First Trip of Autumn: Yunqiu Mountain, a 5A Scenic Area in Shanxi, is Worth a Visit
In the blink of an eye, autumn is here. Hello, autumn! A few buddies and I got together for a trip—this is Yunqiu Mountain, known as the 'Top Scenic Spot of the Hefen Area.' On December 31, 2020, the Yunqiu Mountain scenic area was elevated to a national 5A-level tourist attraction.
Yunqiu Mountain's unique karst landforms and rocky forest environment create all kinds of spectacular peaks and views—truly 'a thousand peaks vying for splendor, ten thousand ravines towering majestically.' Yunqiu Mountain not only boasts extraordinary natural scenery but also has a profound cultural heritage, having been a favorite haunt of Taoist immortals for thousands of years.
Yunqiu Mountain also preserves 11 ancient villages with over a thousand years of history—a rare grouping of cave-dwelling ancient villages in southern Shanxi. Among them, Laozi (Li Er) once lodged at Ta'erpo during his travels, and later Taoists, drawn by its fame, settled alongside the local mountain folk, gradually forming a village. Ta'erpo Ancient Village is even hailed as a 'living fossil of millennium-old residential architecture.'
We arrived at a place said to have been dwelt by immortals—Shenxianyu (Immortal Valley). Here, the hills are green and the waters clear, with full vegetation cover, beautiful surroundings, and a veil of mist—a perfect feng shui treasure land. Walking along the mountain paths, I truly felt like I was riding the clouds. Legend has it that Gun, the early incarnation of the Zhenwu Emperor, came here while seeking a holy cultivation site. On seeing the gurgling streams, gentle breezes, singing birds and fragrant flowers, and the lush landscape, he instantly recognized the superb feng shui and lingered for quite some time. After Gun achieved immortality, the locals named this place 'Shenxianyu.'
I also discovered a 'Sacred Spring.' Its water is incredibly clear, and drinking it, there was a faint, natural sweetness! The locals even have a little rhyme about it: 'Walk once by the Sacred Spring, live to ninety-nine.' 'Wash your hands in the Sacred Spring water, on the mahjong table your hands won't shudder!' Haha! With so many benefits, you'd better come and give it a try—see if it really works!
Next, we headed to an even more amazing spot—a rare type of ice cave group. The scenic area even made a special cultural-creative ice cream bar for it, priced at 10 yuan each. Now, let's hurry inside and take a look! At first sight, I was simply awestruck and truly opened my eyes. A 3-million-year-old ice cave really is something else. Inside, ice cascades, ice needles, ice flowers—all sorts of translucent, crystalline shapes in every form. That 120-yuan ticket felt well worth it. Along with the astonishment came a real experience: it's freezing in here! Outside it's above 30°C, but inside it's minus 10°C—my scalp went numb from the cold! Good thing the scenic area handed out padded jackets, or else I'd have turned into a little ice figurine!
The Yunqiu Mountain ice cave group is one of the world's three great ice cave wonders and the largest naturally formed ice cave group discovered so far in China. It belongs to the type of geothermally negative anomaly ice cave with the most complex freezing mechanism, and leading global experts have yet to crack the mystery of its formation. Because of its complex origins, largest scale, and the fact that it stays icy all 365 days a year, the Yunqiu Mountain ice cave group has become the natural ice cave group with the most scientific and sightseeing value.
Currently, 16 ice caves have been explored within the scenic area, with the No.1 ice cave group already open to the public. The No.1 ice cave group features interconnected caverns stretching over 100 meters in total length, with the widest section measuring 12 meters and the highest point 15 meters. The cave walls are encased in ice, and the entire space is dotted with ice pillars, ice stalagmites, ice stalactites, ice stone flowers, and other ice crystal formations—a veritable frozen fairy-tale world.
Yunqiu Mountain's Characteristic Guesthouses
Kangjiaping Village is nestled at the foot of the mountain less than a kilometer behind Babao Palace, a cluster of Ming and Qing dynasty architecture. The entire courtyard complex is built from large stones! We even paid a special visit to the village chief's house, where sitting on their heated kang bed stirred a unique, bittersweet feeling!
In the evening, I stayed in a guesthouse at Kangjiaping Village, and the environment was simply beyond reproach—five-star level. Lying in bed, you could gaze out at the signature scene of Yunqiu Mountain's innumerable craggy ravines.
We also happened to catch a grassland camping event, swaying along with the live band and breathing in that refreshing, natural fragrance—it really made me reluctant to leave! Especially at night, when the animated film My Neighbor Totoro was screened and a group of kids gathered around, it reminded me of my own childhood spring outings. Oh, how time flies. Where will your next stop be?
