- Join for free
- Sign In
Willettsworld Says: This is the first temple you come to along the central route up Tai Shan. It features a large statue of Guandi, the Taoist God of War but is unknown when the temple was built. In the 13th year of Emperor Qianlong (1748), he bestowed a huge horizontal inscribed board with...
Willettsworld Says: As its name suggests, this is the first gate you come to when you first start to climb the steps. It was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Li Shude, the head of Shandong province in the Qing dynasty, rebuilt it in 1717. On either side are "The Wonder of the World"...
Willettsworld Says: This palace with its wine-coloured walls was rebuilt during the late Ming dynasty in 1626. It is divided into two courtyards. The west courtyard is the Taoist temple where people offer sacrifices to the goddess of Tai Shan (Bixia) while the east courtyard is where the...
Willettsworld Says: This is the main entrance to Tai Shan when taking the central climbing route where there's a ticket office. It was built in 1620 and is where people offered sacrifices to Wangmu, the heavenly queen mother and the Azure Cloud Goddess (Bixia).
Willettsworld Says: It is not known when this palace was built but it is known that it was once a Taoist temple and managed by an abbot nun after it was rebuilt in 1542 when it was called "Dragon Spring Nunnery". It's a charming little palace with halls and lots of stele.
Willettsworld Says: Known as the "Three Officials Temple", it is not known when it was built. In the Ming dynasty it was known as the "Human Ancestor Temple". Later the name was changed to the Sanguan Temple where people offered sacrifices to the official of heaven, official of earth and...
Willettsworld Says: It is said that Emperor Cheng Yaojin of the Lu Kingdom in the Tang dynasty led many people to climb Tai Shan and planted four scholar trees here. The trees went through the process of growth, development, aging and death with two of them dying in quick succession before the...
Willettsworld Says: This pavilion, (translated as "Sky-in-the-Ewer Tower"), was first built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and then expanded in 1747 during the Qing dynasty. Because the shape of the mountain from this viewpoint resembles an "ewer" (a large wide mouthed jug or pitcher),...
Willettsworld Says: This temple is also known as "The Temple of Three Great Goddesses". It was rebuilt during the Ming and Qing dynasties but it isn't known when it was actually built. It is the only Buddhist temple on Tai Shan and features the Guanyin Buddha, Wenshu Buddha and Puxian Buddha...
Willettsworld Says: As its name suggest, this gate marks the halfway point of the climb up Tai Shan but it actually is slightly higher up than halfway at 847 metres when the mountain is 1532 metres, so you can rest assured that you are slightly higher than halfway up at this point, although the...
Snacks and restaurants: On the way up
Willettsworld Says: I only saw a few snack stalls on the way up the mountain so it's probably wise to bring your own food and drink. There are, however, plenty of restaurants and snack stalls along "Heavenly Street" at the summit after you enter through the South Gate of Heaven. These are your...
Willettsworld Says: To save your legs by not climbing up Tai Shan, you can take simply take a bus up to the halfway point where cable cars will whisk you the rest of the way to the summit. I took the cable car back down as I had climbed up the second half of the mountain and then walked down...
Willettsworld Says: If you don't fancy the hard climb up Tai Shan, you can simply take a bus up to the halfway point where cable cars will whisk you the rest of the way to the summit. I decided not to climb the whole mountain but instead took a bus to the halfway point and then walked up to the...
China Post Booth: Taishan Postcards
ellyse Says: There's a China Post booth at the start of Tian Jie selling various sets of Taishan postcards (we saw 4 kinds). Regardless of which one you buy, they'll stamp each of those with a commemorative postage stamp making this one of the best souvenirs for Taishan that I found....
Willettsworld Says: You'll see a lot of these at the summit of Tai Shan. I think they're prayers that have been engraved onto padlocks which are then secured onto railings within temples. The largest collected are gathered together at the Jade Emperor Temple at the mountains summit where there...
Willettsworld Says: I remember watching Michael Palin visit Tai Shan during his Full Circle travel series where he was in complete owe of these guys carrying all kinds of things across their backs up the mountain. It's bad enough climbing up carrying just a small day-pack but just imagine what...
Willettsworld Says: The part of the climb between the Archway to Immortality to the South Gate to Heaven is the hardest part of the climb up Tai Shan. Take your time, take plenty of rest stops and try and get in a rhythm whilst climbing. I actually found it worse coming back down again as all...
ellyse Says: My friend and I went up by the "back way" and came down the central route to Zhong Tian Men (Midway Gate to Heaven). The "back way" doesn't seem to be advertised in the Lonely Planet or other guidebooks very much. This route starts from near Tianzhu peak (Heavenly Candle...
Better going up with someone else
Willettsworld Says: Here's a picture of me (front row, far left) with a bunch of American students I met on the way up to the South Gate to Heaven. It was good to meet them and chat with them as I was climbing on my own and it helped having them to talk to whilst taking your mind off climbing...
travelpug Says: Tai'An is the town located at the foot of Tai Shan. If you take a train like I did, you would probably got off the train at Tai'An train station. From there, walk to the bus stop and get bus no.3 to the foot of Tai Shan.Tai'An has nothing much to offer travelers. The only...
Plan a Tai Shan vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Tai Shan locals
Bus "you" 2 (Chinese character meaning "tourist"/"travel") opposite Taishan train station terminates at the starting point for the "back route" via Tianzhu...
Our members can help!
1
Sunrise, Sunset, Sea of Clouds
I've got some interesting experiences in Tai Shan. I'd love to share with you the 21 tips I've written, the 45 photos uploaded, and 0 travelogues I've created.
2
Tai Shan - The sacred mountain of Taoism
Tai Shan (meaning Mount Tai) is one of the "Five Sacred Mountains" of Taoism. It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is often regarded the foremost of the five. The temples on its...
3
Tai Shan is one of the five sacred mountains in China. It is probably the most famous and the most climbed. It's not a big mountain - only 1545metres, and you can climb it easily in a day. There are...
4
The Most Sacred Daoist Mountain
Before visiting Tai Shan, I really didn't have much knowledge about this most sacred Taoist mountain in China. I have read about this mountain in chinese literature. Taishan is 1545m high and the hike...
5
Tai Shan has 6600stairs, and proudly say to myself - I climbed it!!!!! from the botton of the mountain untill the door of heaven(the top of mountain).I don't even too lazy to climb 5 floor of stairs...
Build your own Tai Shan page
