Taoist holy land offers the best to tourists
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-21 09:44 Taoist culture
 Ever since Ge Hong, a former senior official of Jin Dynasty (265-420),
left his office and came to the Sanqing Mountain to make pills of immortality as
a Taoist practice, the mountain gradually became a holy place for those of past
dynasties that believed in Taoism.
Especially in the Tang (618-907) and Song dynasties (960-1279), when Taoism
was revered as a state religion, the construction of Taoist buildings on the
Sanqing Mountain entered an unprecedented period of growth.
During the past 1,600 years, a large number of ancient Taoist buildings and
cultural relics have been well preserved on the mountain. The ancient building
complex has a carefully planned pattern.
In addition to its natural landscape and Taoist buildings, the Sanqing
Mountain also boasts a high-altitude plank road over 4,000 metres long.
In the past, there were only mountain paths blazed by axmen, herb diggers and
Taoists. It was extremely difficult for tourists to climb to the top of the
mountain.
To ensure tourists fully enjoy the enchanting sight of the mountain, the
administration committee of the mountain invested more than 20 million yuan
(US$2.5 million) in 2002 to build a plank road along the face of the
cliffs.
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