This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
According to the Guzhang Ping Ting Zhi, compiled chiefly by Dong Hongxun, the prefectural subprefect and subprefectural magistrate of Guzhang Ping Ting with the rank of a prefect with peacock feather, during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty: "Tianqiao Mountain is 25 li south of the city. At the mountainside, two peaks face each other, with a horizontal rock like a beam, overlooking a drop of more than a hundred zhang, and a cave whose depth is hard to fathom; looking down, cool wind strikes one's face. A Buddhist hall was built on it, and in the daytime a white cliff hangs like a wall, hence the mountain's name. At first there was no road through, so the local people cut stone into walls beside the bridge and erected about two zhang of wood as bridge ladders and steps. Entering, one sees the Incense-Offering Pavilion. Among the rocks are some hanging upside down like boots, standing straight like brushes, like swords, and like flat hats. In the cave there is water, and there are places called Dragon, Thunder, and Phoenix Nest. The mountain had no name, and people gave it one. Every first day of the sixth lunar month, men and women from the various villages and stockades form groups for the incense-offering gathering."
Tianqiao Mountain is located within Baiyan Village of Chengguan Township, only 3 li from Provincial Highway 1828, with a road leading directly to the foot of the mountain. Tianqiao Mountain is 847 meters above sea level, with peaks piercing the clouds, steep and perilous white cliffs, a high-hanging heavenly bridge, an opened immortal gate, deep stone valleys, and densely distributed karst caves, all breathtaking. Legend says that a visitor once tried to estimate the height of the bridge and threw down a huge rock, then fell asleep from fatigue. Only when his millet dream was over did he hear the sound of the huge rock hitting the ground. On the bridge platform, a Guanyin Ancestral Master Hall was built in the Song Dynasty and restored in the Xinmao year of the Guangxu reign. Incense was abundant, and it was famous in Yuanling and Qianzhou. Every year during the sixth-month mountain pilgrimage, devout men and women came drawn by its fame, racing horses and singing in antiphonal style all night until dawn.
The Tianqiao Mountain scenic area covers 30 square kilometers, and its features can be summed up in four words: perilous, fantastic, beautiful, and wild. There are green mountains, a heavenly bridge, an immortal gate, a sea of forest, flying waterfalls, beautiful waters, and fantastic caves, which can be called the seven treasures of Tianqiao Mountain. Xiao Li, a famous journalist and essayist of Guzhang origin, once mentioned Tianqiao Mountain's "fantastic bridge" and "beautiful mist" in his article "Danqing Yin."
