Tianzhu Mountain Hiking (Nov 15, 2023)

Tianzhu Mountain is located in Qianshan County, Anhui Province. Emperor Wu of Han once visited Tianzhu Mountain to offer sacrifices and conferred it as the Southern Mountain. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, the title of Southern Mountain was transferred to Heng Mountain. The beautiful mountains and rivers of Tianzhu Mountain nurtured the famous figures of the Three Kingdoms period, such as Zhou Yu, Da Qiao, and Xiao Qiao. Even the great writers of the Tang and Song dynasties, Li Bai and Su Dongpo, both expressed their desire to settle down and spend their old age on Tianzhu Mountain. In the seventh year of the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty, Li Bai passed by Tianzhu Mountain and wrote, "When I return, I will come back to this place." Su Dongpo wrote in a letter to a friend, "I have always loved the customs of Shuzhou and want to settle down here for my old age." Shuzhou refers to Qianshan. After longing for it for a long time, I finally made the trip today to see the ancient Southern Mountain. Transportation: Drive to the Tianzhu Mountain Visitor Center. Hiking route (big loop): Visitor Center - Scenic Area Bus - Dalongwo Cableway Station - Zhenyigang - Gaobentai - Mysterious Valley - Tianchi Peak - Baiyue Platform - Lianlao Peak - Ganlu Spring - Liandan Lake - Laoyang Store - South Gate. The entire hike takes 5 hours. Tips: 1. Zongguanzhai is a steep staircase that can only be descended. 2. There are small shops at Zhenyigang, Mysterious Valley, Tianchi Peak, etc., where you can get food supplies. Review: Like Huangshan, Tianzhu Mountain is a granite landform. Although the scale of the scenic area is not as large as Huangshan, the strange peaks and rocks are no less beautiful than Huangshan. Compared to Hengshan, it is indeed more impressive. No wonder the great writers wanted to retire here!