Touring Mt. Lu: Feeling Elegance and Poetic Beauty

Having for long heard the movie Romance on Mt. Lu， which is claimed to be and famous for the PRC’s first movie with kiss scene. Though the movie-making technology was very lagging behind and the scene was not as delicate as now， when I saw the movie which was published in 1980， 30 years ago， I was moved by the pure and deep love between the hero and heroine， that kind of reticent way of expressing love， which was the very characteristic of Chinese people in the eyes of western world; I was touched by the beauty of Mt. Lu， that poetic beauty no matter in spring or autumn， summer or winter; I was awaken of the beautiful image in my mind by those famous poems written in Mt. Lu; and I was reminded of the heavy history in modern China history…Located in the northern part of Jiangxi province， Mt. Lushan faces Yangtze River to the north and borders Poyang Lake (the largest fresh water lake in China) on the east. Overlooking southward on top of the mountain， the Poyang Lake is like a silver mirror. In the north， the Yangtze River looks like a jade ribbon flying to the Mt. Lu views of the plains and the Yangtze are breathtaking. I was just so fascinated by Mt. Lu then， and told myself， “I wanna visit Mt. Lu someday.”Mt. Lu is famous for a splendid and pretty summer resort， and summer is the best time for visiting Mt. Lu. But its snowy scenery is also a miracle. I wished to see Mt. Lu covered by the crystal ice and white snow. Then just a few days after I saw the movie， I came to Mt. Lu with an impulse at a weekend in the winter. Arriving at Jiujiang at 6:30， I took a bus at the coach station， which directly carried me to the Guling， a town on the top of Mt. Lu. Since it was in the morning， on the bus which ran on the winding road among the hills， I saw the sun rise and shine the mountains， and overlooked the Poyang Lake. I was just so excited that we had arrived at the Guling Town before I had enough of viewing the scene on the bus.Oh， an elegant fairylandIt was cold even it was in the south of Yangtze River. Owing to the chillness， only a few tourists came. Some snow was still there on the ground. It was silent and quiet. My friend and I just meandered ahead along the street， and not far we saw the scenic spot Flower Path. That was the place where Bai Juyi， a famous poet of Tang Dynasty in his poem referred as “the fragrance in the human world has withered in Aprils， while flowers in the mountain are in full bloom”. All kinds of rare flowers are said to be found here. But it was winter， no flower. But for me， I still could sense that kind of poetic beauty.Not far away we walked was a lake with pagoda in the center and mountains with snow afar. Just like its name， Violin-like Lake， it was graceful like beautiful light music beside your ears.In the Yellow Dragon Pool and Dark Dragon Pool， snow covering the rocks and ice hanging there， the small wa- terfalls， like bead curtains， flowing along the rocks besides. Snow， ice and water together， just so amazing. Actually it is not the best waterfall at Mt. Lu. The best is Sandie (meaning three segments) Spring， which lies below Five Old Peaks. It drops through three craggy tiers with a fall of 155 meters(about 509 feet). It is said that the upper part is like snow falling down to the pond; the middle reach wanders and twists with splashing sprays dancing in the air; while the lower level resembles a jade dragon running in the pond. There is saying goes， “Without visiting Sandie Spring， one can not say having been to Mt. Lu.” I had been so eager to see the Sandie Spring， but I could not then because this scenery spot was closed owing to the consideration for the safety of the tourists. A pity for me.Walking on the winding road through the erecting metasequoia woods with white snow covering the ground， it seemed no ends to the woods， no people and no sounds and only metasequoia trees accompanying you. That road was called Returning Dragon Road. It was really a long path. At the end of the path， climbing on a bridge which is called Lulin Bridge， we came across another beautiful lake， Lulin Lake， which was said to be built for Chairman Maozedong to swim in. Now it is used as drinking water source for the people on Mt. Lu.Just touring a small part of Mt. Lu actually， however， it was， in my eye， an elegant fairyland already.Too much historical tracesWalking back to the Guling Town， we walked by many western style villas built by Britain， Russia， America， France and so on in the early 20th century. The villas area once was the concessions of the western countries then. During 1930， it became the summer capital of Nanjing Kuomintang Government. The former residence of Mrs. Jiangs， Meilu Villa is kept well on the mountain. In 1937， Chou Enlai on behalf of CPC negotiated with Jiang Kai-shek and later released the important speech of anti-Japanese. After the foundation of People’s Republic of China， Chairman Mao mounted up to Lushan Mountain and hosted three center-governmental meetings. Historically， they were called Lushan Meeting， famous general of Communist Party of China， Peng Dehuai was deadly condemned here，due to his maintenance of right viewpoint. Laterly， he was dismissed to be the defense minister. Many villas had been the residential place of the top leaders then. Now all those villas still erected there， but those historic people nearly all passed away. Heavy sense of history just made my mind calmer. All the worldly disputes， no matter how influential it was once， are finally brought away by the fleeting time， only leaving some trace and becoming the subject in the future for the later generations to ponder.Too much cultural taste“Sunlight streams on the river stones.From high above， the river steadily plungesThree thousand feet of sparkling water —the milky way pouring down from heaven.”It was a very famous poem written by Li Bai， the most famous Poet in Ancient China. The elegance and mystery of Mt. Lu are just so deeply loved by multiple literators， artists， monks， Taoists and celebrities in politics and culture. Their love and behaviors enriched Mt. Lu dramatically in cultural taste and historical status. Numerous poets and essays activate it. Mt. Lu is characterized by its poets， calligraphers， painters， writers， philosophers. Its cultural and historical relics enrich and raise its spiritual meaning in Chinese people’s mind and heart. Both as the world heritages， Mt. Tai is created by emperors， while Mt. Lu is created by scholars.Time limited， I just visited a small part of Mt. Lu， missing too much. I had planned to Lushan Cinema to see that movie and experience that romantic feeling again， but did not have time finally. It was the most special and particular cinema， because it plays the same movie Romance on Mt. Lu everyday without any change in the past. It is the only movie that plays most and has most audiences. It is also the only one for non-stop playing all around the world. In 2002， Guinness organization of British Headquarters officially awarded Chinese movie， Romance on Mt. Lu to be the film that has the longest time for non-stop playing in the same cinema in the world. And another pity was that snow fell just t h e next day after I left. I missed the most beautiful Mt. Lu snowing world， fresh， peaceful and crystal like world full of spirituality. Life keeps missing， but I knew I would come again， if possible， at least once in each season. If time and money permitting， I wished to stay Mt. Lu for at least a month or longer. Mt. Lu is just such a mountain worth deeply tasting and appreciating.Brief introduction to the scenic spots of Mt. LuFlower pathThe eternal poetic masterpiece of Tang Dynasty famous poet Bai Juyi” the fragrance in the human world has withered in Aprils， while flowers in the mountain are in full bloom “describes the scenery here. All kinds of rare flowers are diaplayed to tourists. By the Violin-like lake， the scenery here is breathtaking.The Brocade ValleyIn this deep and sudden valley， flowers are always in full bloom， which are so brilliant that people call them brocade. The monk “huiyuan” gathered medicinal herbs in this valley far the Jin Dynasty according to legend. Here， we have overline bridge， head-like stone， and beautiful peaks.Immortal’s CavernThe carven is like a forward stretching hand. The cavern has shrines for idols or ancestral tablets， clear spring， and there are old monarch’s halls cavern the hole， Toad stone， Imperial Tablet Pavilion， and clubmoss. This hole gains the name because Lu Tung-pin practiced austerities here and became immortal according to legend.The Grand heavenly poolTianchi Temple stands here. It was originally known as”Huguo Temple”. The Temple was built by an emperor who started Mimg Dynasty. In Song Dynasty people renamed it as “Tianchi”. Here tourists can see “wenshu” platform， old nurse’s shrine， Tianchi Tower， Traces， “yuanfu” temple， etc. And it is the best place to view a sea of clouds and “Buddhism light”.Dragonhead CliffBesides a craggy cliff， it springs up some thousand feet out of the ground， rearing in the sky like a dragon head. Standing at the top， one canThe Suspension Bridge of Stone-Gorge valleyThe Bridge betweenthe two ravines seems a line of artificial rainbow from two mountains， as it was crafed by the invisible hands of gods. Standing on the bridge， people can look far into the distance.The MuseumThe Museum， also called Lulin Villa and Lulin One， is Mao Tse-tung former residence. The villa combines the Chinese and Western architectural style harmoniously. It was changed into a museum in 1984. It has collections of bronzes， pottery， Porcelain， calligraphy and painting， etc. Among them， a painting of Xu Conglong (a Qing Danasty painter) called “Five Hundred Buddists” is the most valuable.Five Old PeaksFive olds peaks exist side by side， like five old men chatting each other. The famous Tang Dynasty poet Libai left us poem about the beautiful scenery here. There are five little peaks coming in every shape before the peak， and tourist can enjoy stone engraving of rock on the peak， and yingke pines here. Seeing from the top of it， there is splendid view of sunrise. If it is foggy， people even can hear “the sound of fog”.Academy of White DeerIn the valley of Wulanfeng stands one of the oldest institutions for higher learning in China. It was establish on A.D. 940. The teachings were first centered on the teachings of Confucius. The founder raised a pet white deer， thus its name “Academy of White Deer Cave”. In the courtyard there is the Tablet Corridor， The Sacred Gate of Ceremony and White Deer Cave.Yellow Dragon Pool“It is the dragon make the water clever instead of the deepness of it.” Going through roots and rocks， and rushing downward along dark green precipice， waters straightly fall into the pool. It is said there is a untamed dragon in the pool， which often cause calamity. Later it has been subduded and kept in the pool by a Buddhist monkDark Dragon PoolDark dragon’s pool is divided into five chinks by a huge stone. Hanging from the stone， the five parts of water rush down to the pool. As the story does， there is a dark dragon inhabiting in the pool， so people name it after the dark dragon. The water is clear in the pool， which make people can not help drinking and playing with it.Three Ancient Trees“Three trees stand in front of the temple， a tree and a bodhi”. Of three big trees， two are cryptomerias， the other is a gingko. It is tall and big， stalwart. It is said the tree was planted by Buddhist monk in the Jin Dynasty， but in fact it was done by monk in the Ming Dynasty. So it has a history of more than 400 years so far.Lulin LakeThe Lulin lake was built in 1955 by piling up the dyke and building the bridge. The area is 130，000 square meters， and water demand is 1，200，000 square meters. Surrounded by the mountains， the lake and the mountains set each other off. The rainbow-like bridge and mirror-like water make here a dreamlike place.Meilu VillaIt was established in 1903 by Britain’s Lord Lannoze. The whole building reflects British winding corridors architectural style， and stresses the abstract beautiful rule of the building. It was transferred to the Mrs. Bali in 1922， and she presented it as a gift to Song Meiling in 1934. From then on， here became the summer official residence of Chiang Kaishek (the chairman of KMT). During the meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， Mao Tse-tung lived here.Villa 359It was built in 1902 by priest Williams from U.S.A. north Presbyterian Church. The villa fully utilizes the topographical characteristic and occupies a commanding position. There is a kind of imposing manner out of the ordinary. Xiong shihui， the chairman of provincial government of Jiangxi bought the villa in 1932. During the meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， Zhu De stayed here.Villas 286It was established by Kurchinan of the American missionary in 1903. In 1936， the National Government Ministry of Education bought the villa as its office on Mt. Lu. During the meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， Deng Xiaoping， and Dong Biwu stayed here respectively in 1961 and 1970.Former British Medical Hall Villa 438Originally for British medical assembly hall， it was changed into little Christianity church in 1946. Chiang Kai-shek， Situ Leideng has prayed here. The building is influenced by the trend of architectural thoughts of European Renaissance and roman classics. The whole style is stable. During the meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1950s， here is the middle and southern group meeting room.