Duxian Bridge in Tianzhu Mountain

Tianzhu Mountain has beautiful scenery in all four seasons and can be visited in all seasons, but spring, summer and autumn are the best. Tianzhu Mountain belongs to the monsoon north subtropical climate zone, with dense forests, quiet environment, warm winters and cool summers, making it a summer resort. The annual average temperature is on the low side, around 9.5°C. The absolute highest temperature in summer is 29°C, and the absolute lowest temperature in winter is -13.4°C. The annual range (the difference between the highest monthly temperature in summer and the lowest monthly temperature in winter) is also small, generally 22.3℃. Tianzhu Mountain has relatively few sunshine hours, with the average annual sunshine hours being less than 2,000 hours. It is cloudy and foggy, and the average number of foggy days in the year can account for two-thirds, about 250 days, with a maximum of 300 days and a minimum of 200 days. The annual average frost-free period is about 240 days. Rime in Tianzhu Mountain mostly occurs at altitudes above 1,000 meters. It can be seen from October to May of the following year.

The average annual precipitation in Tianzhu Mountain has reached a maximum of 1900 mm, and the maximum number of precipitation days in a year can reach about 150 days. The number of days with daily precipitation equal to or greater than 10 mm is 55. Seasonal distribution is extremely uneven. There is more precipitation in summer (June to August), followed by spring (March to May), less precipitation in autumn (September to November), and the least in winter (December to February of the following year). Every year in June and July, the "Meiyu" period occurs in Tianzhu Mountain. The average rainy season lasts 24 days. Thunderstorms often occur in Tianzhu Mountain, especially in July and August, with an average of nearly 50 days a year. Snowfall can be seen for about 6 months of the year. From late November to mid-March of the following year, the snowfall period is long and the snowfall amount is heavy. From May to August every year, hail occurs from time to time. At altitudes above 600 meters, it rains continuously in winter and there will be large areas of freezing rain. Tianzhu Mountain is famous for two reasons. First, it is adjacent to the Yangtze River, China's main water transportation artery, in the south and 80 kilometers away from Anqing, a famous city along the Yangtze River, in the southeast. The transportation is convenient and the boarding is easy. The literati and poets who traveled to Tianzhu Mountain in the past dynasties left many popular poems. Second, the mountains are steep and steep, with towering peaks and dangerous cliffs. There are forty-two peaks such as Tianzhu and Feilai, sixteen rocks such as Qilin and Fengyao, fifty-three strange rocks such as Pili and Parrot, seventeen cliffs such as Qianxin and Qianzhang, and Baogong, Siyuan, etc. There are twenty-five holes, eighteen ridges, thirteen wells, seven passes, eight ponds, forty-eight villages, etc. Tianzhu Mountain has steep mountains, strange rocks, lush forests, clear springs, high hanging waterfalls, and is deep and magnificent. "Tianzhu Mountain Chronicles" says that Tianzhu Mountain has "all the peaks are strange, all the rocks are weird, all the caves are dark, and all the springs are roaring." The strange rocks in Tianzhu Mountain may look like a lion lying on the ground, or like a dog looking at the moon, or like a parrot flying. , or like a whale swimming, lifelike and extremely uncanny. What's even more rare is that there are waterfalls and springs all over the mountain. Every time after the rain, the clear springs come out from the deep valleys, spraying snow and jade, which is extremely spectacular. It can be seen that the unique natural scenery is the main reason why Tianzhu Mountain is famous. Sanzu Temple is the first attraction in Tianzhu Mountain tourist area and was first built in Nanliang. According to legend, the famous monk Baozhi from the Southern Dynasties was the founder of Sanzu Temple. There are scenic spots such as Baogong Cave and Zhuoxi Spring near the temple. The cave is the residence of the monk Baozhi, and the spring is dug by the monk Baozhi.

In the Sui Dynasty, monk Can came to the temple to preside over it, and the temple gradually expanded. Seng Can is the third transmission of Zen Buddhism. The name of Sanzu Temple comes from this. It is said that Master Seng Cantan later "died" under the big tree in front of the temple. There is a standing pagoda in front of the temple for people to visit.

Sanzu Temple is also called Valley Temple. To the west of the temple there is a valley filled with boulders. The steep rocks on the side of the valley are upright, the flowing water in the valley is warm, and the pines and bamboos block the sky and the sun. The scenery is beautiful. It is a famous scenic spot near Sanzu Temple and is called "Flowing Spring in the Valley". Huang Tingjian, a poet and calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, once studied here and was fascinated by the beautiful scenery of the valley, so he called himself a "Taoist of the Valley". He wrote poems describing the beautiful scenery of valleys and flowing springs. "The water is flowing northward, and the mountains are surrounding it. I want to run out of resources but can't find them, so I hope to return empty."

In the Shiniu River at the foot of the mountain, the rock walls on both sides are steep but not very high, and the bottom of the valley is The bedrock is undulating, the water is flowing, the valley is wide and relatively closed, only the south side is open with the stream. There are stone caves in the valley. In front of the cave is a huge stone shaped like a lying cow, which is called "Ancient Stone Cow Cave". The stone walls on the bank of this stream are covered with stone carvings. There are more than 280 stone carvings in the about 200-meter-long "Shiniu Valley", ranging from the Tang and Song Dynasties to the early Republic of China, especially in the Song Dynasty. There are many works by famous artists such as Li Ao and Li Dexiu in the Tang Dynasty, Wang Anshi and Huang Tingjian in the Song Dynasty, Hu Zanzong in the Ming Dynasty, etc. They can be regarded as the essence of stone carvings in all dynasties.

The portrait of Huang Tingjian sitting on a stone bull painted by Li Gonglin, a contemporary painter of Huang Tingjian, is carved on a large stone and is still clearly visible. Huang was one of the four great calligraphers of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Li was a famous painter of the same period. This carved stone is a rare ancient poetry and painting carved stone in China and has high cultural relic value. There are luxuriant flowers and trees nearby, as well as valleys and flowing springs.

To the east of Shiniu River, there are scenic spots such as Valley Temple, Mount Sacrifice Queen, and Zhenyuan Palace Ruins. Valley Temple, also known as Sanzu Temple, is the most famous ancient temple in Tianzhu Mountain. It was built in Nanliang. Monk Jie, the third ancestor of Zen Buddhism in the Sui Dynasty, came to the temple to preach. There are many buildings in the temple, but now only the sutra storage building, several side rooms and the Jueji Pagoda standing in the temple remain. The rock-strewn valley to the west of the temple is the Shiniu Valley. Huang Tingjian, a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, was deeply in love with the scenery in the valley. He often sat on the rocks to read and compose poems and called himself "Valley Taoist".

The Jueji Pagoda is the Sanzu Temple Pagoda. It was first built in the fifth year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty (746). The current pagoda was rebuilt during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and has been more than 400 years ago. The tower is about 30 meters high. It is an octagonal seven-story pavilion-style building with brackets and cornices and wind chimes. According to reports, the wall of the pagoda was once engraved with a poem by Tang poet Du Mu about his visit to Sanzu Temple, but it no longer exists. The Pagoda of Awakening Silence is hollow in the center, and there are stone steps to climb up. Among the peaks in Tianzhu Mountain, the tallest, largest and most amazing one is Tianzhu Peak. Tianzhu Peak, commonly known as "Bamboo Shoot Tip", is located deep in the center of the mountainous area. It has a solitary peak protruding out of the sky, and its whole body is covered with stone bones and floating green, just like a jade pillar supporting the sky. The peak rises 800 meters from the ground and is extremely steep. Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, praised in a poem: "A bee in the Tianzhu holds the sun and the moon, and the cave door locks in the clouds and thunder." Due to the step-like structure of the mountain, the highest peak, Tianzhu Peak, is invisible from the foothills. After climbing the 1,770-level "Ladder to Heaven" and ascending to Baiyue on the third platform, you will suddenly see a peak rising from the ground to the sky. This is the unique landscape of the famous "Zhongtian Pillar". Standing at the foot of the peak and looking up, you can see that Tianzhu Peak is completely bare and bare of soil, with rugged stone bones rising straight up into the clouds, giving it the appearance of being extraordinary. Its slope is extremely steep, which is beyond the reach of ordinary tourists. It is rare in other famous mountains, so there is a saying that "the Tianzhu does not look at the peak when it returns". Among the cliffs, there are ancient stone inscriptions such as "Isolated Qingxiao" and "Zhongtian Yizhu" written horizontally above it, and "Standing high on the sky and the earth" written straight below, which are magnificent. Tianzhu Peak, with an altitude of 1,900 meters, is the highest among all peaks in Anhui, and its reputation as Tianzhu is well-deserved.

Standing tall as a pillar in the sky, the heroic town mediates its efforts. Just say that the universe is great, who knows how to make great achievements. To the south of Tianzhu Peak are the famous and dangerous peaks of Tianzhu Mountain, all of which compete with each other and have their own beauty. Such as Feicai Peak, Tianshi Peak, Lotus Peak, Raspberry Peak, Guanyin Peak, Black Tiger Peak, etc.

Feilai Peak is extremely unique. There are no cracks in the whole body, and it is as smooth and round as jade. There is a flat boulder lying on the top of Feilai Peak. It is about 70 meters in circumference, three meters in height and 20 meters in diameter. It has pleats on the edge like a hat, like a crown and a cover. It seems to have flown from the sky, which is amazing. It's called "flying stone". Feilai Peak ranks second among the Tianzhu peaks. The nearby "Snow Cliff Waterfall", with hundreds of meters high Bailian falling from mid-air, is a spectacular sight. The nearby Snow Cliff Falls is hundreds of meters high and falls from a high altitude, making it a spectacular sight.

The third peak of Tianzhu is Tianshi Peak where giant lions squat. There is a stone on the top of the peak, which is called "Lion Stone". A long stone protrudes from the lion's mouth, which is shaped like a tongue, and is called "Ya Tongue Stone". Between Tianshi Peak and Ruibian Peak, there is a narrow stream, with the upper part reaching to the sky and the lower part reaching the bottom. It is called "Gate".

The Lotus Peak is shaped like a lotus. The Mazu Nunnery under the peak, also known as Foguang Temple, was first built in the Tang Dynasty. The flowers and trees near the nunnery are flourishing, and the strange rocks and objects resemble people, all of which are extraordinary. The three-room Mazu Nunnery itself is built on a "Kilin Rock" about a hundred meters high.

The Duxian Bridge on the top of Tianchi Peak is another wonder of Tianzhu Mountain. On the top of the high mountain, there is a huge cliff with two rocks in the middle, only five meters wide, and a deep valley below. People who walk on it are frightened. People without courage and weak will will find it difficult to cross this bridge, so it is also called the "Testing Heart Bridge". There is a spring beside the bridge that never dries up after a long drought, so it is said that "the peak in Tianchi comes from this."

There is Siyuan Cave in the south of Duxian Bridge. The top of the cave has stones like a city, and it is so huge that it can accommodate ten thousand people. There are stone stairs, stone railings, stone beds, stone tables, stone boards, stone stoves, etc. carved by the ancients at the entrance of the cave. They are exquisite and practical, and you can sit in the cave and watch the strange peaks swallow the moon. The stars are by the window, so leisurely and comfortable.

The Tianzhu pines that circle the peaks are rooted in the cracks of the rocks.

The clear snow in Tianzhu and the sea of ??clouds are the two most beautiful scenery of Tianzhu Mountain. The clear snow is not snow, but white quartz sandstone exposed among the green shade. Under the sunlight, it is crystal clear like snow, so the Ming Dynasty wrote in a poem: "The snow will not disappear for thousands of years, and the cold will always stay in May and June."

Xiguanzhai is located southeast of Tianzhu Peak and is the home of Liu Yuan, the hero of the Southern Song Dynasty peasant rebel army. At the ruins of the base camp of the Anti-Yuan Dynasty in Zhai, there are stone carvings inscribed by Liu Yuan for reference. Zhu Tongqi and Yu Gongliang in the late Ming Dynasty also raised the banner of "anti-Qing and restoration of Ming" here. Here there are thousands of cliffs, strange rocks, and a bird path leading to the top of the ancient mountain. Xiguan Village is located high up, and the situation is very dangerous. The stone wall still preserves the stone chronicle written by Liu Yuan himself ("Tianzhu Mountain Chronicles"):

In the first year of Xianchun of the Song Dynasty, he was ordered to take measures by the emperor. Cuoshan Village has preserved more than 100,000 people for more than 10 years. The troops of the Northern Dynasties attacked repeatedly, but the defense was safe. Households farmed in the spring and went to the village in the winter. The village commanders, Liu Yuanshuqing and Dingjian, local tycoons from Tong'an County, controlled Ning Zongda Chongdao.

Seven kilometers away from the southern foot of Tianzhu Mountain, there is the ancient cultural site of Xuegang Mountain. With a total area of ??more than 60,000 square meters, more than 3,000 cultural relics have been unearthed. These unearthed cultural relics can be divided into three categories: stone tools, pottery and jade. Among them, the shiny thirteen-hole stone knife, the hollow pill, the pottery ball that makes a sound when shaken, and the exquisite jade rings and jade blocks are all treasures discovered for the first time in our country. This site provides very precious information for studying the life and production activities of humans in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the late Neolithic Age, as well as the origin and relationship of various cultures in my country.

Xiaoliggang and Jiaojiafan at the eastern foot of Tianzhu Mountain are the places where the story of "The Peacock Flies Southeast", the earliest narrative poem in my country, took place. There are still relics such as the Peacock Terrace and Liu's Tomb for visitors to pay their respects to.

Tianzhu Mountain is rich in tourism resources and needs further development. The Tianzhu Mountain Area has been divided into eight scenic areas including Meicheng, Yezhai, Yujing, Matsu, Liangyao, Dongguan, Feilai and Zhufeng.