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| The Terrace of Immortals |
Qianshan
Mountain, 20 km to the southeast of Anshan City, Liaoning Province, is one of
the well-known scenic spots in China. Being referred to as A Pearl in Northeast
China, it enjoys the equal popularity as Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province.
The mountain is called Qianshan (Mountain of A Thousand Peaks) because its peaks
interweaving one another nearly amount to one thousand. The Terrace of
Immortals, the main peak of the mountain, is 708 meters above sea level.
Covering an area of about 44 square kilometers, the scenic spot is divided into
the north, central, south and west tour sites.
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| The Longquan Temple |
A lot of temples
were built through the past dynasties, among which the most famous are the Five
Great Buddhist Temples, namely Zuyue, Longquan, Da'an, Zhonghui, and Xiangyan.
Most temples were built atop the mountain and along the slopes, integrating
temples and mountains into a whole. Temples lie hidden inside mountains, and
mountains surround temples. The Longquan Temple is the biggest among the five.
Its preserved buildings mainly include the Great Hall, the Heavenly King Hall,
the Hall of Skanda Bodhisattva, the Hall of Vairochana Buddha, the Dragon King
Temple, the Sutra Attic and 11 other buildings. Besides the Five Great Buddhist
Temples, there are ten-odd other temples preserved in Qianshan
Mountain.
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| Master Ge Dagoba |
The Wuliang Temple,
built in the sixth year of the Kangxi reign in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is
the biggest. It mainly has 19 constructions, and is surrounded by scenic spots
such as the Immortal Gathering Platform, Master Ge Dagoba, Jiabian Stone,
Yibudengtian (reach the sky in a single bound), Tianshangtian (sky above sky),
Arhat Cave, and Yixiantian (the Crack of the Sky), etc. With various oddly
shaped rocks, the natural beauty of Qianshan Mountain could be best demonstrated
in the famous saying there is no peak that is not marvelous, no rock that is not
precipitous, and no temple that is not quaint. The highest peak is the Terrace
of Immortals. With successive peaks rising one above another, Qianshan Mountain
has attracted scholars through ages. They left many calligraphic works there to
eulogize its beauty. Therefore, the mountain boasts numerous stone-carvings,
tablets and plaques.