A 10-day relaxing discovery of Chengdu

Day 10

Tiantai Mountain scenic area

The Tiantai Mountain scenic area is located along the ancient Southern Silk Road and approximately 110 kilometers from downtown Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. It is one of China’s giant panda sanctuaries (a UNESCO World Heritage site), one of the world's top eight firefly viewing destinations, a mountainous summer retreat famous for high-altitude water activities and nighttime firefly viewing, as well as a biodiversity-rich natural educational site.

Historically known as Dongmeng Mountain, Tiantai is said to be the place where the Sage King Yu offered sacrifices to heaven during his flood control efforts. The mountain was once a shared sacred site for Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, with over 100 Buddhist temples, Taoist shrines, and office buildings at its peak.

The scenic area features a box-like syncline terrain, i.e. it is roughly shaped like the letter "U", resembling a westward-facing "chair". The mountain is divided into three terraces, creating a landscape described as "each terrace a higher heaven, ascending step by step to the top of the sky".

Renowned for its "spectacular peaks, eccentric rocks, beautiful waters, serene forests, and enchanting clouds", the scenic area boasts "a ninety-mile-long river with eight hundred streams and nine thousand strange rocks among two thousand peaks". With a forest coverage rate of about 95 percent, it is rich in diverse flora and fauna. The Jinlong River winds down from Yuxiao Peak, forming long shoals, cascading streams, waterfalls, and alpine lakes, along with phenomena like a low-altitude sea of clouds and “Buddha's halo”.