Qingchui Peak National Forest Park

 

 

Qingchui Peak (磬棰峰) is in the Qingchui Peak National Forest Park, eastern Chengde of northern China. The peak is also called Mount Bang Chui (棒槌山, which means it is something like a rock hammer). It looks like a thumb raising up, which can be seen all over Chengde city if you raise your eyes up looking upon the sky. This 60-meter-high giant thumb and many odd shaped mountains are formed owing to million years of geological moments. Having been weathered for so long, thus Danxia Landform, which is a kind of stunning and strange appearances of rock, something like the karst structure, is seen.

Qingchui Peak National Forest Peak surrounds China's famous summer resort Chengde, where the summer resort scenic area and Wai Ba Miao Temples Area are located. A 300-year-old mulberry tree at the foot of the mountain, although it is growing in a narrow stone gap, it is still luxuriant. Its fruits are big and they are good for your longevity.

Tips: Once upon a time, Chengde had been a part of a big ocean and the Qingchui Peak was the eye of the sea. At that time, a sea monster often hurt people. Later, a young man wanted to eliminate the evil, but he angered the Dragon Emperor of the Sea. He arrested the man and imprisoned in the Dragon Palace. One day, the daughter of the emperor saw the young man, handsome and brave, so she fell in love with him. She stole the Sea Needle, which was the key to escape the palace, to rescue the young man. The Dragon Emperor chased them but failed, because his daughter threw the Sea Needle into the eye of the sea and blocked it. The ocean dried and became land. They married and had a very happy life. However, the Jade Emperor knew the Dragon Emperor's daughter escaped for so long, he sent an army to catch her, but she refused to return home. She died and became a mulberry tree.

The 1,620-meter-long ropeway is the longest of its kind in China. Baoshan Buddhist Temple (宝山寺) is located 200 meters to the north of the Qingchui Peak, its stone sculpture is very good to see. You can also see the strange but interesting toadstones by walking 500 meters southward.