BEAUTIFUL ISLAND: The 72 Peaks of The Song Shan Mountains

Many interesting place can be visited in China beside the great wall, there is the most awesome natural view in Henan province where there is one of the holy mountain of Tao it is Song Shan. The Song Shan has 1512 metres height and consist of 72 mountain peaks, and also there are the Budhist temple, pagoda, and keeper manaret. The most interest in this place are Shaolin temple(The training center of kungfu), and another is Zhongyue Miao(the Tao temple). We can reached the place via cable car from the Luoyang station or Zhengzhou station then stop in Baima Si (the oldest temple in China). It located at 64 kilometres between Luoyang and Zhangzhou.

Dengfeng

The Peaks

The beautifull panorama of these mountains are seen at the slope height that very sharp at over the valley. Moreover, there are many trees surrounding area give the interesting impression. Directly underneath the mountain, lies the quaint little town of Dongfang. Used mainly as a base for travellers hiking up the mountain, it may be a little rough around the edges in terms of prettiness, but nevertheless it is still a place to visit.

The Song Shan is the main mountains of the five big mountains and used to called Zhong Hue(Central Peak) of the holy Tao mountain was named by the king Ping Zhou while he moving the capital to the Luoyang in 771 BC. If coming to Song Shan, then there are more places to visit apart from the Shaolin Temple. Why not take a trip to Songyang Academy (Songyang Shuyuan), located at the foot of Taishi Shan. This is one of the oldest academies in China, and in the courtyard are two cypress trees which are believed to have been growing for 4,500 years! Songyue pagoda (Songyue Ta) is nearby and is one of China’s oldest brick pagodas, dating from the Song Dynasty.

Baima Si Temple

The Shaolin Temple (Shaolin Si) is the legendary birthplace of gongfu (kung fu). Because of its fame, it has become a victim in itself over the years; a target of war, the temple has been ruined, rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout the decades. The last fire was in 1928 and since then has seen restoration ever since, especially with the droves of tourists who visit each year.

At the Shaolin Temple, there is much wushu (athletic Chinese martial arts) instead of true gong fu. True gong fu takes years of intense mental and physical study instead of just physical training. Coming here, you enter the temple just past some of the most wonderful stelae, some are delicate works of art from abroad. You can also see the Pilu Pavilion (Pilu Dian) with its famous depressions in the floor, as well as the Guanyin Hall (Guangyin Dian).

Left of Shaolin Temple is a path that will lead you up to Wuru Peak (Wuru Feng). It gets quite busy up here with tourists, but you can escape them by visiting the cave (DAmo Dong) where the Domo Bodhidharma meditated for nine years. Although the signs say it’s only 500m away, it’s really 3km.