Classic Zhangjiajie Landscapes (4)
Pipa Stream Tour Route: Pipa Stream is named after Pipa Ridge and is the upper reach of Jinbian Stream, 30 km long. The route centers on Pipa Stream, a narrow valley with sights along its north bank. Another section runs from Pipa Ridge to Chaotian Temple, passing sights such as Golden Rooster Crowing, Couple Rock, Wanglang Peak, Jiuzhong Immortal Pavilion, Three Sisters Mountain, Longfeng Nunnery and Chaotian Temple.
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
Pipa Stream Tour Route
Pipa Stream is named after Pipa Pass. Pipa Stream is the upper reach of Jinbian Stream, with a total length of 30 kilometers. The Pipa Stream tour route takes Pipa Stream as its central axis, forming a narrow secluded valley, with scenic spots unfolding on the north side of the stream. Another section runs from Pipa Pass to Chaotian Temple, with scenic spots along the way including Golden Rooster Crowing at Dawn, Couple Rock, Wanglang Peak, Nine-Layered Immortal Pavilion, Three Sisters Mountain, Longfeng Temple, and Chaotian Temple.
[Zhanjuan Pavilion] Three hundred meters ahead from Laomowan, a bridge pavilion with carved beams, painted rafters, and upturned eaves spans the stream—this is Zhanjuan Pavilion. In 1982, when the famous Xiangxi writer Shen Congwen visited this place, he named it "Zhanjuan Pavilion," meaning a scroll of a thousand postures unfolds here. Its stele inscription stands at the end of the bridge.
[Wanglang Peak] Six hundred meters north from Zhanjuan Pavilion, a stone peak stands out among the many peaks, resembling a woman with distinct curves craning her neck to gaze into the distance. People call it "Wanglang Peak" (Gazing-for-Husband Peak).
[Golden Rooster Crowing at Dawn] Walking from Laomowan to Tianjiatai, turn back and look east across the valley: a peak stands proudly, shaped like a rooster—pointed beak, high comb, protruding neck, head raised toward the west, craning its neck to crow.
[Husband and Wife Rock] Four hundred meters up the stone path from Tianjiatai, there is a viewing platform built against the mountain. Standing on the platform, you can see two peaks leaning on each other about 200 meters opposite, closely resembling a couple standing shoulder to shoulder, with complete facial features, facing southeast. The trees on the peaks look just like their hair and scarves. The woman is smiling, while the man looks like a pensive philosopher.
[Nine-Tiered Immortal Pavilion] Standing north of Wanglang Peak and looking west across the valley, a huge stone wall towers into the clouds, over a hundred meters wide. On the stone wall there appear to be majestic palaces, ancient temples, and pavilions and terraces, and along the edge of the wall there are several winding towers. These magical "buildings" are set off by clusters of green trees, forming a solemn, deep, dignified, and mysterious picture of an immortal mountain. Because this scenery is on a high mountain and resembles palace pavilions, it is named "Nine-Tiered Immortal Pavilion."
[Longfeng Nunnery] South of Huaxiangpo, the Longfeng Nunnery temple complex is intact. It is named Longfeng Nunnery because of "the steep stone walls, rising with the momentum of a crouching dragon; the emerald mountain forest, with the form of a flying immortal phoenix." The nunnery was built in the Ming Dynasty, and the 13 surviving steles record seven renovations during the Daoguang, Tongzhi, Guangxu and other periods of the Qing Dynasty. Its scale is two courtyards and three halls, with an area of 1,100 square meters. One stele engraved in the eighth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1869 AD), "Preface to the Subscription Record for Repairing Longfeng Nunnery at Huaxiangpo," makes a textual study of the Qingyan Mountain range, holding that this mountain is the "great ancestral mountain of Yongyi," and that Longfeng Nunnery "gathers all scenic spots and starts from here; thus this temple is not only a safeguard for the two du but truly the foundation of the whole county."
[Three Sisters Mountain] Climbing southwest from the Husband and Wife Rock viewing platform and going 1,200 meters ahead, three stone peaks stand shoulder to shoulder, graceful and charming, elegant and lovely. The Qing Dynasty "Tongzhi Yongding County Gazetteer" records: "Three Sisters Mountain, seventy li from the city, three peaks stand like a tripod, beauty rising above the clouds, from afar resembling fair maidens." The mountain's trees are verdant, and viewed from afar they look like jade hairpins in the girls' hair.
[Chaotian Temple] Located on the summit of Chaotian Mountain at an elevation of 1,227.3 meters. The stele inscription of Chaotian Temple says: "Chaotian Temple in the fourteenth du of Cili towers west of Yongding city, originally standing as one of three tripods with Yunchao. Since ancient times, although each dynasty built and repaired it, the years have passed and traces faded; although Chaotian Mountain is rich, Chaotian Temple has long been abandoned." By the Qing Dynasty, "during the Kangxi reign, there was a monk Xingzuo, who cut through thorns to climb Chaotian, quietly awakening and practicing austerities; dwelling in a thatched hut on earthen steps, and the temple then began to regain its appearance." In the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750 AD), when "Chaotian had a monk Zixin, and donors raised subscriptions," a sum of money was obtained, and a site was chosen on the high ridge of the northern mountain for reconstruction: "The nunnery was built on the top of a sheer cliff, the hall relied on the summit of a precipice." A couplet was written on the mountain gate: "The realm resembles Penglai, rosy light hangs afar; the boundary joins the heavens, auspicious mists ever swirl." Later, after repairs during the Daoguang and Xuantong reigns of the Qing Dynasty, its scale reached three courtyards and two halls with more than 20 rooms, covering 1,900 square meters. The deities worshipped in this temple are different from others: the main hall enshrines the Heavenly Mother in the center, the left and right halls enshrine the Earthly Mother and the Three Xiao Ladies respectively, the rear hall enshrines the Mountain-Pressing Patriarch, and there are also a Guanyin Hall, a Sutra Library, and so on. In the early Qing Dynasty, local natives Li Guoyu and Li Guoxi, two brothers, found a bronze statue of Zhenwu while plowing and sent it into the temple for worship. From then on, the bell tones were distant and the incense never ceased. The Qing Dynasty "Tongzhi Yongding County Gazetteer" records: "Chaotian Temple's mountain is as high as Tianmen. The temple was built in the early Ming Dynasty; whenever there was a great drought, people welcomed the enshrined bronze Zhenwu and prayed for rain, which invariably proved effective." The Qing "Guangxu Yongding County Local Gazetteer" records: "Chaotian Temple is in the Xu family terrace valley, extremely high in position, the ancestor of all mountains north of the county, facing Tianmen Mountain. On its front mountain there is Xianglu Temple, perched on the summit of Mafu Valley Mountain." At present, only the stone walls of the Patriarch Hall and 17 mountain gates and 42 steles from successive dynasties remain at Chaotian Temple.