五岳The Five Sacred Mountains

TheFiveSacredMountainsinChina（五岳）theSouthernMountain------Hengshan（衡山）ItislocatedinHengyang,thesecondlargestcityinHunanProvince.Itisalsoafamousmountainworshipped（尊敬、崇拜）byBuddhistsinChina.Hengshanhas72peaksandextends150kilometers.ThehighestpeakofthemountainiscalledZhurongPeak,1,290metersabovethesealevel.Themountainhasmanytemples,amongwhichthebiggestistheNanyueTemple,whichcoversanareaof100,000squaremetersandwhichisthelargestgroupofancientbuildingsinHunanprovince.Thetemplehasninecourtyardsandthemainhallis22metershigh,supportedby72stonepillars,whichsymbolizethe72peaksofthemountain.Onthetop,WatchingSunrisePlatformisthebestscenicspots.Asearlyas2,000yearsago,manyemperorsandcelebritiesvisitedHengshanandleftquitealotofstoneinscriptionsofpoems.theEasternMountain------Taishan（泰山）  MountTailocatesinthemiddlepartofShandongprovincespanningtwocities(Tai’ancityandJinancity)withtotalareaof426squarekilometers.ItranksNo.1amongthefivescaredmountainsinChina.In1987,MountTaiwaslistedasCulturalandNaturalWorldHeritagesiteandhonored“WorldGeopark”in2006.ThetypicalcharacterofnaturalsceneryofMountTaiisimposing（壮观的）,steepy（险峻的）,surprising,serene（平静的）,secluded（隐居的）,profound（渊博的）,andspacious（宽广的）.7000stonestairswhichruns9kilometerslongthroughthemountainfromthefoottothezenith（顶峰）looksliketheaxes（轴线）ofMountTai.  Sinceancienttime,MountTaiisrecognizedasholyandsacred（神圣的）Mountain.ConfuciansandTaoistscoexist（和平共处）harmoniouslyonthemountain.Andciviliansworshipedthemountainwithsincereesteem.Inotherwords,theMountTaihasbecomedthesymbolofChinesespirit.Themountainalsohastheuniquemarvelouswonders:therisingsunatdawn,thejadeplateofseaofclouds,theauraappearingaroundBixiaTemple,rosycloudsatsunsetetc.theWesternMountain------Huashan（华山）WiththeYellowRivertothenorthandQinlingMountainRangeatthebacktothesouth,MountHua(2,160metersabovethesealevel),inthesouthofHuayinCity,120kilometerseastofXi'an,andcommandsthegatewayfromCentralChinatotheNorthwest.Itiswellknownforitsprecipitousness（悬崖峭壁）andpicturesque（独特别致的）beauty,acclaimedas“thefirststeep（陡峭的）mountainintheworld."Ithasfiveimposingpeakswithprecipices（悬崖绝壁）andoverhangingrocks.Eachpresentsauniquescenicbeauty,surroundedbyover36minorpeaks.Fromadistance,thesefivemajorpeakslooklikealotusfloweramongthemountains. MountHuaisthecradle（摇篮、发祥地）ofthechineseculture.Inrecentyears,thetourismherehasdevelopedrapidly.MountHuahasbeenlistedasoneofthenationalAAAAAscenicspots,andawardedagoldenmedal"Top50DestinationsinChinaforForeigners"in2006.theNorthernMountain------Hengshan（恒山）HengshanislocatedinShanxiprovince.ItisaTaoistactivitiesplace.Inancienttimes,itsgeographicalpositionisveryimportant,somanyemperors,generalsfoughthere.Sofar,therearestillmanyancientbattlefield（战场）sites.Hengshaniswellknownforitsfantasticscenery.Manyancientfamouspoetswrotelotsofpoemshere.theCentralMountain------Songshan（嵩山）SongshanislocatedinwesternHenanprovince.Itwasapprovedbythestatecouncilasthefirstnationalkeyscenicarea.Itwasnamed"worldgeologicalpark“.ShaolinTemplewasestablishedin495A.D.atthewesternfootofSongshanMountain,13kilometersnorthwesttoDengfengCity.ThethenEmperorXiaowenoftheNorthernWeidynasty(386-557)hadthetemplebuilttoaccommodatetheIndianmasterBatuo.AsChineseKungfualsooriginatedfromShaolinTemple,ithasbeenrecognizedastheoriginofChanBuddhismandthecradleofKungfu.THEENDTHANKYOU!------Candy