CHINA 5A TRAVEL
The Southern Sacred Peak of the Five Great Mountains - a 'Mountain of Longevity' where Buddhism and Taoism share the slopes, millions of pilgrims climb each year to burn incense at Zhurong Peak, 1,300 meters above the Hunan plain.
Mount Heng, the Southern Peak of China's Five Sacred Mountains, rises above the Hunan plain at Hengyang in a long green wall of valleys, waterfalls and cliff temples. Known since antiquity as the 'Longevity Mountain of China' (Shou Yue), it pairs grand subtropical scenery with one of the country's densest concentrations of religious sites - Buddhist monasteries of the Southern Chan lineage and Taoist halls have shared its slopes for fifteen centuries.
The pilgrimage culture is the mountain's living pulse. On the first day of the eighth lunar month - the birthday of the Nanyue Great Emperor - crowds of up to a hundred thousand ascend with incense; through the year, blessing-seekers from across southern China thread the temple chain from the vast Nanyue Grand Temple at the foot (the largest palace-style complex south of the Yangtze, 'the Forbidden City of the South') up past the Martyrs' Shrine, Mojingtai and the Halfway Pavilion to Shangfeng Temple near the summit.
The summit itself, Zhurong Peak at 1,300 meters, watches clouds pour over the Xiang River lowlands - sunrise above a sea of cloud being the classic reward. In deep winter the mountain's rime-ice coatings (wusong) draw photographers to silver forests, while spring azaleas and autumn temple ginkgos fill the shoulder seasons.
Highlights
Zhurong Peak
The 1,300-meter summit crowned by the fire-god Zhurong's shrine - sunrise over the cloud sea, the mountain's supreme moment.
Nanyue Grand Temple
The Sui-era temple complex at the foot, largest palace group south of the Yangtze - 1,400 years of imperial sacrifice, rebuilt 1882.
The temple chain
Fuyan Temple (Chan Buddhism's southern cradle), Mojingtai's meditation cliff, Shangfeng Temple by the summit - a walking pilgrimage of fifteen centuries.
Martyrs' Shrine
China's largest WWII memorial - a solemn granite complex honoring the fallen of the anti-Japanese war, modeled on a Ming tomb axis.
Winter rime ice
December-February frost turns the summit forest to silver - the 'wusong' spectacle that draws photographers before dawn.
Incense pilgrimage
Join the red-clad pilgrims burning 'longevity incense' - the living ritual that has defined the mountain for a millennium.
Photo Gallery
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