A guide to Mount Fanjing, a new World Heritage site, a famous Buddhist mountain, and a lesser-known tourist attraction in Guizhou.
Preface
There is a sacred mountain in eastern Guizhou, named Fanjing. It is so beautiful that three mountains form a valley, and it is named after the pure land of Brahma.
Pushing the Clouds to Brahma
Fanjing Mountain is located in Tongren, Guizhou Province. It is one of the earliest ancient areas south of the Yellow River in China to be elevated from the ocean to become land. It is a famous cultural mountain in southwest China with a history of more than 2,000 years. Today, it is one of the five major Buddhist mountains in my country, a national nature reserve, and a world natural heritage site.
360° Fanjing Mountain
Fanjing Wonders
Cloud Waterfall
The steep rise of the mountain creates dramatic wind direction changes and a pronounced vertical updraft, resulting in a fantastical display of wind and cloud. Clouds suddenly tumble from the sky into the deep valley, creating a surging wave... This spectacular phenomenon is commonly known as "waterfall clouds," while Buddhist tradition calls it "the reappearance of the sea of suffering."
Tips:
The best place to watch the sea of clouds is at the Golden Summit.
Zen Mist
Mount Fanshan is often covered in fog, known as Zen Mist, a truly unique sight. Regardless of season or weather, the fog rises and falls without a fixed time, arriving and departing at random, all at its own pace. A myriad of wonders unfold in a single moment.
Buddha's Light
The unique topography and climate create the remarkable phenomenon of "Buddha's Light." Fanjing Mountain is the most frequently observed of all famous mountains. At sunrise or sunset, a massive, multicolored halo can be seen rising above the clouds opposite the sun in the vicinity of the Nine Emperor Caves and Mushroom Rocks on the Golden Summit and Old Golden Summit. This magnificent and magical halo is truly stunning.
phantom
The mirage is a natural wonder that magnifies a person's shadow several times and reflects it on the clouds in the sky. It usually appears a few minutes or even tens of seconds before or after the Buddha's light appears.
Tips:
The best time to see the Buddha's light illusion is before 9 am or after 4 pm when the sky clears up after rain.
Lost for billions of years
Castle in the Sky
The main peak of Phoenix Mountain at an altitude of 2,572 meters, the Old Golden Summit, the highest peak in the Wuling Mountains, and the New Golden Summit (Hongyun Golden Summit), the highest peak in the world, are collectively known as the Three Golden Summits of Fanjing Mountain.
Fanjing Stone
The Mushroom Stone is about ten meters high, larger at the top and smaller at the bottom. As its name suggests, the stone resembles a mushroom. It has stood for 1 billion years and is the iconic representative image of Fanjing Mountain.
Ancient Buddha Temple
Red Clouds and Golden Summit are the heart of Foshan. Two imposing ancient temples perch on a cliff face, nestled against the abyss and connected by a sky bridge. When the sea of clouds descends, the scene resembles a celestial wonderland. While Fanjing Mountain boasts hundreds of temples, Cheng'en Temple is the core of the Fanjing Mountain temple complex and one of the Four Imperial Temples.
Rare and endangered
Mount Fanjing boasts 1,955 plant species across 277 families, and over 800 recorded animal species, including rare plants and animals such as the Davidia involucrata, crape myrtle, wild azalea, giant salamander, and the Guizhou snub-nosed monkey. Most notable is the Guizhou snub-nosed monkey, known as "Earth's Only Child." It is the smallest and most endangered of China's three species of snub-nosed monkeys, with only around 800 individuals remaining. Also notable is the "living fossil" and "giant panda" of the botanical world: the pigeon flower.
Tips:
Tour routes
As you ascend Fanjing Mountain, the scenery along the way changes constantly. The Red Cloud Golden Summit, Mushroom Rock, Old Golden Summit, and Cheng'en Temple are all located on the eastern route of Fanjing Mountain (Jiangkou County). There are two ways to ascend the mountain:
The first option is to take the sightseeing cable car and then walk to Mushroom Rock (an important attraction on the top of the mountain), which takes about an hour. Taking the cable car, you can overlook Fanjing Mountain from a bird's eye view, seeing the mountains overlapping with lush green, and experience the thrilling and inspiring feeling of the cable car piercing the clouds.
The second option is hiking, which takes about 4 hours to reach the Mushroom Rock on the top of the mountain.
Hiking up the mountain, you can see pigeon flowers, and you can also look for flowers and plants along the way, wade through streams, get close to Fanjing Mountain, and challenge yourself.
Recommended nearby attractions
Yunshe-China's No. 1 Tujia Village
Nestled at the foot of towering Fanjing Mountain, beside the tranquil Taiping River, this Tujia village has been virtually isolated from the outside world for centuries. Nestled between the mountains and the water, the village of over 400 households boasts simple, quaint buildings constructed from either boulders or logs. Visitors can also explore Tujia brocade, coarse cloth, batik, and papermaking techniques dating back to the Tang Dynasty.
Zhaisha - the original ecological Dong village at the foot of Fanjing Mountain
From a distance, it looks like a paradise on earth; up close, it feels like a paradise. Located at the foot of Fanjing Mountain in Jiangkou County, Zhaisha Dong Village boasts beautiful natural scenery and rich Dong ethnic customs, particularly the unique ethnic charm of its residential architecture.
Yamugou-the first gully in Guizhou
Yamugou, a fairyland with warm winters and cool summers, is a picturesque place with clear mountains and clear waters. Located at the foot of Fanjing Mountain, Yamugou enjoys neither severe cold in winter nor scorching heat in summer, making it a wonderful place for self-cultivation, exploration of scenic beauty, and immersion in the rich Tujia culture.
Zhenyuan - a city with a thousand-year history
Zhenyuan, a millennium-old town with over 2,200 years of history, is known as the key to Yunnan and Hubei, and the gateway to eastern Guizhou. Unlike other ancient towns, it's not as bustling and bustling as others. Circumnavigating the Wuyang River, the town, with its soaring eaves and steep cliffs, nestled against the mountains and water, exudes a uniquely Jiangnan charm. This charm is especially evident at night.
Xijiang Qianhu - my country's largest Miao settlement
Qianhu Miao Village, comprised of more than ten natural villages nestled against the mountainside, is a living treasure trove for studying Miao history and culture. Its unique stilt houses boast a thousand-year history. Take a scenic shuttle bus to the best viewing platform for a glimpse of the village's tranquility, both at dawn and at dusk.
Travel Tips
Specialties
Jiangkou rice tofu
Jiangkou rice tofu is made primarily from tribute rice from Fanjing Mountain, rice straw ash, or tung shell ash. It can be sliced, striped, or cubed, or made into shrimp-infused rice tofu, and topped with Jiangkou's special chili oil or chili vinegar sauce. It's sour, fragrant, spicy, smooth, and delicious. It can be enjoyed cold or hot, making it a popular snack for both young and old.
Sour Soup Fish Hotpot
This dish originates from the Miao village and is a representative of Guizhou's "Qian-style" cuisine. First, a homemade sour broth is prepared using wild cherry tomatoes and Litsea cubeba seeds. Live fish is then gutted and cooked in the sour broth, resulting in a rich, regionally distinctive broth.
Community Rice
Shefan is a kind of food in Tongren. Every spring, the Miao, Tujia, Dong and other ethnic groups living at the foot of the mountain use Artemisia annua and wild onions to flavor the dish. They mix cooked glutinous rice with rice, add ground rice, cured tofu and cured meat, mix well and steam it.
Dried beef
Fanjingshan Beef Jerky is made from the local specialty Paoshan cattle beef. It is made with an exclusive secret recipe that carefully combines a variety of seasonings and is carefully cooked using traditional techniques. The finished product is dark red in color, smells fragrant, and is crispy and flavorful when eaten.
Hornfish
The hotpot here is sold by the kilogram. The anglerfish is extremely delicious and can be adjusted according to personal taste.
Accommodation recommendations
Currently, there is only one hotel on the mountain (the only option for watching the sunrise). In addition, camping is not allowed at night in the Fanjing Mountain Scenic Area. If you take the cable car, you can visit it in a day. You can choose to stay at the foot of Fanjing Mountain or in Jiangkou County to facilitate visiting other nearby attractions.
Best time to travel
In spring, flowers bloom into a sea
Every March and April, rhododendrons bloom all over the mountains, forming a sea of splendid natural landscape. Wandering in the sea of flowers is like traveling in a fairyland.
22℃ summer
Mount Fanjing, at an elevation of 2,572 meters, boasts the best-preserved and most typical primeval forest on Earth at its latitude. In summer, the mountains are lush with vegetation, and eleven major rivers flow through them, creating a refreshing summer here!
Colorful autumn
The autumn in Fanjing Mountain is extremely interesting. As the altitude continues to rise, different flowers, plants and trees show different colors such as green, purple, yellow and red. In late autumn, the mountains are all red, which is even more warm and spectacular.
Meet in winter
Overnight, Fanjing Mountain was covered in silver, with rime, sea of snow, and cloud waterfalls, like a world of snowy fairy tales. From afar, it was vast and shocking.
Tips:
The mountains have four seasons, and the weather changes dramatically over the course of ten miles. Due to the high altitude, the mountaintop's climate can be changeable, so bring rain gear and a raincoat. A light jacket is recommended for summer, a thicker jacket for spring and autumn, and quick-drying clothing and a jacket for winter.
Transportation within the scenic area
The internal transportation of Fanjingshan Scenic Area includes sightseeing buses, cable cars, and slides. It is divided into three sections starting from the entrance:
① The entire route is 9.5 kilometers (approximately 3 hours of walking, and this section is strictly prohibited during peak tourist season). Alternatively, you can take a sightseeing bus to the hiking area, which takes about 17 minutes one way and costs 20 yuan per person.
② Hike the Wanbu Cloud Ladder from the cable car station at the bottom of the mountain to the top, a total of approximately 6,000 steps (approximately 4 hours). Alternatively, take the cable car, which costs 90 yuan per person one way and 160 yuan per person round trip. The ascent takes about 25 minutes and the descent takes about 10 minutes, covering a total distance of 3.4 kilometers.
③ Starting from the mountain cable car station, walk approximately 2,000 steps to the main attractions, including Mushroom Rock and Golden Summit. No means of transportation are available on this section (except for sedan chairs). Each sedan chair at Fanjing Mountain is numbered and accommodates one person. The price of a sedan chair is based on the weight of the passenger, not the distance. A 60 kg sedan chair costs approximately 220 yuan, and a backpack costs 20 yuan.
Route Recommendations
Fanjing Mountain is suitable for visiting all year round. There are in-depth tours and photography routes with different focuses. You can choose according to your preferences!
Conclusion
There is much more I want to say and can say about Guizhou and Fanjing Mountain. If you have any questions, please scan the QR code below for timely communication and consultation.
