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| Mt. Taishan |
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Mt. Taishan is noted for its majesty and loftiness, which has been enhanced by thousand years of cultural enrichment and historic sites of mankind creation. It is a miniature of Chinese culture and spirits as well as precious heritage of the world. The mixed rocks that constitute the body of the mountain were Archeozoic stratums formed 20 to 25 hundred million years ago. Climate at Mt. Taishan is semi-wet monsoon of warm Temperate Zone. The vertical change is obvious, for it is warm Temperate Zone at the foot but middle Temperate Zone at the summit.
The history of the mountain area is as old as that of the Chinese people. Taishan became famous during the Warring Period, and was regarded as number one of the five famous mountains in China. Since then, it has been a place where emperors of each dynasty held grand ceremony of worship of heaven to pray and say thanks for peace and prosperity. Their pilgrimage and folks to burn joss sticks to pray for happiness all followed the same route: starting at Haolishan where to offer sacrifice, to Dai Temple where the emperors resided, to Yuhuang summit, which forms a ten-kilometer long ax of the hell to the human world to the heaven.
Of the thousand-year long civilized history of Mt. Taishan, in addition to that of pilgrimage, there are historic records and relics of religion, aesthetics, scientific research and farmers’ campaigns. The esthetical history is of particular value. The lofty mountain impresses people with its majestical beauty. In a word, Mt. Taishan embodies very rich connotations: the natural magnificent body, the amazingly great landscape, the sublime spirit, the colorful culture and the long history. Whether in front of the emperors or in the minds of the ordinary people, Mt. Taishan is equally supreme.