Mount Qingcheng 青城山

About Mount Qingcheng

Jianfu Palace marks the lower approach, while higher halls connect the walk with the mountain’s long religious history. The experience is as much about moving through shaded paths and courtyards as reaching a summit. The back mountain is a separate scenic route focused more on valleys and streams, so choose the side that matches your interests before arranging transport.

Mount Qingcheng is counted among the birthplaces of Taoism. In 142 AD Zhang Daoling developed the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, and Taoist temples built on the mountain during the Jin and Tang dynasties shaped later Taoist practice. Its present name derives from a Tang dynasty decree: after a dispute between Buddhist and Taoist establishments on the mountain, Emperor Xuanzong (唐玄宗) ruled that Buddhist temples move outside the mountain while Taoist monasteries remained, and his decree, preserved on a stele on the mountain, changed the name's character.

The mountain's 36 peaks are arranged in a ring, with sharp ridges; the dense greenery enclosing the ring like a city wall gave the mountain its name. It forms the eastern branch of the southern Qionglai Mountains (邛崃山脉), shaped by strong compression during the range's uplift 180 million years ago. The mountain lies in southwest Dujiangyan, Chengdu, about 10 km southwest of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System (都江堰水利工程); its main peak, Laoxiao Peak (老霄顶), rises to 1600 m.

Mount Qingcheng was inscribed on the World Heritage List with the Dujiangyan Irrigation System in 2000 and is a national key scenic area (国家重点风景名胜区). Its Qing-to-Republic-era building complex was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 2013. The mountain was affected by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

What to look for

• Taoist halls and courtyards punctuate the forested front-mountain route.
• Jianfu Palace introduces the mountain’s religious landscape at the lower approach.

Location & getting there

Getting to Mount Qingcheng

Use Qingchengshan railway station and arrange the onward connection to the front-mountain visitor entrance. The railway station, front mountain and back mountain are distinct locations. Check operating cableways and the return route before deciding how far to climb.