With the Yellow River to the north and Qinling Mountain Range at the back to the south, Mount Huashan (2,154.9 meters above the sea level), one of the five best-known mountains in China, stands in the south of Huayin City,120 kilometers east of Xi'an, and commands the gateway from Central China to the Northwest. It is well known for its precipitousness and picturesque beauty,acclaimed as "the first steep mountain in the world".
Mount Huashan is a huge body of granite,its history can backdate to 120 million years ago. It boasts five imposing peaks with precipices and overhanging rocks: The east one (the Sunrise Peak), which is the best location to view sunrising; The north one(the Clouds Terrace Peak), which is famous for vertical cliffs on its three sides; The west one(the Lotus Flower Peak), and the south one(the Wild Goose- resting Peak) which are the main peaks and also the steepest of Mount Huashan; And the central one(the Jade Maiden Peak), which links the east,west, and south peaks.Each presents a unique scenic beauty, surrounded by over 36 minor peaks. "Flying outside the clouds and its reflection in the Yellow River", from a distance, these five major peaks look like a lotus flower among the mountains, hence the name of Mount Huashan (Hua means flower in chinese). The changeable weather makes"Cloudy Mount Huashan", "Rainy Mount Huashan", "Misty Mount Huashan", and"Snowy Mount Huashan"on different season. Such special scenes make visitors feel as if they were in a fairland.
Mount Huashan is the cradle of the chinese culture. According Zhang Taiyan, a noted scholar of the Qing Dynasty, "Zhonghua", "Huaxia"all intitled its name from "Mount Huashan". The Book of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty has a record of the mountain. The Records of the History of the Western Han Dynasty carries the stories of the Yellow Emperor, King Yao and King Shun visiting the mountain. Many emperors,including the First Emperor of the Qin,Emperor Wudi of the Han,Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang, also came here to hold sacrificial ceremony in the past. Mount Huashan is also "the Fourth Heaven"in Taoist doctrine. Here and there are dotted with taoist temples,pavilions, scuptures and engravings. Of the ruins, Jade Spring Garden, Zhenyue Palace, and the Eastern Monastery are vey famous. Famous scholars of various dynasties, such as Yang Zhen of the Han, Gu Yanwu of the Qing, also stayed here and taught students. The legends such as" Chengxiang split the rock to save his mother", "blowing the vertical bamboo flute to attract phoenix", all of these make Mount Huashan full of magical colour. There are over 210 scenic spots: the Thousand -Foot Precipice, the Hundred-Foot Crevice, Laojun's Furrow, the Sparrow Hawks' Cliff, and so on, visiters can not help but show great admiration to these sceneries.
In recent years,the tourism here has developed rapidly. Mount Huashan has been listed as one of the national AAAAA scenic spots, one of the 10 famous mountains in China,and awarded a golden medal "Top 50 Destinations in China for Foreigners". Nowadays,Mount Huashan has become a heat scenic spot for tourists all over the world.