Laoye Mountain 老爷山

About Laoye Mountain

The Qinghai provincial government's page records that Datong Laoye Shan is also called Yuanshuo Shan, a name it derives from 太元宫, a palace that formerly stood on the summit, and that the mountain is one of Qinghai's nine scenic areas. It gives the summit height as 2,928 m and the relative height as 486 m, and describes cliffs reaching the sky and dense greenery. It lists the mountain's main sites as the Lord Guan hall, the Guanyin cave, the Ganying temple, the cultural corridor, Golden Toad Gazing at the Moon, General Peak, the Jade Emperor hall, the tiger cave, the Doumu palace, the Baisheng palace, the Thunder Lord hall and the Wenchang cave, among others. The page prints the scenic area's address as 237 Jianguo East Road, Qiaotou township, Datong county, gives the distance from Xining by expressway as 33 km, and lists the neighbouring scenic areas as Yaozi Gou, Chahan He national forest park and Niangniangshan.

The provincial information office's page gives the mountain's address as Qiaotou township, Datong county, Xining, places it on the bank of the Beichuan river on the east side of Qiaotou township, and gives the summit as about 2,900 m with a relative height of more than 480 m, describing the mountain as the most majestic and most beautiful peak near Xining. It records that the mountain's June 6 hua'er singing gathering is a national-level intangible cultural heritage and that tens of thousands of people visit during the June 6 period, and it describes the mountain as having long been a Daoist and Buddhist place of worship where pilgrims burn incense and the temples are busy all year round. It records that the Laoye Shan scenic area has been promoted to national AAAA-grade tourist attraction.

What to look for

• The sites the provincial page lists on the mountain, which include the Lord Guan hall, the Guanyin cave, the Ganying temple, the cultural corridor, Golden Toad Gazing at the Moon, General Peak, the Jade Emperor hall, the tiger cave, the Doumu palace, the Baisheng palace, the Thunder Lord hall and the Wenchang cave, among others
• The summit at 2,928 m with 486 m of relative height, and the cliffs reaching the sky and the dense greenery the page describes
• The June 6 hua'er singing gathering, which the information office's page records as a national-level intangible cultural heritage
• The AAAA grade that the information office's page records the scenic area as having been promoted to
• The route the provincial page gives as a 33 km expressway run from Xining, and the address it prints at 237 Jianguo East Road, Qiaotou township, Datong county
• The neighbouring scenic areas the provincial page lists: Yaozi Gou, Chahan He national forest park and Niangniangshan

Location & getting there

Getting to Laoye 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 老爷山 with 西宁市 and 大通回族土族自治县.