Yuntai Mountain 云台山

About Yuntai Mountain

The mountain is steep-sided with deep valleys, and cloud settles on it through much of the year; local records put cloud-sea conditions at more than two hundred days annually. The flat summit basin gives the mountain its old descriptions as a terrace among the peaks and a plain on a mountain top. Because the rock is karst, the slopes carry a stone forest, caves and a sinkhole alongside the farmed ground.

The mountain is the place of origin of Yuntaishan large-leaf tea, one of twenty-one cultivars recognised nationally as fine varieties. On the summit stands the Zhenwu Temple, founded in the Hongwu reign of the Ming, and Daoist practice is part of the mountain's tradition, alongside Meishan folk culture and remains left by Miao and Yao communities. The county sums up the visitor route as caves at the foot, immortals on the slopes, tea on the mountain and Daoist practice at the top.

Developed features now include a glass walkway and glass suspension bridge, Longquan Cave, Shenxian Rock, a viewing platform above the hilltop tea garden, the Longtengwan folk-culture village and a memorial park.

What to look for

• The Zhenwu Temple on the summit, founded in the Hongwu reign of the Ming
• The hilltop tea gardens of Yuntaishan large-leaf tea, with a viewing platform above them
• The summit basin of about nine square kilometres below the 998.17 m high point
• The karst stone forest, Longquan Cave and the sinkhole on the mountain
• The Chengqiangya cliff and the remains left by Miao and Yao communities

Location & getting there

Getting to Yuntai Mountain

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

• Search for 云台山 with 益阳市 and 安化县.