Hua Shan
Hua Shan's West peak.
Elevation	2160 metres (7087 feet)
Location	Shaanxi, China
Coordinates	34°29′N 110°05′E / 34.483, 110.083
Easiest route	Cable Car

Hua Shan (Simplified: 华山; Traditional: 華山; Pinyin:Huà Shān) is located in the Shaanxi Province, about 100 kilometres east of the city of Xi'an, near the city Huayin in China. The mountain is one of China's Five Sacred Daoist Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance. The mountain has five main peaks, of which the tallest is the South Peak at 2160 m.

[edit] Geography

Huashan is located in the Qinling mountain range, which lies in southern Shaanxi province.

[edit] History

As early as the second century BC, there was a Daoist temple known as the Shrine of the Western Peak located at its base. Daoists believed that in the mountain lives a god of the underworld. The temple at the foot of the mountain was often used for spirits mediums to contact the god and his underlings. Unlike Taishan, which became a popular place of pilgrimage, Huashan only received local pilgrms, and was not well known in much of the rest of China.^[1] Huashan was also an important place for immortality seekers, as powerful drugs were reputed to be found there. Kou Qianzhi (365-448), the founder of the Northern Celestial Masters received revelations there, as did Chen Tuan (920-989), who lived on the mountain prior to receiving immortality. In the 1230s, all the temples on the mountain came under control of the Daoist Quanzhen School.^[2] In 1998, the management committee of Huashan agreed to turn over most of the mountain's temples to the China Daoist Association. This was done to help protect the environment, as the presence of monks and nuns deters poachers and loggers.^[3]

[edit] Temples

Huashan has a variety of temples and other religious structures on its slopes and peaks. At the foot of the mountain is the Cloister of the Jade Spring (玉泉院), which is dedicated to Chen Tuan.^[2]

[edit] Ascent Routes

The plankwalk

There are three ways up to Huashan's North Peak (1613 m), the lowest of the mountain's major peaks. The most popular is the also the original route, which winds for 6 km from Hua Shan village to the north peak. There is also the cable-car, as well as a path that follows the cable car to the North Peak. From the North Peak, a series of paths rise up to the four other peaks, the West Peak (2038 m), the Center Peak (2042 m), the East Peak (2100 m) and the South Peak (2160 m).^[4]

The trail that leads to the South Peak from North Peak is on a cliff face, and it is known as being extremely dangerous. The infamy of this route seems to have arisen from a story put on the web page of a person called Rick Archer with the title "The Deadly Huashan Hiking Trail"^[5]. The author claims it was written by an American couple who visited the trail in 2003.

The origin of the story is not known and is assumed by many Hua Shan visitors to be purely fictional.^{[citation needed]} The spread and popularity of the story was aided by many videos showing the most dangerous parts of the trail^[6][7].

[edit] External links

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

• Mt. Hua Taoist temple
• Personal Account of the Mountain

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Goosseart (2008), 516.
2. ^ ^{a b} Goosseart (2008), 517.
3. ^ Palmer (2006).
4. ^ Harper (2007) 433-434.
5. ^ "The Deadly Huashan Hiking Trail"
6. ^ Youtube video of South peak
7. ^ Youtube video of South peak

[edit] References

• Goossaert, Vincent. "Huashan." in Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., The Encyclopedia of Taoism (London: Routledge, 2008), 481-482. TO FIX
• Harper, Damian. China. London: Lonely Planet, 2007.
• Palmer, Martin (October 26, 2006). "Religion and the Environment in China." Chinadialogue. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.