Lushan Mountain is located in the northern part of Jiangxi province in southeastern China, and is one of the most well known mountains in China. The oval-shaped mountains are about 25 km long and 10 km wide, and near to Nanchang City toward the south.
Overlooked southward on top of the mountains, the Poyang Lake looks like a silver mirror. In the north, the Yangtze River is like a jade ribbon flying to the east. These well-liked mountains are renowned for its grandeur, elegance as well as perilous nature.
In 1996, Lushan Mountain was included in the UNESCO world heritage list, gave the following remarks; "With its peculiar style in historic remains, which is melted with remarkable natural beauty, Mt Lushan has formed a highly- aesthetically-valued cultural view closely relevant to the sprit of the Chinese people and their cultural life". Owing to its congenial climate, it is also a popular summer resort in China now.
Things to Do and See
The mountain is a famous scenic zone enjoying more than 1,500 villas in various styles and about 80 tourist attractions. It is really an ideal summer resort and place for patients to recuperate. It features in magnificent peaks, beautiful waterfalls, historical sites, and also charming sea of clouds, not to mention a mild and comfortable climate.
It has a dangerous outside with a variety of landforms: rivers, lakes, and hillsides, mountain peaks, however, it has an elegant inside. Dahanyang Peak, the highest peak of this mountain, is 1474 meters high. More than 171 peaks had been named in ancient time, along with 16 stone caves, 20 valleys, 22 strange stones as well as 26 ridges. Streams and waters grow into branches in rives valleys and form a lot of torrents, 14 ponds, 18 mountain streams as well as 22 waterfalls. All these fantastic landscapes in Lushan Mountain have significant science and tourism value.
Also, this mountain is abundant in biological resources. The forest coverage has reached 76.6%. It owns more than 3000 kinds of senior plants, about 2000 kinds of insects, over 170 kinds of birds as well as 37 kinds of beasts.
In addition, it is one of the spiritual centers of Chinese civilization. Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, together with landmarks of Confucianism, where the most eminent masters taught, blend well into strikingly gorgeous sceneries which have inspired endless artists to develop the aesthetic approach of nature found in Chinese culture.
Main attractions here includes the Peach Blossom Garden, Guanyin Bridge, Bamboo Temple, Botanical Gardens, Lushan Hot Springs, Luling Lake, Three Tiled Springs, White Deer Cavern Academy, Five Old Man Peaks, Meilu Outhouse, Immortal Caverns, etc.. And the distance between each other is quite long, so you need to take shuttle bus instead of walking. There are two Shuttle bus route inside Lushan Scenic Area: The East Line with 13 stops and Western Line with 8 stops. They runs separately. If you want to transfer from the East Line to Western Line, you may make transfer at Conference Center Stop(会议中心). And you should watch out the time of last bus.
【Three Tiled Springs】 (三叠泉)
Lushan Waterfall - Three Tiled Springs is known as the first landscape in the world Lushan. Local also has said "less than Sandiequan, not Lushan off". The drop of the waterfall is about 155 meters high. In May and June is the best time to see Three Tiled Springs, with the large amount of water. If you come in there, it may not look so spectacular. To be noted that the shuttle bus will take you to the first layer tile of it. Then you need to hike down for about 1600 steps to the bottom to see the waterfall, and this is not easy.
【Jinxiu Valley】 (锦绣谷)
Stone steps from the bridge through the left side of road before the trip to the Fairy Cave lead you to a beautiful about 1.5 km long valley - Jinxiu Valley. This valley is famous for steep and comely stone forest. If it encounters temperatures dropping, Jinxiu Valley would be one of the best place to see Lushan Cloud Sea. You need to hike along the valley to tour around. When you walk to the end of it, you will come to the Fairy Cave Scenic Area, which is the best place to have a bird-view of the valley.
【Five Old Man Peaks】(五老峰)
Five Old Man Peaks is sited in the southeast of Lushan Scenic Area, with an altitude of about 1358. There are the steepest and the most majestic peaks in Lushan area. They look like five old men sitting on the floor, hence it got the name. And they have different shape from different point of view. You will not be able to have a taste of majestic beautiful of the peak at the foot of them. As the southwest side of the peaks is steep, so tourists usually start to climb from the paths at the northwest side. It may be physically strenuous to climb the first peak, but it is smooth terrain from the first peak to the fourth peak, and the distance is not too long. But it is a little far from the fourth peak to the fifth peak, which may takes you about 1 hour by foot. If you are not energic, you can climb from the first peak to the fourth peak, then return back along the original way, which will takes about 2 hours. If you are energic, you can continue to tour the fifth peak and then go down the mountain along the steps near Five Peaks Pavilion, which will lead you to the station of cable for Three Tiled Spring in half an hour.
The fourth peak has the highest altitude, with fantastic view. On the top you can overlook Poyang Lake and countryside view nearby. In addition, Five Old Man Peaks is the most energy-consuming attraction in Lushan, and you should decide to tour it or give up considering your body condition.
【Meilu Villa】
Meilu Villa being simple and natural in style is quite a sight on Lushan Mountain. There are individual buildings with unique style and structure, including styles of Rome- and Gothic- churches, Japanese building and Islamic Mosque. Built in shady places, the villa is well integrated with the natural scenery with casual style. Buildings here are mostly one or two-storeyed, though in clusters, are less densely located and decorated with trees all around, which is a pleasing picture to the eye.
How to Get to Lushan Mountain
【By Air】So far(MAY 27, 2016), there are no flights available to reach Jiujiang directly, where Lushan Mount is located. The nearest airport is Nanchang Changbei International Airport. So if you want travel from other cities in China by air, you need to fly to Nanchang first, then transfer to high-speed train to reach Lushan Mount in Jiujiang.
【By Train】
There are Jiujiang Railway Station(Changhong Avenue, Lushan District, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province), Lushan Railway Station(Hejie Town, Jiujiang County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province) and Nanchang Railway Station around Mount Lushan area. But the nearest train station is the station called Jiujiang (九江), NOT the train station called Lushan(庐山). From Jiujiang Railway Statioin(located in downtown of Jiujiang City) will be easy to find people to share a taxi up to the park entrance or buses to reach Mount Lushan. If you do get to Lushan Railway Station(located in Jiujiang County at the foot of Lushan Mountain, but it is still far from the Lushan Scenic Area) in mistake, it is possible to transfer by minivan outside the railway station to reach Lushan Scenic Area. Or you can go to the bus station at Jiujiang County to hop on a bus to reach Lushan.
There are many normal trains or high-speed trains from other cities to stop or terminate at Jiujiang Railway Station, such as, Nanchang, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hefei, Taiyuan, Xian, Zhengzhou, Kunming, Shenyang, etc.. Upon arrival in Jiujiang Railway Station, you need to take taxi or p to reach Jiujiang Bus Station first ( about 1 kilometers between each other. If you are energetic, you can walk), then transfer to a local minivan(九江-庐山) to reach entrance of Mount Lushan. Then you still need to transfer to shuttle bus of Lushan Scenic Area to reach the main attractions.
【By Bus】
Jiujiang Long Distance Bus Station(at Xun’nan Avenue in downtown) is the main bus terminal in Jiujiang area. There are buses from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Henan, Guangzhou or other provinces to reach Jiujiang Long Distance Bus Station. There many buses leaving for Lushan at the station. If you arrive at the station from other cities, you can transfer to Lushan here directly. In Lushan city, you can take Public Bus Route 4, 13, 17, 29, 102, 107 to reach this bus station.
There is another bus station called Jiujiang Lushan Bus Station(九江庐山汽车站) that is located in Kuling Town in Jiujiang City. This station is the transport hub of Lushan Scenic Area. All the buses from other places to terminate in this station first, then you need to transfer to a shuttle bus in Lushan Scenic Area to reach the main attractions in the scenic spot.
Travel Guide
【Chinese name】: 庐山
【Recommended visit time】:It is recommended to spend 2 or 3 days to visit Lushan. If your travel time is quite limited, one day is also fine, but you will be able to visit some main sites in the mountain area only.
【Best time to visit】: May to October is the best time to visit there. Summer is hot time to see waterfalls in Lushan and be away for the summer holidays. Autumn in September and October should have the most beautiful view in Lushan Mountain.
Man has always felt the need to conquer mountains. If you are drawn to high peaks and awe-inspiring scenery, a hike up Mount Lu is not to be missed.
This steep landmass in Lianxi District is popular with many travelers, so put it on your to-do list. Don't stop there, though. There are plenty more places ready for you to explore after Mount Lu. Meilu Villa, Huanglong Lake of Lushan Mountain and Wulao Peak of Lushan are nearby.
Mount Lu: National Geopark of China Mount Lu, listed as the World Heritage Site in 1996, is one of the spiritual centers of Chinese civilization. With its unique ways, the Buddhist and Taoist temples, along with the landmarks of Confucianism, are blended into outstanding natural landscapes, forming cultural landscape while have high aesthetic value and is closely linked with the national spirit and cultural life. Located in Jiangxi Province, it borders Yangtze River to the north and Poyang Lake to the east. It could easily reach Mount Lu from the tourist cities like Nanchang, Wuhan, and Jingdezhen etc. 1 4 Days Jingdezhen Porcelain Tour with Mount Lu Lushan Travel Map
Mount Lu Brief Introduction
Lushan Mountain is famous for its cliffs, sea of clouds and waterfalls, which combines scenery, religion, education and culture. The large rivers, lakes and mountains in the scenic area form one integrated mass and a world-famous summer resort.
The main peak, Big Hanyang Peak, is 1,474 meters above sea level. "A misty land in spring, a green jade in summer, an intoxicating crimson in autumn and a white jade in winter" is a popular local saying and still the best description for the scenery of the Lushan Mountain.
Lushan National Park
Highlights of Mount Lu
Highlights One: Watch Sunrise at Hanpo Pass
Hanpo Pass is the ideal place to watch sunrise and the sea of clouds. Here you can see the whole Poyang Lake which is the largest fresh lake in China, with rich resource of water and species. When the sun rises above the lake, all the mountains are golden. It seems that you are bathed in the light from heaven.
Suggested time: If you come in summer, you should get up early for the sun always rises at 05:15-05:30. If you come in winter, watch sunrise at 06:40-07:20.
Watch Sunrise at Hanpo Pass
Highlights Two: Watch Sunset at Big Heavenly Pool
Big Heavenly Pool is ideal to view a sunset and enjoy the Yangtze River. In the southwest of Guling Town, it has a larger size compared with the Less Heavenly Pool.
Suggested time: If you come in summer, you’ll see sunset at around 19:00-19:20. If you come in winter, watch sunset at 17:20-17:40.
Fantastic scenery in Big Heavenly Pool
Highlights Three: Appreciate Beautiful Waterfalls
Three Step Waterfall is the most outstanding waterfall attraction in Mt. Lushan. Originating in Dayue Mountain, the spring angles around the backside of Five-Old-Men Peak and pours into Nine Tier Gully, crashing twice upon rocks, and then converges into a torrent and drops once again. Driven by the gully wind, the tiny drops dance in the misty air, sparkling in the sunlight and falling like countless dazzling pearls.
Three Tiled Springs
Highlights Four: Explore Cultural Sites
The Temples and churches representing Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and Catholicism can still be found on the mountain. That five religions can peacefully coexist on one mountain is a rare and wonderful thing. Besides, White Deer Cavern Academy ranks first among the four major ancient schools of China. Mount Lu also boasts a long humanist history and is the cradle of traditional Chinese landscape poems. Moreover, the various western styles villas (Russia, Britain, America, France, Germany and Italy) in Guling Town are worth seeing.
White Deer Cave Academy
Mount Lu Travel Routes
There are two routes of Mount Lu - Western Route and Eastern Route. If you have two days, you’d better visit western route on the first day and eastern route on the next day.
Main Attractions of Western Route: Flower Path, Jinxiu Valley, Immortal Caverns, Imperial Stone Tablet Pavilion, Big Heavenly Pool, Stone Gate Valley, Yellow Dragon Pool, Black Dragon Pool, Three Ancient trees, Lulin Lake, Lushan Museum etc.
Flower Path
Main Attractions of Eastern Route: Meilu, Hanpo Pass, Dakou Waterfall, Lushan Botanical Garden, Five Old Men Peaks, Three Tiled Springs, White Deer Cavern Academy etc.
Mount Lu Practical Information
Usually, there are three ways to visit Mt. Lushan: by walking, by sightseeing bus, and by cable car. To make your trip easier, China Discovery has collected some practical information about sightseeing bus and cable car. You could choose your favorite ways to appreciate this beautiful mountain.
Mount Lu Sightseeing Bus: Sightseeing buses will be access to both Eastern route and Western route.
● Western route: it has 8 stops, starting from Meeting Center, via Flower Path, ending at Lushan Dam.
● Eastern Route: it has 11 stops. Take bus from Transport administration Office, via Hanpo Pass to Three Tiled Springs.
Mount Lu Sightseeing Bus
Mount Lu Cable Cars: Mount Lu has three cable cars, Xinglong Cableway, Dakou Cableway, and Sandiequan Cableway.
● Xinglong Cableway: Connected Stone Gate Valley with Lushan Dam on Western route;
● Dakou Cableway: Connected Hanpo Pass with Dakou Waterfall on Eastern route;
● Sandequan Cableway: Connected Five Old Men Peaks with Three Tiled Springs on Eastern route.