Discover Qingdao
Laoshan
崂山
A granite coastal mountain rising straight out of the Yellow Sea, the cradle of Quanzhen Daoism, with Taiqing Palace at its foot and cliff paths above the water. The highest coastal peak in China.
The story
What makes this place special
Laoshan rises about 30 km north-east of Qingdao on the Shandong coast; its highest point, Jufeng, is 1,132.7 metres, which makes it the highest coastal mountain in China — the summit is within sight of the sea. It is one of the cradles of Chinese Taoism and the mountain where the Quanzhen school developed; at the height of religious activity around a thousand monks and nuns lived here. The Taiqing Palace, the Temple of Supreme Purity, is the largest complex on the mountain, first built in the Northern Song with most present buildings dating from the Ming Wanli reign. Its Shenshui spring is part of the mountain's water, which is also what Tsingtao beer is brewed with.
What you’ll discover
Six separate scenic districts — Taiqing, Chessboard Stone, Yangkou, Jufeng, Beijiushui and Hualou — which are not a single walk and in some cases not even a single entrance. Taiqing, on the coast, is the one most visitors do: a Taoist complex of old cypresses and halls where the mountain drops straight into the sea, with a cable car up to viewpoints above. Beijiushui is a stream-and-waterfall valley walk inland. Jufeng is the summit area and a serious climb or a cable car. The combination of granite mountain and open sea in one view is what distinguishes Laoshan from other sacred mountains.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Pick one district. Taiqing for temples and the sea, Beijiushui for a water valley walk, Jufeng for the summit. Trying to combine two in a day means spending it on shuttle buses between entrances.
- Entry is by booked slot and district, and the internal shuttle system is compulsory for much of the mountain — you cannot drive yourself up. Work out which gate your district uses before leaving the city.
- Use the cable cars. They exist in several districts and the walking equivalents are long flights of granite steps; this is not a mountain to prove anything on.
- Taiqing Palace's old cypresses and the shore below it are the best half hour on the mountain and are usually walked past on the way to the cable car.
- Go early and check the forecast. Laoshan makes its own weather and a mountain in cloud gives you a wall of white where the sea view should be.
When to come
Late April to June and September to October. Early morning, before the sea fog burns off or rolls in. Avoid the midsummer holiday weeks and any day with low cloud.
Getting around
Varies by district and is mostly hard. The shuttle buses and the cable cars do a great deal of the work, and parts of Taiqing — the temple courtyards and the shore path — are level and reachable, so a wheelchair user can have a real visit there with help. Beyond that, the mountain is granite steps: long, steep, often wet, with handrails but no alternatives, and the summit routes are out of the question. A bad knee should stay in Taiqing and use the cable car.
Worth knowing before you go
Pick one zone and stick to it - Taiqing for temples and sea views, Yangkou for the gorge walk. Trying to do both in a day does not work.
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