Zhangjiajie Tourist Destination
Tourist destination Zhangjiajie launches first direct originating train to Beijing. Xinhua News Agency, Changsha, April 27 (Reporter Chen Liming) — The tourist city of Zhangjiajie has ended its history of having no originating train to Beijing. On the afternoon of the 26th, the K968/7 passenger train from Zhangjiajie to Beijing West held a grand inaugural ceremony at Zhangjiajie Railway Station, providing domestic and international tourists with a convenient overland route to Zhangjiajie. The newly added Zhangjiajie to Beijing West K…
Tourist destination Zhangjiajie launches its first originating direct train to Beijing
Xinhua News Agency, Changsha, April 27 (Reporter Chen Liming) — The tourist destination city of Zhangjiajie has ended its history of having no originating train to Beijing. On the afternoon of the 26th
, a grand inaugural ceremony for the K968/7 passenger train from Zhangjiajie to Beijing West was held at Zhangjiajie Railway Station, providing domestic and international tourists with a convenient overland route to
Zhangjiajie.
The newly added K968/7 passenger train from Zhangjiajie to Beijing West departs Zhangjiajie Railway Station at 18:18, passing through Changde
, Yiyang, Changsha, Yueyang, Wuchang, Xuchang, Changge, Zhengzhou, Xinxiang, Anyang, Handan, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Dingzhou, Baoding, and Zhuozhou
— 16 stations in total — and arrives at Beijing West Station at 21:31 the next day, with a total journey time of 27 hours and 13 minutes.
According to the railway authorities, previously there were only two “passing-through trains” from Zhangjiajie to Beijing: the K268/7 from Huaihua to Beijing West and the K508/7 from Zunyi to Beijing West.
Zhangjiajie is not only a world-famous scenic tourist destination but also China's first national forest park. Its core scenic area, Wulingyuan, has also been inscribed by UNESCO on the World Natural Heritage List.
Zhangjiajie Tourist Destination — Zhangjiajie Wulei Mountain Scenic Area
About 25 kilometers east of Cili County town, the eastern gateway of Zhangjiajie City, stands a famous mountain — Wulei Mountain. Wulei Mountain is located on the eastern edge of the Wuling Mountains, with its main peak at 980 meters
. Because the main peak splits into several ridges extending in a radial pattern, like the earthly bonds described in the “Huainanzi · Tianwenxun,” it was also called “Dawei Mountain.” Later, because the Dawei
Mountain Taoist temple experienced the miracle of “thunder sweeping its hall, bells and drums sounding of themselves, and dust cleansing itself,” it was renamed “Wulei Mountain.”
The mountain has a pleasant climate, an elegant environment, dense vegetation, and fresh air. Temperatures are high by day and low by night, cold in winter and cool in summer, with a maximum temperature of 32°C and an average
temperature of 11.6°C. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Shenzong bestowed on it the title “Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.” But it is even more a Taoist holy site, long known as “the finest scenic spot south of Chu.”
Climbing to the summit and looking around, one sees swirling clouds and mist, sheer cliffs and precipices, layered peaks and ridges, majestic and vast, and the thousand-year-old Wulei Mountain Temple sits among
the peaks. According to the “Cili County Annals”: “Wulei Mountain rises high, screening the county 30 li to the south; at its top is Zhenwu, with Dragon Head Rock, Huixian Bridge... and other scenic spots, where the Daoshui River originates. The Wulei Mountain temple complex was built by the Prince of Rong of Changde and assisted in repair by the Prince of Huayang of Lizhou.” “It began in the Tang, flourished in the Song, and reached its height in the Ming and Qing.” Repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, it has now lasted
more than 1,300 years. The Wulei Mountain temples were built along the mountain's ridges and ravines, stretching for 15 li, like a long dragon supporting houses, arranged in a pattern of eight inside and seven outside, with more than 100 large and small temples and shrines,
including 36 halls, 72 palaces, and 48 stockades, in order: Pilgrimage Gate, Doumu Palace, Red Emperor Palace, God of Wealth Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, Prince Hall, Guanyin Pavilion
, and Golden Hall. Second only to Wudang Mountain in Hubei, its architectural style and scale are basically the same as or similar to that of Wudang, so Wulei Mountain also has the elegant title “Southern Wudang.”
Inside the mountain gate is the Dragon Head scenic spot. During the Tianshun period of the Ming Dynasty, a county magistrate from Hangzhou brought his wife and children to pay homage and left an inscription: “Observing the shape of this rock, it is like a flying dragon's head, with prominent horns and angles, a true ancient Zhenwu site, ingeniously formed by nature, the finest scenic spot south of Chu.”
Touring Wulei Mountain, what impresses most strongly is the rich atmosphere of Taoist belief. According to local chronicles: “Wulei Mountain... vast for a hundred li, its peaks all visible together; on every pilgrimage occasion, prayers are like a forest and the flow of people like a sea, numbering more than 30,000.” Since ancient times there has been a folk couplet: “Whether you go or not, one hundred thousand and eight thousand come each year.” Whenever the Taoist festivals arrive — the third day of the third lunar month (the birthday of Patriarch Zhenwu), the ninth day of the ninth month (the day the Divine Master ascended to heaven), the fifteenth day of the eighth month (Hanlin Assembly), and the nineteenth day of the eleventh month (Guanyin Bodhisattva Day) — pilgrims swarm in, many “kowtowing every three steps and bowing every five steps,” creating a lively scene in which “incense never ceases in the temples, people never cease on the roads, the stove fire never goes out, and the wooden fish never stops sounding.”
The statue of the Great Emperor Zhenwu sits firmly in the Golden Hall, with hair unbound and black robes, holding a sword, treading on a turtle and snake, guarded by generals holding black banners, flanked by golden boys and jade maidens, and with the two generals of water and fire awe-inspiring, receiving worship from believers in twenty-eight counties across northwestern Hunan and southwestern Guangdong.
Standing in such an atmosphere is like falling into the mist of religion and history. Who exactly was this Patriarch Zhenwu, to deserve such worship?
Legend says he was the crown prince of the Kingdom of Jingle. His mother carried him for 14 months before giving birth, and at age 14, Doumu Yuanjun guided him to find a pure place for cultivation. To this end, the prince searched painstakingly everywhere for a site of good feng shui, but unexpectedly, wherever he went, the mountains could not withstand the tread of his sacred foot: some shook and trembled, some collapsed and were destroyed. Only Wulei Mountain actually grew three chi and three cun taller. The prince then piled up a stone chamber there and cultivated austerely. But his arrival alarmed five evil dragons: the Azure Dragon of the East, the Red Dragon of the South, the White Dragon of the West, the Black Dragon of the North, and the Yellow Dragon of the Center. Fighting for the kingship of the holy site of Wulei Mountain, each displayed its divine power, throwing the mortal world into chaos — now eerie winds and flying sand and stones, now torrential rain and flooding waters. Living beings suffered cruelly and fled their homeland with their children. The prince was furious and ordered the Five Thunder Gods to raise their divine hammers and sound five peals of thunder, striking at the evil dragons. The prince also drew the Three Terraces Seven Stars Sword and angrily pointed it at the evil dragons, and the five dragons instantly turned into five mountains. This is the scene we see today, “Five Dragons Paying Homage.” Thereafter, the weather was favorable, and the people lived and worked in peace. The prince also completed his merits and attained the fruits of cultivation, throwing himself from the Sacrifice Cliff to shed mortality and become an immortal. He was enfeoffed by the Jade Emperor as the Mysterious Supreme Emperor, the Infinite-Life Buddha. To commemorate the Great Emperor Zhenwu, people built the Patriarch Hall
to enshrine his statue.
The treasured site chosen by the Great Emperor Zhenwu is indeed extraordinary. It is not only beautiful in scenery but also displays four great wonders: on a clear day, climbing high and looking out, one can clearly see the urban areas of Changde and Li County hundreds of li away; the second wonder is that the worship platform at the Golden Summit is less than 10 square meters, yet no matter how many people come to worship, they do not press against one another, and it can even accommodate ten dragon lanterns rolling and battling at once; the third wonder is that every year before the third day of the third month, heavy rain is sure to fall, yet the next day is clear as jade. It is said that the Patriarch has arrived; the fourth wonder is that although the Golden Summit is the highest peak, there is a spring whose water is sweet and delicious and never runs dry all year, flowing continuously even in long drought without rain. Legend says that during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng, the Prince of Chuang, traveled to Wulei Mountain in the guise of a monk and happened to fall slightly ill. After drinking this spring water, he recovered, marveled repeatedly, and bestowed on it the name “Golden Summit Divine Spring.”
Even more wonderful beyond words is “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.” The Golden Summit, as if cast of gold and carved of jade, is as beautiful as a phoenix. Standing on the Golden Summit and looking down at the whole scene, hundreds of large and small peaks are like birds raising their heads, encircling the Golden Summit, exactly like a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. When clouds drift or thin mist veils the scene, the hundred birds raise their heads and spread their wings, floating on the waves as if about to fly.
The Sacrifice Cliff, known as “the foremost peril south of Chu,” has a rock body like a tongue thrusting out across the void, overlooking a bottomless abyss below. In 1950, when Cili was liberated, the bandit leader Zhu Bazi was pursued by the People's Liberation Army all the way here. Seeing that he was about to be captured alive, Zhu Bazi steeled himself, gritted his teeth, opened an umbrella, and, imitating Patriarch Zhenwu, leaped from Sacrifice Cliff — and astonishingly was unharmed. Although Zhu Bazi was caught by soldiers as soon as he landed and was ultimately executed, Sacrifice Cliff undoubtedly gained another layer of mystery.
The saying that “the Bodhisattvas of Wulei Mountain show their power afar but not nearby” is known to everyone. What is the reason? A story heard in childhood seems to corroborate it. In the twelfth month of a certain year, the weather was unusually cold, and Taoist priests from near and far gathered at the Wulei Mountain Taoist temple. In the Golden Hall they shut doors and windows tightly, built a fire for roasting, ate meat and drank wine, and reveled all night. The next morning, laypeople discovered that the morning bell, punctual every day, no longer sounded. They hurried over and opened the doors of the Golden Hall, and saw more than 20 Taoist priests lying stiffly on the ground with blue-purple faces and white foam at the mouths. From then on, the Bodhisattvas of Wulei Mountain “showed their power afar but not nearby,” meaning they protected people far away but did not care so much for those close by. Although today it is completely clear that the deaths were caused by asphyxiation due to their ignorance, the efficacy of the Bodhisattvas is still inexplicable — perhaps the sacred place had been defiled and the Bodhisattvas' power damaged; or perhaps the Bodhisattvas were angry and punished these people who despised Taoist rules. Even so, it should not have harmed everyone. What is undeniable is that Patriarch Zhenwu is still enshrined above the Sumeru Altar, which is simply a miracle. Perhaps what people worship is the Bodhisattva in their own hearts — the one inclined toward goodness, the Way, and blessing!
Zhangjiajie Tourist Destination — For more introductions to Zhangjiajie Scenic Area, please see: