Discover Chengdu
Mount Qingcheng
青城山
The birthplace of organised Daoism in China, a densely green mountain of wooden temples and covered walkways that feels like a different climate from the city. Far gentler walking than Emei and easily combined with Dujiangyan in one day.
The story
What makes this place special
Qingcheng Shan is one of the birthplaces of organised Taoism. In 142 CE Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master, founded the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice here, and Taoist mythology places the Yellow Emperor's study with Ning Fengzi on the mountain. It has 36 peaks and eleven surviving Taoist temples, Jianfu Palace being the oldest on the mountain and Shangqing Palace standing near the top at over 1,500 metres. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2000 together with the Dujiangyan irrigation system, and was damaged in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
What you’ll discover
The scenic area splits into Front Mountain and Rear Mountain, which are different trips. Front Mountain is the temple route: Jianfu Palace near the gate, then a climb by stone path, with a boat across Yuecheng Lake and a cable car available, up past Tianshi Cave to Shangqing Palace and the Laojun Pavilion at the top. Rear Mountain is a river valley walk - waterfalls, plank paths cut into gorges, a second cable car - with far fewer temples and far fewer people. The buildings are low timber halls under cedar and bamboo rather than monumental architecture, and the mountain's character is damp green forest and mist.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Front Mountain for Taoism, Rear Mountain for walking. Most visitors do Front Mountain in half a day and are right to; if you would rather have a six-hour hike up waterfalls than see temples, go to Rear Mountain, and do not try to do both in a day.
- Use the lake boat and the cable car on Front Mountain unless you specifically want the climb. The combination cuts the ascent from a couple of hours of steps to about forty minutes, and the stone path is not especially scenic.
- Pair it with Dujiangyan, not with Chengdu. Both are on the same high-speed rail line from Chengdu with a short connection between them, and the standard local day is irrigation works in the morning and mountain in the afternoon.
- It rains here, a lot, and the mountain is at its best when it does - mist in the cedars is the whole aesthetic. Take a cheap poncho rather than abandoning the day.
- Qingcheng is a Taoist mountain: the halls hold the Three Pure Ones and Laozi rather than Buddhas, the atmosphere is quieter and less commercial than Emei, and there are working Taoist priests. It is the best place near Chengdu to see living Taoist practice.
When to come
Morning, and in spring or autumn. Summer brings heavy rain and leeches of tourists from Chengdu escaping the heat; winter is cold and misty but very quiet. Mist after rain is the mountain's defining condition and is a reason to go, not to cancel.
Getting around
Limited. The lower approach, Jianfu Palace and the lakeside sections are walkable on paved path with some steps, and the boat plus cable car chain removes most of the ascent, which makes the upper temple area reachable for someone with a bad knee. But the stretches between cable car stations and temples are stone steps, the summit area is stepped, and the halls sit on raised platforms. Rear Mountain's plank paths and gorge stairs are not accessible at all. A wheelchair user can see the entrance area and lake but should not expect the summit.
Worth knowing before you go
The front mountain has the famous Daoist temples and the crowds; the rear mountain is a waterfall-and-gorge hike with a fraction of the visitors for a quarter of the price. They have separate entrances several kilometres apart - pick one before you set out.
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