Mount Jinyun

Overview

About

The Jinyun scenic area lies on the Jialing River at Beibei, Chongqing, and comprises Mount Jinyun, the Northern Hot Springs and the Diaoyu fortress at Hechuan. The mountain’s nine peaks stand in a line; the main peak, Yujian, is 1,050 m and Lion Peak 980 m.

It is a national nature reserve with rich vegetation, more than 1,700 subtropical plant species.

Mount Jinyun rises north-west of Beibei, Chongqing, on the west bank of the Jialing at the Wentang gorge. Its old name was Mount Ba; the present name refers to the reddish morning and evening mists. Nine peaks (Lion, Censer, Sunrise, Ape’s Call, Lotus, Pagoda, Gathering Clouds, Jade Tip and Sunset) carry the best-preserved subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest near Chongqing, earning it the name “little Emei of eastern Sichuan”.

Main sights

Jinyun Temple: an old temple on the hillside founded in the Liu Song dynasty of the fifth century and rebuilt in the Ming, with carvings said to be by a monk from the Western Regions; beside it the Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Institute founded by Master Taixu in 1932.

Lion Peak: the summit looks down on the Jialing and Beibei, and on clear days to the centre of Chongqing.

Northern Hot Springs: a spa park by the river at the foot of the mountain, with water above 30 °C, a Tang-founded Hot Spring Temple and stone pools of the Republican era, one of the first hot springs in China opened to the public.

Diaoyu Fortress: a Southern Song mountain fortress on Diaoyu Hill east of Hechuan, where the Mongol Great Khan Möngke died during the siege of 1259, “where God’s whip was broken”; a national protected site.

Travel notes

Metro or bus from central Chongqing to Beibei, then a local bus up the mountain, about an hour in all. The hot springs are at the foot of the mountain and fit into the same day; Diaoyu Fortress in Hechuan needs another half day.