Jiuziyan Scenic Area – The Back Mountain of Mount Jiuhua
The Jiuziyan Scenic Area is part of the back mountain of Mount Jiuhua, located in Zhubei Town, Qingyang County, Chizhou City, about 10 kilometers from the county seat. Most tourists visiting Mount Jiuhua choose to sightsee at spots like Jiuhua Street, Roushen Baodian, Baisui Palace, Tiantai, and even the newly developed Dayuan Cultural Park and Huatai, and generally do not visit Jiuziyan.
Jiuziyan to Mount Jiuhua is somewhat like Luojia Mountain to Mount Putuo, or Foguang Temple and Nanchan Temple to Mount Wutai. The official promotion of Jiuziyan Scenic Area is: "one pagoda, one cave, one ancient temple; one tree, one spring, one holy body." In my opinion, the natural landscapes of Jiuziyan are: one flying spring, one panoramic pavilion, one basin, and two ancient trees; the cultural landscapes are: one holy body, one ancient pagoda, one ancient cave, and two ancient temples.
Transportation: 200 meters to the left of the Chizhou High-Speed Rail Station exit is the Chizhou Bus Station. A ticket costs 10 yuan to Qingyang Bus Station. From Qingyang Bus Station, a taxi directly to the entrance of Jiuziyan Scenic Area costs about 40 yuan. There is also Bus No. 11 from Qingyang County to Jiuziyan Scenic Area, covering a distance of about 12–13 kilometers, with a fare of 3 yuan. The starting point in Qingyang County is Caojiayuan. Of course, you can also take a taxi directly from Chizhou High-Speed Rail Station to Jiuziyan, with the fare likely over 150 yuan.
The starting point for the climb is Shuangxi Temple, built against the mountain and facing the water. Shuangxi Temple is famous for enshrining the holy body of Monk Daxing.
From Shuangxi Temple to Jiuzi Temple, the ancient hiking trail has over 4,000 stone steps. Following the right-hand side and climbing up step by step for about 10 minutes, you will reach Qibu Spring. "Jiuzi Spring Sound" is one of the Ten Ancient Scenes of Mount Jiuhua. During the rainy season in the Jiangnan region, it must be spectacular.
Continue climbing along this mountain path; occasionally looking back, you will find pleasant surprises from time to time.
After about 1 hour, you will reach Wenxin Stone.
Half an hour further up, you arrive at Yilan Pavilion. Here the view is wide open, presenting a wonderful pastoral scene—an excellent place to express your feelings freely.
Another 10 minutes up, you reach the upper cable car station. On a small basin halfway up the mountain, facing a deep bamboo forest, Jiuzi Temple is built against the mountain.
Standing quietly beside the temple is the "Diting Pagoda" built in the Song Dynasty.
In front and to the side of Jiuzi Temple, there are two tall ancient trees over a thousand years old: one is a red maple, and the other is a fragrant elm.
To the east of Jiuzi Temple there is a crescent-shaped pool. Beside the pool lies the "Rhinoceros Looking at the Moon" rock.
In the pool quietly rests a "Swimming Turtle" rock.
Passing through the bamboo forest east of the small basin, on a cliff precipice in the canyon, you will see a huge flat rock as smooth as a plate, known as Pantu Rock. Below it is Dizang Cave, which is said to be the first meditation place of Jin Dizang.
Jiuziyan is truly a wonderful place for sightseeing and worshiping the Buddha, for cultivating the mind and nurturing one's nature.
