens of stone pillars in the main buildings make the religious place a hall of stone carving arts. On the pillars are carved flying dragons in clouds, birds praying to phoenix, eight immortals crossing the sea, Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) fighting against his rival- Zhi You, etc. all of them are vivid and lifelike.
In the Yangtai Palace are many old green pine trees, cypresses and others, of which a Bodhi tree, which is said to be planted in the Tang Dynasty, is 14 meters tall with a perimeter of 3 meters.
Being part of Mountain Wangwu Scenic Area, Jiligou Resort borders it to the west, neighboring Manghe Natural Preservation Area of Shanxi Province to the north. It covers an area of 85 square kilometers with more than 80 scenic spots. The resort is featured by fancy landscapes, dotted with Taoist culture. Visitors will have a feeling of returning to the nature with fancy peaks, flying waterfalls, deer and macaques, clouds around them.
The Jiuligou Resort has the following spots: Yanshou Steps, Tongyou Pavilion, Lu Quan Teahouse, Jiulong Waterfall, Macaques Domestication Garden, Chantang Temple, Jinglu Peak, East Wangmu Cave, Shilang Village, etc. |
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