Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Taizhou is located north of Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, in the subtropical monsoon climate zone. With a total area of 187 square kilometers, the scenic area is a National Key Scenic and Historic Interest Area, one of the Top Ten Famous Mountains in China, a National Ecological Tourism Demonstration Area, one of the Top Ten Tourist Destinations in Zhejiang Province, and a national 5A-level tourist attraction. It is the destination of the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang and the birthplace of Hehe Culture. The average altitude of Tiantai Mountain is over 500 meters, with its main peak, Huading Mountain, reaching 1,098 meters above sea level, and the geology is mainly composed of granite. Relying on natural landscape, the scenic area features Buddhist culture, integrating tourism, leisure, and Buddhist pilgrimage. Known as the "Origin of Buddhism and Taoism, and Exquisite Landscape", it has extremely high ornamental, recreational, historical, cultural, and scientific research values.
History and Culture
Tiantai Mountain culture has a history of more than 1,800 years, experiencing the germination period (Eastern Han to Southern Dynasties), formation period (Chen Dynasty to Five Dynasties), and development period (Song Dynasty to the present), germinating in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and reaching its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It is the birthplace of Chinese Tiantai Buddhism and Southern Sect of Taoism. The philosophical thought of Tiantai Buddhism is mainly composed of propositions such as "One Thought, Three Thousand Realms", "One Mind, Three Observations", "Harmony of Three Truths", and "Theory of Stopping and Observing". The Southern Sect of Taoism was founded by Zhang Boduan at the foot of Zining Mountain in Tiantai, who completed Wuzhen Pian in the 8th year of Xining (1075).
Confucianism in Tiantai Mountain is mainly characterized by Neo-Confucianism. Zhu Xi, a Neo-Confucianist in the Southern Song Dynasty, once presided over Chongdao Temple in Taizhou twice, having a profound impact on Confucianism in Tiantai Mountain. Ancient literati had a high degree of cultural and emotional identification with Tiantai Mountain, and a large number of famous scholars and monks left more than 5,000 poems and over 1,000 articles here. The folk literature of Tiantai Mountain is also very developed, with popular legends such as "Liu and Ruan Encountering Immortals" and "Legends of Jigong". Its culture has the characteristics of regionality and super-regionality, timeliness and super-timeliness, and its core and basic elements have spread to Zhejiang, even all over the country, as well as to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and other regions.
Main Attractions
Guoqing Temple
Guoqing Temple was first built in the 18th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (598), originally named Tiantai Temple, and later renamed Guoqing Temple, implying the meaning of "if the temple is completed, the country will be peaceful". It was listed as one of the Ten Temples in Jiangnan in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the existing buildings were rebuilt under imperial edict in the 12th year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (1734). The total area of the temple is 73,000 square meters, divided into five vertical axes, with more than 20,000 square meters and over 800 rooms. The halls are complete, the architecture is neat, and the momentum is magnificent. Guoqing Temple is a cultural ancient temple with extremely profound cultural heritage. It is the birthplace of Chinese Tiantai Buddhism and the ancestral temple of Tiantai Buddhism in Japan and South Korea. In the temple, there is the "Sui Mei" (Sui Dynasty plum tree) planted by Master Zhang'an in the year of the temple's construction, which is more than 1,400 years old, as well as many cultural relics and historic sites, such as the Pali scriptures left by Master Zhizhe, the seven-square Bodhisattva line drawing inscriptions taken from the Sui Pagoda, and the "Single-Character Goose" stele by Wang Xizhi.
Shiliang Feipu (Shiliang Flying Waterfall)
Shiliang Feipu integrates the wonders of mountains and waters in the world and is the essence of the "Tang Poetry Road" in Eastern Zhejiang. Shiliang is a "granite natural bridge", about 7 meters long, with a width of less than a foot on the beam surface, like a black dragon's ridge, spanning the cliffs of two mountains. The "flying waterfall" passes through the beam after three folds and then rushes down from a 40-meter-high cliff. Next to Shiliang is Zhongfangguang Temple, and the Tanhua Pavilion in the temple was originally built by Jia Sidao, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. On the left side of the waterfall bottom is Xiabangguang Temple, which is said to be the place where the five hundred arhats should be true. There are dozens of inscriptions on the cliffs above and below Shiliang, with all styles of regular, cursive, official, and seal scripts. It is also the main filming location for China's first martial arts film Shaolin Temple, as well as many films and TV series such as Lay Disciples of Shaolin and The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall
Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall, formerly known as Tongbai Waterfall and also as Sanjing Waterfall, is 325 meters high and 90 meters wide at its widest, known as the highest waterfall in China. In Ode to Touring Tiantai Mountain by Sun Chuo, a great writer of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is listed as a landmark landscape of Tiantai together with Chicheng Mountain. On December 31, 2020, Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall was rated as a national 4A-level tourist attraction.
Qiongtai Xiangu (Qiongtai Fairy Valley)
Qiongtai Xiangu is located in Tiantai Mountain Tourist Scenic Area, where you can walk in the mountains to enjoy wonderful scenery. The valley has interdependent mountains and waters, steep and beautiful peaks, grotesque rocks, and gurgling streams, full of mysterious and charming natural scenery, just like a fairyland on earth.
Chicheng Mountain
Chicheng Mountain is a famous place for the double cultivation of Buddhism and Taoism in China and is known as the symbol of Tiantai Mountain. The rocks on the mountain are all red, and the cliffs stand like a city. There are many temples and Taoist temples here, with a profound historical and cultural heritage, and you can also overlook the beautiful landscape and pastoral scenery around.
Huading Forest Park
Huading is the main peak of the Tiantai Mountains and is now a national forest park, a famous summer resort in eastern Zhejiang. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can see the peaks surrounding layer by layer, shaped like a budding lotus. There are often clouds surging around the top of the mountain, with vast white clouds and unpredictable changes, making you feel like you are in a fairyland. Every May, the Yunjin Rhododendron Festival is held, when Yunjin rhododendrons bloom in full bloom.
Food
Caoseed Rice Cake
The caoseed is green, and the rice cake is jade white. The thick soup mixed with caoseed wraps the rice cake, which is not oily or greasy when eaten, and full of freshness. The color is full and bright, steaming hot, and the oil flows down from between the caoseed and the rice cake, with the fragrance of deliciousness straight into the nose.
Jiaobingtong (Stuffed Pancake Roll)
It is said that Jiaobingtong was invented by Jigong, who wrapped the remaining dishes from each meal into a pancake and ate them the next meal. Its fillings are rich and diverse. Various ingredients are cut into shreds, fried, and then rolled into thin pastry skins, fried until the skin is golden and crispy, with rich taste and delicious flavor.
Dendrobium Medicinal Cuisine
Dendrobium in Tiantai is very famous, and the local dendrobium medicinal cuisine is a unique signature. Such as Dendrobium Braised Chicken made from native chicken and Dendrobium officinale stems, and stomach-nourishing porridge made from Dendrobium flowers and wolfberry slowly stewed. Take a sip of Dendrobium officinale flower tea, and the unique fragrance and sweetness of Dendrobium officinale burst in the mouth.
Qingbing and Qingjiao (Green Cake and Green Dumpling)
Crush fresh leaves and mix them with glutinous rice flour, knead them into green dough, then wrap them with sweet and salty fillings, knead them into dumpling shapes, and finally steam them in a steamer. In the past, there were stalls making Qingjiao all year round, but now they are less and less common, and only Tiantai people make them to eat in seasonal festivals.
Soup with Bamboo Shoots
Tiantai Mountain is rich in bamboo shoots, and soup with bamboo shoots is a delicious vegetarian food with "bamboo shoots" as the main ingredient. In addition to large Mao bamboo shoots, small bamboo shoots are also special raw materials in Tiantai, which are rich in Sanzhou Township of Tiantai. They can be pickled into salted bamboo shoots, dried into shredded bamboo shoots and dried bamboo shoots, and fresh small bamboo shoots can also be made into various flavors.
Chaiye Tofu (Firewood Leaf Tofu)
Chaiye Tofu has various eating methods, sweet and salty, and can be cold mixed, made into soup, or stir-fried. The most common way is to cut it into small pieces, sprinkle a layer of white sugar or add a small amount of honey for cold mixing, or put in crushed fresh mint leaves, with a refreshing fragrance that makes people feel refreshed.
Qingmaci (Green Mochi)
The newly pounded Qingmaci can be eaten directly, dipped in a little white sugar or brown sugar, soft and sweet, with a light mugwort fragrance. It can also be fried in a pan until both sides are slightly charred, with a little crispness on the skin and still soft inside.
Bianshi (Flat Dumpling)
Tiantai Bianshi is made of wheat flour, a bit like dumplings in the north and wontons in the south, but with its own characteristics. It is more delicate than dumplings and plumper than wontons, and the diversity of fillings is beyond that of dumplings and wontons.
Maibing (Wheat Cake)
Tiantai Maibing is one of the main pasta varieties, together with Jiaobingtong, Hulatai, Mozhi, Bianshi, etc. It is mainly made of wheat flour and lean meat, supplemented by various seasonings. Shaped like a disk, a well-fried meat wheat cake is light yellow in color, soft outside and tender inside, and tastes great.
Shijin Cake (Assorted Cake)
Tiantai originally had "Shijing Cake", which printed the ten scenic patterns of Tiantai Mountain on the cake, and later evolved into "Shijin Cake", with various varieties and festive colors.
Hulatai (Pancake)
"Hulatuo" is to mix wheat flour into a thin paste without losing its viscosity, and use hands to pull it into a round thin pancake in the pan, one at a time, which is cooked in less than a minute. It is convenient to make, crispy and delicious, and is one of the daily meals of Tiantai villagers.
Surrounding Food Recommendations
For farmhouse dishes, you can choose Xuyi Fatty Stir-Fry and Tuzhaotou (recommended: Shasuan Braised Bean Noodles, Huadiao Chicken); for restaurants, there are Yinlun Sunshine and Xinyangguang; for coffee, you can go to Xide Coffee (at the entrance of Guoqing Temple, with characteristic latte art styles such as Zen Brown Sugar Latte and Cinnamon Gingerbread Latte, and latte art styles can only be made as hot drinks), and Sanmu Yushi (in front of the rapeseed field of Guoqing Temple, lunch starts at 11:00, and only coffee and bread are available before that, with lunch including pizza, baked rice, pasta, etc.); for snacks, there are Juyuanfang, Tiantai Xu's Snacks (a snack shop with many locals in the county), Linhai Maixia, and Yuqingzhai (a time-honored brand in the county, with various Taizhou snacks and thick ice, i.e., ice cream, located at No. 150 Tianyi Street).
Tickets
The ticket prices of each attraction in Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area are different. For example, Guoqing Temple is currently free to visit; the ticket price of Shiliang Feipu is 60 yuan per person; the ticket price of Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall is 100 yuan per person, etc.
You can search for the official WeChat public account "天台山景区" in WeChat to get the latest updates or purchase tickets online.
Opening Hours
The Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area is open year-round from 8:00 to 17:00. However, opening hours of different attractions may be adjusted under special circumstances, such as severe weather or scenic area maintenance. April to October is the best tourist season when the scenery is pleasant, and July to August are also ideal for summer retreat. In addition, the Yunjin Rhododendron Festival is held at Huading Forest Park every May, during which the opening hours of the scenic area may be appropriately adjusted according to the event arrangements. Visitors are advised to pay attention to the scenic area announcements in advance.
Tour Routes
If you only have one day, you can first go to Guoqing Temple in the morning to feel the tranquility of the ancient temple and the profound Buddhist culture, visit historical sites such as Sui Pagoda and Sui Mei, and the tour time is about 2 - 3 hours; have lunch near Guoqing Temple and taste local specialties; go to Shiliang Feipu in the afternoon to enjoy the wonder of Shiliang and the flying waterfall, and the play time is about 2 - 3 hours.
If you have two days, visit Guoqing Temple in the morning of the first day, go to Chicheng Mountain in the afternoon to enjoy the unique scenery of the holy land of Buddhist and Taoist double cultivation, and you can overlook the surrounding scenery on the mountain, with a play time of about 2 hours; taste more food in the county in the evening. On the second day, go to Qiongtai Xiangu in the morning, walk in the mountains and enjoy the wonderful landscape, with a play time of 3 - 4 hours; go to Huading Forest Park in the afternoon to feel the coolness of the mountain and the beautiful scenery of clouds and mist. If it happens to be May, you can also enjoy the Yunjin Rhododendron, with a play time of 2 - 3 hours.
Transportation
- Self-driving: Departing from surrounding cities, you can reach Tiantai County via highways. For example, starting from Hangzhou, take the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway and transfer to the Changtai Expressway, exit at Tiantai, then follow navigation to the scenic area. The whole journey takes about 2 hours. The scenic area has multiple parking lots, convenient for self-driving tourists, with parking fees generally 10-20 RMB per day.
- High-speed Railway: Take the high-speed railway to Tiantaishan Station, which has trains to cities like Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Wenzhou. After exiting the station, take a bus to the scenic area (fare about 5-10 RMB) or take a taxi (fare about 30-50 RMB, journey time 20-30 minutes).
- Long-distance Bus: Surrounding cities such as Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Jinhua have long-distance buses to Tiantai Bus Station. After arriving, transfer to the scenic area special line bus (fare about 5-10 RMB) or take a taxi to the scenic area (fare about 20-40 RMB).
Must-Visit Attractions
- Guoqing Temple: As the ancestral temple of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, it boasts a long history and profound cultural heritage. With numerous ancient buildings and precious cultural relics like the Sui Dynasty Plum Tree and Sui Dynasty Pagoda, the temple features a peaceful environment, making it an ideal place to experience Buddhist culture.
- Shiliang Flying Waterfall: The unique granite natural bridge combined with the majestic waterfall presents a spectacular landscape. Surrounded by cliff inscriptions and ancient temples, it is the essence of the "Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang" and a filming location for many movies and TV works.
- Tiantai Mountain Grand Waterfall: Known as the highest waterfall in China, it is 325 meters high and 90 meters wide at its broadest, offering a stunning view. With well-developed facilities and complete supporting services, the scenic area allows visitors to fully appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the waterfall.
Travel Tips
- Before visiting Guoqing Temple, learn some Buddhist etiquette and cultural knowledge in advance to better appreciate the atmosphere of the ancient temple.
- When visiting the scenic area in summer, take sun protection and mosquito prevention measures, and carry items such as sunscreen, sun hats, and mosquito repellent sprays.
- When playing at Shiliang Flying Waterfall, pay attention to safety. The ground around the waterfall is slippery, so avoid approaching dangerous areas.
- If you want to admire the Yunjin Rhododendrons in Huading Forest Park, it is best to go during the Yunjin Rhododendron Festival in May.