At a height of 2,160 meters above sea
level and about
120km/3hours east of Xi'an, Huashan, literally translated
as Flower Mountain, is a sight for sore eyes. The mountain
has for centuries been deemed as one of China's five
sacred mountains (Wu ye), along with one Hengshan to
the northeast, Songshan and Taishan to the east and
another Hengshan to the southeast.
Huashan, also known as the Western Mountain (Xi yue)
due to its geographical location in relation to the
others, is famed as the most precipitous of the five.
Along the 12km path leading from the foot of the mountain,
where it starts at the Jade Fountain Temple (Yuchuan
si), to its five peaks, you will get the chance to see
some impressive scenes, including the strangely shaped
granite peaks and the twisted pines, that make up this,
one of the lesser visited of the holy mountains.
The peaks from above are said to resemble the petals
of a huge plant, with the middle peak as the corolla,
hence the mountain's name. Of the five peaks it is the
southern peak (2,100 meters) that is the largest, closely
followed by those in the east and west. The ascent provides
not only natural scenery, but also a number of man-made
constructions that, for better or worse, are now a part
of the mountain's tourist culture.
 The
route to conquer the peaks passes by temples, shrines,
pavilions, terraces, carvings, statues, food stalls
and hawkers, that appear interspersed between the stark
granite paths and forested margins. Along the Green
Dragon Ridge (Bilong ji), which connects the northern
peak with the remaining peaks, the way is cut along
a narrow rock ridge with steep cliffs on either side.
Some of this route can be a little dangerous, despite
the iron chains that are linked on the more precipitous
sections.
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