Mount Qiyun

In Chinese, Qiyun literally means high as the clouds. Qiyunshan is a less famous attraction in comparison to Huangshan and Jiuhuashan. Much effort is put into preserving the Taoist culture on the mountain.

Mt. Qiyun, which has been known as land of white clouds is located near the Yanqian Town, 15 kilometers away from the west of Xiuning County, Anhui Province. The scenic area covers 110 square kilometers and the natural protection zone 150 square kilometers. With an elevation of 585m(max), this mountainous area has been designated as national forest park. This area has been divided up as 4 scenic spots, namely Yuehua Street, Towers above Towers, Young cave and Hengjiang River. Famous for its mystery, beauty and uniqueness, Mt.Qiyun has been compared with Mt.Huangshan and Mt. Jiuhua . It is a bright pearl on the tourist itinerary in south Anhui.

208 scenic spots at Mt.Qiyun had been on record as early as in the Ming Dynasty. Today the number has risen to 300-400. Mt.Qiyun is unique in the entire tourist resort in south Anhui with the regard to its beautiful natural scenery, rich culture, especial geological structure and bright Taoist culture. In order to protect and develop Mt.Qiyun in a better way, a large number of Taoist pavilions, terraces and towers have been repaired and rebuilt. Taoist statue has been remolded. The renovation of Taisuo Palace has marked that the tourist industry at Mt.Qiyun has marked that the tourist industry at Mt.Qiyun has entered a new period. The unveiling ceremony of the Taoist Statue will arise great interest of Chinese and foreign friends.

Mt. Qiyun was once one of the four famous Taoist mountains in China. As early as the Qianyuan era of the Tang dynasty (A. D. 758-760), the Taoist priest Gong Qiyun roamed to Mt. Qiyun and lived in seclusion at the Tianmen Cliff. During the Baoqing years of the Southern Song dynasty (A. D. 1225-1227), the Magician 1 Yu Daoyuan built at the Qiyun Cliff the Shrine of Perfect Warrior Who Protects Sages 2. In the Ming dynasty, Taoist activities on Mt. Qiyun daily became more and more flourishing. The Taoists of the mountain used to go to Mt. Wudang to visit masters and seek knowledge, so much so that Taoist temples and regulations of Mt. Qiyun mostly imitated those of Mt. Wudang. In the 15th Zhengde year (A. D. 1515), Wang Taiyuan, a Taoist living on Mt. Qiyun, built the Jade Emptiness Temple 3 on the Purple Clouds Cliff and the Peaceful Joy Temple 4 at the Peach Blossoms Valley, in imitation of Mt. Wudang. His disciple, carrying forward his master's will, built the Plums Temple and picked plums on Mt. Wudang to plant there. Since Mt. Wudang has the literary title "Taihe" while Mt. Qiyun has the literary title "Zhonghe", ancient people called the latter a "Small Mt. Wudang in the South of the River".

There is the famous Yuehua Street on the mountain. On the street are simple and elegant Hui-styled houses, scattered among which are some Taoist temples built against the mountain. The Supreme Simplicity Temple of the Mysterious Heaven is the most magnificent one of all the temples on the street. Located in the south and facing the north, the temple leaned against the three peaks of the Jade Screen, Eastern Bell and Western Drum Peaks, with the tall and erect Incense Burner Peak standing in front of it. They are just like a heavenly bell, drum and incense burner, forming a precious land of high geomantic quality created by nature.

There are plenty of tablet inscriptions and stone inscriptions on Mt. Qiyun. They amounted to over 1,400 throughout history, but were corroded by nature and destroyed by man over the years, and today only 462 exist. The fairly early stone inscriptions include those of the Daguan era of the Northern Song dynasty and the Shaoxi era of the Southern Song dynasty, and about 80% are those of the Ming and Qing dynasties. These tablet inscriptions and stone inscriptions are of various styles, including all the calligraphic styles such as Zhen, Xing, Cao, Li, and Zhuan. They are of great calligraphic value. Among them, the inscriptions "heavenly magical beautifulness", "marvelous prominent peak" and "wonder from time immemorial" are so grand that they are acclaimed as the acme of perfection.

Over the past dynasties, men of letters came to visit and left behind thousands of poems and inscriptions to say praises to the beauty of the mountain. The scenic areas in Mt. Qiyun consist of the Jiuhua Street, the Youngng Cave, and the Tower over Tower. Today, a cable way is opened to offer great convenience for traveling.