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Holidaymakers with sky-high ambitions will find mountains of fun on Taishan, in east China's Shandong Province. These precipitous peaks are the most monumental of China's past and present.

 

Confucius scaled Taishan Mountain and from its heights declared: "The world is small!" Chairman Mao Zedong ascended the mountain and announced: "The East is red!" And today, hikers slog up the slope and from its pinnacle proclaim: "My feet really hurt!"

 

Jade Emperor's Peak, the highest point of Taishan, bustles just before sunrise. "Sun worshipers" flock to the summit of this mountain daily to watch the sun rise and set from above the cloud swath.        Photos by Erik Nilsson

 

But the journey is well worth the legwork, as China's history and natural beauty intersect at the peak of Taishan.

 

According to many ancient Chinese creation myths, Taishan was the point from which the world originated. Today, the mountain is still revered as the premium peak of Buddhism and as a Taoist god.

 

Traditional belief also maintained that each day began with the sun rising from Taishan to start its westward journey across the world. Today, droves of "sun worshipers" surmount the summit to retrace history and enjoy its geological fantasticality. But most of all, they make the pilgrimage to see the mighty mountain's legendary sunrises paint the heavens from above the cloud blankets.

 

Scaling the precipice was once a rite of passage for emperors, including Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), who is said to have ascended the peak 11 times.

 

Rising from 150 meters above sea level in the city of Tai'an to 1,545 meters at Jade Emperor Peak, Taishan's mountainsides are festooned with 22 temples, 97 ruins, 819 stone tablets and 1,018 stone inscriptions. In 1987, UNESCO inducted Taishan as a World Heritage Site.

 

Those hoping for a journey of historical proportions should follow the Imperial Route up the mountainside.

 

Here, more than 6,000 steps snake up China's greatest topographic treasure. This course is bejewelled with the greatest multitude of sacred spots and calligraphic carvings, which serve as testimonials to past cameos by China's most acclaimed literati and rulers.

 

This route begins at the Dai Temple. Built in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) as a home base for sacrifice-offering emperors, it was expanded in the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties to become the largest temple on Taishan.

 

Traveling upwards, visitors encounter the Dai Zong Archway, the Red Gate Palace, the Jing Shi Valley, the Hu Tian Pavilion and dozens of other historical sites. 

 

But those who traverse this trek could find themselves squeezed for elbowroom, as this pathway is usually flooded with a sea of sightseers.

 

Those seeking something a bit more off the beaten path can slug up the wilder Western Route. Here, hikers looking for a longer but tamer travel can follow the paved road, along which sputters a never-ending caravan of tour busses. More rugged types can climb the decrepit stone stairways and faint trails that wind through the woods, proffering shortcuts, isolation and serene scenery.

 

However, they'll come across few historically significant spots, aside from the Longevity Bridge, which spans a small waterfall feeding the Black Dragon Pool. Ancient legends say that this lake was inhabited by submerged cities of mer-people, who would occasionally pull passers-by into its depths and transform them into animals.

 

Hikers who choose this route in spring or summer will trounce through one of the most amazing wildflower bouquets nature can muster. In springtime, a powerful floral fragrance wafts through the air along this route.

 

Reserved for absolute adventurers is the treacherous Tianzhu Peak Route. This summit takes its appellation from the resemblance it bears to a candle, upon which stands a lone pine that is reminiscent of a flame.

 

This pathway winds under the shadows of centuries-old pines and several other peaks, including General Peak and Small Tianzhu Peak. The most impressive site found along the way is the Eight Immortals Cave.

 

Those who are unable or unwilling to absolutely abuse their feet can catch a bus (18 yuan, $2.3) up the mountain to Zhong Tian Men (Middle Heaven's Gate), which is also the destination point of the western route.

 

However, even those lucky enough to grab a window seat would find the views seen from the busses do little justice to the majesty of the mountain.

 

Upon reaching Zhong Tian Men, visitors can take an 11-minute cable car ride over mountain valleys to Jade Emperor Peak for 45 yuan ($5.9).

 

The western side of Jade Emperor Peak is a crag crowned with a single stone pagoda. This is the superlative vantage point for watching the setting sun sinking into the cloud swath below.

 

Upon taking a stone bridge eastward, sun worshipers will find something resembling a small but bustling town. Clusters of cookeries, souvenir stands, hotels and the occasional temple are nestled among the juts and crags of the peak. Skirting among these traditionally styled structures is an army of sun worshipers clad in PLA jackets, which can be rented for as little as 5 yuan (65 US cents) per night to seal out the chilly mountaintop winds.

 

Sun worshipers can spend the night here, either in a profligately priced hotel (average cost is 1,400 yuan, or $182, per night for austere accommodations) or rent a tent for as little as 25 yuan ($3.3). Many mountaineers just crawl into the trenches scattered around this area and hunker down for the night huddling against perfect strangers.

 

Since food and drinks must be lugged up the mountainside, the prices for these necessities on the peak could seem higher than its altitude.

 

Confucius Temple, in Qufu, Shandong Province, warehouses a number of cultural relics. The writer poses with one of these relics.

Springtime comes to the Jade Emperor Peak later than in lower elevations, so visitors can enjoy fantastic flowering trees here long after they've given way to green leaves in lower altitudes.

 

But summer is the best time for flora fanatics to take the other cable car from the peak, because this is the time that the Peach Blossom Ravine earns its name. This ropeway terminates at a bus stop.

 

Sun worshipers, history hounds and manic mountaineers who make the legendary ascent up Taishan will discover fun and adventure taken to new heights.

 

Getting there

 

Jinan International Airport is located about 40 kilometers outside of town. Visitors unfamiliar with the area should be cautious when taking taxis from the airport, because it is a magnet for Jinan's craftiest cabbies.

 

Taxis in Jinan start at 7.5 yuan ($1) and increase by 1.5 yuan (about 20 US cents) per kilometer after the first 10.

 

Most affordable three- and four-star hotels line Beiyuanjie north of the city, and the cost from the airport should not be more than 105 yuan ($13.7) unless traffic becomes congested. From here, fares to most sites including Qianfoshan, Daming Hu and Baotuquan should be less than 15 yuan ($2).

 

Busses leave for Tai'an and Qufu every half hour.

 

A bus to Tai'an should cost about 20 to 30 yuan ($2.6-3.9) and should take about an hour and a half. A bus to Qufu should cost less than 55 yuan ($7.2) and take less than two-and-a-half hours.

 

The last bus from Tai'an to Jinan leaves at 7:30 pm, and the last bus from Qufu to Jinan leaves at 5:30 pm. Sun worshipers could find lodging on Taishan but might find the hotels on the mountainside to be exorbitant (about 1,400 yuan, or $182, per night on average for austere accommodations). A cheaper option is catching Zs in the rows of bunk beds lining these hotels' hallways (200-600 yuan, $26-78) or renting a tent (as low as 25 yuan, $3.3). 

 

Tai'an offers much cheaper accommodations in the city, but staying here could cut the time spent on the mountainside.

 

 

(China Daily by Erik Nilsson May 17, 2007)