Jiangxi Summer Trip Day 3 - Longhu Mountain

Day 3: We entered the scenic area at 8 a.m. The area has a one-ticket system (each attraction can be visited once). Usually, we buy a full ticket, which includes the cost of the sightseeing bus and drifting (bamboo raft), making it more cost-effective. The sightseeing bus stops on demand and can be taken multiple times to reach each attraction. Due to the hot weather, we didn't walk the plank road. Instead, we took the bus to Zhengyi Temple and then transferred to the shuttle to Tianshi Mansion, touring in reverse back to the starting point. After getting off the bus, we had to pass through the entire Shangqing Ancient Town (which is actually just an ancient architectural commercial street) to reach Tianshi Mansion. In the town, the Tianshi Mansion and Shangqing Palace are worth seeing. Tianshi Mansion is the ancestral court of the Zhengyi sect. The square in front of Tianshi Mansion is large, facing the Luxi River. Most of the existing wooden buildings are relics from the Qing Dynasty. The environment inside Tianshi Mansion is beautiful, and there is also a Fox Immortal Temple. Shangqing Palace is a few kilometers away from here. With fewer tourists, if you don't want to wait for the sightseeing bus, you can take a motorcycle taxi to get there. We took the bus back to Zhengyi Temple. This Taoist temple is slightly smaller than Tianshi Mansion and was rebuilt in recent decades, so it looks relatively new. You can take a brief look. After exiting Zhengyi Temple, a 5-minute walk will take you to the starting point of the drifting. From here, you drift to the endpoint, Xianshui Rock, which takes about 30 minutes. Along the way, you can enjoy the mountain scenery on both sides. The boatman will tell you some legends about Taishang Laojun and Queen Mother of the West in conjunction with these sceneries. The cliff tombs and hanging coffins of Xianshui Rock are full of mystery. A few minutes after disembarking, you will reach the "Mother of the Earth." After viewing, follow the mountain road across the floating bridge to the opposite Peach Blossom Island to watch the performance. The scenic area has four scheduled "Coffin Raising" performances daily (10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. for reference), demonstrating the process of fixing the coffin into the cave on the cliff. Tourists watch from the shore of Peach Blossom Island, while the performance takes place on the opposite cliff, looking very thrilling. Because "Coffin Raising" sounds like "official promotion" in Chinese, some people come here to seek good luck. After watching, it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to Elephant Trunk Hill Station to take the bus to the scenic area entrance. Annoyingly, the drop-off point is not the same as the entrance, and you have to walk through a small town. With such scorching weather and no shade, it takes 15 minutes to get out, which is quite frustrating. Today's itinerary ended around 3 p.m. After lunch, we drove to Nanchang.