Qingcheng Shan walk, near Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Where and what is Qingcheng Shan?
- Heading up to the cliffs
- A scramble up crumbling steps
- Meeting the path-builders
- Many steps up to join the main tourist route
- The pavilion at the summit of Qingcheng Mountain
- Down and out in Qincheng and Chengdu
Where and what is Qingcheng Shan?
(1st para repeated from QH Shan story)
Qingcheng Hou Shan and Qingcheng Shan are two neighbouring wooded hills with strong religious associations, just over 100 km (65 miles) west of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. We had chosen to climb these in preference to the better know sacred mountain of Emei Shan south-west of Chengdu, which sounded like it had become just too much of a tourist trap. This part of China is also famous for the wildlife reserve which is the last refuge of the giant panda, and for a landscape feature known as the Stone Forest. The Leshan Great Buddha, which we visited afterwards, was just a couple of hours' bus ride to the south of Chengdu, and Chengdu itself is an atrractive city, so there would be plenty to justify a longer stay in the area.
According to the Lonely Planet Guide, Qingcheng Shan means "Azure City Mountain" - the Chinese certainly go in for decorative names for their landscape and temples. At 1260m (LP Guide says 1600m) it's lower than QH Shan, the Back Mountain, which rises to 2113m behind the temple. However, there are lots of ups and downs along the pathways to reach the pavilion at the top, so our estimate of about 600m or 2000 ft climbing is very approximate!
Ideally you'd want to spend the day exploring Qingcheng Shan, to appreciate fully the temples (including the one outside the main gate, which we didn't visit), and it would be a great experience to stay in one of them overnight. We had to hurry, to get back to Chengdu then to Leshan by the evening, so turned it into a half-day hurry.
After the previous day's walk at Qingcheng Hou Shan, we had stayed overnight at a guest house on the south-western edge of Qingcheng Shan, in a collection of houses overshadowed by giant grey cliffs emerging from the forest. We awoke to a strange breakfast, mostly of vegetable dishes together with stodgy steamed bread rolls. However, we ate enough to give us energy for the walk.
Around 8.45 our host led us up the street past other houses, to the edge of a field, and indicated the route to follow. It led past gardens and and isolated houses, then turned right up towards the Jinbian cliffs. This was the back way into the hill, and it looked like it wasn't used much as the stone steps were crumbling away in places. And there were lots of them, giving us a strenuous climb up through woods to the foot of the cliffs, then along to a gap between two enormous slabs of rock. It was a hard conglomerate - pebbles bonded together by sandstone, and looking rather like concrete.
It was like walking through a gateway. On the other side of these massive slabs, the route clearly went up to the left, along the inside of the rock face, but the steps carved out of the stone were badly eroded. We had to pull ourselves up using handholds in the rock. This was real Indiana Jones territory, with steep awkward steps, then an easier bit, then more steps. To the right, the rock sloped away into undergrowth. It was slightly hair-raising, but we had come this far and thought it was bound to get easier!
And really that was the most difficult section of the day's walk. We'd obviously come in by a route that is now largely abandoned, as the "public" entrance is a few miles to the east. We climbed towards the top of the crag, then the path sloped down away to the right through trees, before another path led off again towards the hilltop to the left. Lots of spiders seemed to be dangling down from the branches above us, adding to the sense of creepiness. I was swinging a long stick in front and above me to try to clear the air.
We reached the top of the hill, where there was some sort of abandoned concrete, and the trees obscured most of the view. What we could see was green and misty, looking down to the valley and across towards Qingcheng Hou Shan. There wasn't really anything else to reward our efforts, so we turned back the same way to the junction, then followed the path down. There were lots more steps, and again some were broken, but not too difficult to negotiate.
The route zig-zagged this way and that, down through thick forest, then we heard the sound of a generator below us. Soon we could see a shelter against the hillside to the left, and workers busy on some construction project. It was the first sign of humanity since we had left the guest house. Shortly afterwards we passed a couple of porters coming up the path, carrying baskets on their backs full of bags of cement or aggregate. There were more coming up behind them. So this was how the concrete paths were built, entirely with human sweat, both men and women. No packhorses in sight.
The path levelled off, and at about 10.00 we reached a set of temple buildings - we could begin to work out where we were. This was the western edge of what was marked on the map which I later bought - the Hall of the Taoist Founder. Some Chinese visitors wanted a photo taken of them with us, and then took a photo of the 3 of us, with steps leading up into the temple buildings. At the top was a small courtyard with dark buildings around it. A woman was standing there smoking a pipe, and an older woman sat in the shadows in a side room eating from a bowl of noodles, next to a dog curled up in a basket.
The buildings were constructed on the side of the hill, and a path went through from one side to the other. More porters were carrying their burdens along it, and some had stopped to rest. Each carried a stout wooden walking stick which they would swing behind them to prop up their baskets when taking a rest.
Many steps up to join the main tourist route
We turned back down to the lower path below the buildings, and continued along it. We had the idea that we would need to turn left somewhere to get up to the main temple buildings on the hilltop, but weren't sure where. I tried to ask one of the porters, and he indicated a side route, but Catriona was doubtful and asked another porter. He helpfully took us further along the path we were on, winding in and out along the wooded hillside, until we reached the foot of a long stretch of steps up a little valley to the left. Just to the right was a shelter with a woman selling drinks, and we were ready for some refreshment. Owen and I sat in the shelter whilst Catriona answered questions from one of the men standing beside the drinks stall. They were apparently discussing how people in China and the West looked different for their ages.
After that much-needed break, we attacked the steps with renewed vigour. We must have built up our fitness since walking in Tiger Leaping Gorge a week earlier. This was another long climb, but at least the steps were solid now, and there was even a woman out with a broom keeping them clean! (We saw several during the day).
At the top of the climb, still in thick woodland, we joined the main path coming up from the right, and turned up the ridge to the left. This path then wound down to the right of the hillside, and took us to the Sunrise Cave - so called because it provided a great view of daybreak across the top of the trees. Inside the cave were religious relics, artworks, and statues, with explanations in English. We didn't stay long, and continued along the hillside. On one steep stony bank a line of twigs had been laid neatly, as if to hold up the mountain. We saw something like this again later, and it seemed like it could have been a way of saying a prayer to the spirits of the mountain.
The pavilion at the summit of Qingcheng Mountain
The path continued along the side of the hill, and now we had views across the thickly wooded valley to the green hills beyond. Periodically notices in Chinese and English beside the path warned us to respect the environment and take care of children. Then a sign directed us up to the left - yet another steep series of steps - towards the top of the mountain. We reached a gateway with a fence behind adorned with carved figures of serpents and other beasts. The chain between the posts was weighed down with masses of padlocks, like we'd seen on Q Hou Shan the day before, but many more of them.
From there it wasn't too much further to climb up to the final building at the top of the hill (the Lao Jun Pavilion). Below it the path was flanked by two giant guardian tortoises. The pavilion itself was built in 5 storeys, with a strange statue inside the lowest level - a golden general seated on a bull. A little monk rang a bell, and told us not to take photos. It was around 11.00, and we stood outside and ate some plums before climbing up more steps inside the pavilion.
From the top storey there was a splendid panorama over ranges of green hills. We were at a height of 1260m, similar to the higher munros of Scotland, but unlike the barren rocky summits of Scotland these hills were covered in thick forest.
Down and out in Qincheng and Chengdu
We headed back down the steps, passing a porter carrying an enormous load of boxes upwards. It beats me why, when they have chair lifts taking tourists up the mountain, they can't do the same to haul goods up there as well.
We went past the gatehouse pavilion, to reach a large complex of buildings - the Great Trinity Abbey. There was a refectory area, and rooms were available for 80 yuan (just over £5). Although we were just passing through, it would be a good place to stay the night and explore the mountain at a more leisurely pace. We had to try to get back to Chengdu and on to Leshan!
There were lots of people around here now, and once we had emerged from the main entrance to the Abbey, we decided we should take the easy route down the rest of the way. It was just a short walk to the chairlift station, and we were soon sailing through the sky above the treetops, down into the valley. Below us a path meandered through the dense forest.- it felt a bit like flying over Jurassic Park.
After stepping off the chairlift, it was a short walk to a ferry that took us across a wide lake - not enclosed in a gorge like the narrow lake at Qingcheng Hou Shan. At the far side, we joined a main path down a wide avenue, crowded with other visitors. There were signs indicating the way to various attractions along the way, but we didn't have enough time to explore them. I bought a map leaflet from a vendor for 5 yuan (£0.30) to check afterward where we had been walking!
We reached a large ornate gateway, where most visitors would enter as well as leave, and emerged on the other side. Buses and coaches were parked there, and we found one which would take us back to Dujiangyuan. It was XX and we spent the rest of the day travelling - 3 buses back to Chengdu to collect our luggage, then a taxi and bus to Leshan, a couple of hours' south along a good road. We were there by 6 p.m., wondering where we'd stay the night, and after struggling with a hoard of taxi drivers and pedicab riders we took a taxi to the harbour area and the XX hotel, which had seen better days!
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