Mount Jiuhua

Overview

About

Mount Jiuhua lies in Qingyang County, Chizhou, in southern Anhui, south of the Yangtze and north of Huangshan; its name, “Nine Flowers”, comes from its nine peaks like a lotus. It is the seat of the bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (Dizang) and one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China.

Mount Jiuhua was anciently Mount Jiuzi (“nine sons”); Li Bai of the Tang, seeing its nine peaks like a lotus, wrote of “the sacred mountain opening its nine flowers”, and the name stuck. In the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang the Silla prince Kim Gyo-gak crossed the sea to practise here; his body did not decay after death and he was held to be an incarnation of Ksitigarbha (Dizang), and the mountain has been the seat of Dizang ever since. Over 90 temples and several hundred monks and nuns remain, with the preserved bodies of several eminent monks: of the four Buddhist mountains it has the most monks and the most “flesh-body” relics. The main peak, Shiwang, is 1,344 m, among 99 peaks including Tiantai, Lianhua and Tianzhu; the sea of clouds, sunrise, Buddha’s halo and winter rime are its four sights.

It is in the first batch of national parks of China (national scenic areas) named by the State Council in 1982.

Travel tips

Getting there: Jiuhuashan station on the Chizhou–Huangshan high-speed line is close to the mountain; Chizhou, with a high-speed station and an airport, is another way in. From the Jiuhuashan visitor centre, park buses go up to Jiuhua Street. Long-distance buses run directly to the visitor centre from Hefei and other cities.

Jiuhua Street: the village where the temples and hotels are; Huacheng Temple, the Flesh-Body Hall and the other main temples are within walking distance.

Baisui Palace: on the hill east of Jiuhua Street, reached on foot or by cable car.

Tiantai: a park bus goes from Jiuhua Street to the Phoenix Pine area; from there climb the stone steps or take the cable car to near Tiantai. Walking both ways takes most of a day.

Time: a day for Jiuhua Street and half a day to a day for Tiantai; most people stay two nights.

Season: spring and autumn are best. In winter there may be ice and snow on the mountain, and some paths and cable cars close.

Where to stay: most visitors stay on Jiuhua Street; there are also hotels down at Kecun.

Caution: the Ksitigarbha festival around the 30th day of the seventh lunar month and public holidays bring large crowds. Photography is not allowed in many halls; watch for signs.

Main sights

Jiuhua Street: a basin at about 600 m on the mountainside where the temples and inns cluster; Huacheng Temple, the founding temple, is now the mountain’s museum.

Hall of the Flesh Body (Roushen Baodian): on Shenguang Ridge, holding the stupa of Kim Gyo-gak, the centre of pilgrimage.

Baisui Palace: enshrines the body of the Ming monk Wuxia, who died at 110; the temple stands on the summit of Chaxiao Peak, reached by cable car.

Tiantai Temple: the highest temple, near the top of Tiantai Peak, over a thousand steps up from Jiuhua Street past the old Sutra Terrace and Guanyin Peak, with the sea of clouds and sunrise from the top.

Qiyuan, Ganlu and Dongya temples: famous temples on Jiuhua Street and the lower slopes; Qiyuan is the largest monastery on the mountain.

Minyuan: the valley between Jiuhua Street and Tiantai, with the Phoenix Pine, 1,400 years old.

Stamps

In 1995 China Post issued “Scenery of Mount Jiuhua”, six stamps: dawn at Tiantai, the Centenarian Palace, the Hall of the Incorrupt Body, sunset at the Zhi Garden, the roc listening to the sutras and the Phoenix Pine.

Map

Photo credits: Mount Jiuhua: William Ng (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)

Nearby

Straight-line distances. Search nearby