Penglai Pavilion in Yantai

Penglai Pavilion, located on the top of Danyan Mountain in Penglai District, Yantai City, Shandong Province, was first built in the sixth year of Jiayou in the Northern Song Dynasty (1061), and has been repaired many times in the past dynasties without being rebuilt, and still retains the original appearance of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is famous for the legend of 'Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea' and the wonder of 'Mirage', and eight of the 'Ten Sceneries of Penglai' are in Penglai Pavilion. It has been known as 'Fairyland on Earth' since ancient times, and is known as one of the 'Four Famous Buildings in China' together with Yueyang Tower in Hunan, Tengwang Pavilion in Jiangxi, and Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei. It is one of the 'Ten Famous Historical and Cultural Buildings in China' and is known as 'The First Pavilion in the North of the River'. Penglai Pavilion is a building complex composed of several different temples, pavilions, towers, and pavilions, such as Baiyun Palace Sanqing Hall, Lvzu Hall, Sugong Shrine, Tianhou Palace, Dragon King Palace, Penglai Pavilion main building, and Amitabha Temple, collectively known as Penglai Pavilion. During the Tang Zhenguan period, fishermen built the Guangde Wang Temple on the top of Danyan Mountain, and monks built the Amitabha Temple at the foot of the mountain. During the Kaiyuan period, Taoists built the Sanqing Hall to the east of Guangde Wang Temple. In the sixth year of Jiayou in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu Chuyue, the governor of Dengzhou, moved Guangde Wang Temple to the west and rebuilt it as the Dragon King Palace, and began to build Penglai Pavilion on the old site of Guangde Wang Temple. He wrote 'Penglai Pavilion Ji' to say that the purpose of building the pavilion was 'to be a place for the people of the state to visit', and inscribed a stele in front of the pavilion. In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was in charge of the military affairs of Dengzhou, and he visited Penglai Pavilion and wrote poems and articles such as 'Looking at the Sea', 'Sea City Poem', and 'Twelve Stones in the North Sea', and inscribed them on stone for record. In the first year of Yuanfu, Zhang Wanxian, the governor of Dengzhou, supervised the construction of Sugong Shrine to the south of Penglai Pavilion. In the fourth year of Xuanhe, Lingxiang Temple (Tianhou Palace) was built to the southwest of Penglai Pavilion, with a total of 48 rooms, dedicated to the sea god Linghui. On January 18, 1895 (the 21st year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty), Japanese warships bombarded Penglai Pavilion, hitting the stone inscription 'The Sea Does Not Raise Waves' outside the north wall of the pavilion, and the word 'not' was damaged, and the scar can still be seen today. There is a building named 'Bifeng Pavilion' in the west of Penglai Pavilion, which was originally the site of Haishi Pavilion, with a short fort built on the cliff in front of the pavilion. The strong wind comes from the sea surface, goes up from the cliff, and blows over the eaves of the pavilion. The pavilion has no south window, which just forms a dead corner of the airflow, so it has the effect of wind shelter. There are 25 stone inscriptions embedded in the inner wall of the pavilion, including the poem 'Observing the Sea City' by Yuan Keli of the Ming Dynasty, the calligraphy by Dong Qichang, and the stone carving by Wen Ruyu, which are known as the 'Three Absolutes'. The Wo Bei Pavilion is located next to the east of the pavilion, named after the horizontal stele inscriptions of Su Shi's 'Sea City Poem' and 'After Writing Wu Daozi's Painting' in the pavilion. Sugong Shrine is located next to the east of Wo Bei Pavilion, and the pavilion's eaves are written by the famous calligrapher Shu Tong. It is recorded in the Qing Dynasty's Salt Administration Stele: 'In the Song Dynasty, Su Wenzhong, who served for five days, wrote a book on salt tax, for the people to rest, and the locals still worship him, not for his articles, but for his achievements.' There are rubbings of Su Shi's portrait stone carving in the shrine, and more than 20 stone carvings from various dynasties are embedded in the inner and outer walls, including Su Shi's 'Sea City Poem', 'Looking at the Sea', 'Observing the Sea' handwriting and Weng Fanggang's imitation of 'Sea City Poem' in regular script stone carving in the Qing Dynasty. Binri Tower, also known as Wangri Tower, is located next to Sugong Shrine in the east. It is an octagonal sixteen-column two-story brick and wood structure pavilion-style building. There is a wooden staircase in the tower spiraling up, and the second floor has eight round windows open all around, which can view the scenery in eight directions and receive wind from eight directions. It is a place to watch the sunrise at sea, with the scenery of 'Sunrise over Fusang'. Puzhao Tower, also known as Lantern Tower, is located at the northeast corner of the pavilion, and was originally used as a navigation light for ships at night. Guanlan Pavilion is located at the south end of the east side of Lvzu Hall, formerly known as 'Wanghai Pavilion'. Looking at the sea from the railing, it is endless, hence the name 'Guanlan Pavilion'. From here, you can overlook the whole view of the water city and the coastal scenery. Penglai Pavilion has more than 200 inscriptions and plaques from various dynasties, mainly including Tiebao's 'Penglai Pavilion' plaque, Su Shi's horizontal stele, Su Tie's stone carving, Chen Tun's 'Fu' and 'Shou' stele, Lv Dongbin's 'Shou' stele, Shi Runzhang's 'Observing the Sea City' poem handwriting stone carving, 'Observing the Sea' stone carving, Ruan Yuan's 'Three Tai Stone' stone carving, Kong Jisuo's poetry and prose stone carving, Song Qing's 'Chi' stele, Feng Yuxiang's 'Bihai Danxin' stone carving, 'Penglai Ten Sceneries' stone carving, Han Tomb Door stone carving, etc. This time was quite rushed, we entered from Zhenyang Gate, mainly walked around the ancient buildings of Penglai Pavilion, the edge of Penglai Water City, and the Ancient Ship Museum, other places did not go, it is said that the cable car connecting Tianheng Mountain is also in the process of renovation and upgrading. We also encountered two lazy cats in the scenic area, who seemed to be living very leisurely.