Tianjin Banshan

Pan Mountain is located on the western side of Jixian County and is a famous mountain in the Beijing-Tianjin area.The mountain is full of strange pines, strange rocks, and flowing water, and as the altitude changes, three layers of scenery appear in turn, becoming the famous “three-pan” spectacle.Because of its beautiful scenery, it attracted the Qing Emperor Qianlong to make 32 tours of Panshan, and he even lamented, “If I had known about Panshan, I would have never gone south of the Yangtze.”Although Panshan is part of Tianjin City, it is actually closer to Beijing than to Tianjin. During holidays, tourists from the Beijing-Tianjin area flock to the area, making it quite crowded.There are two ropeways on the front mountain: the Risheng Ropeway (Shanmen-Wansong Temple), 60 yuan one-way, which goes halfway up the mountain; and the Yunsong Ropeway (Wansong Temple-Yuncang Temple), 60 yuan one-way, which goes from halfway up the mountain to Yuncang Temple at the foot of Guayue Peak, very close to the summit.There is a sightseeing car on the back mountain that goes with the Guanyue cable car. The two are sold as a package for 100 yuan one way. After taking the sightseeing car and cable car in sequence, you can climb a short distance to the top of the mountain.The highest peak on the mountain is only 864.4 meters above sea level, but if you hike the whole way, you will have to walk about 30 kilometers. Although the mountain is not high, you have to climb over several mountain peaks, which is very tiring.A more reasonable arrangement is to take a sightseeing bus from the back mountain and then take the Guanyue cable car directly to the top of the mountain, and then walk down from the front mountain. From Guanyue Peak, it is about 12 kilometers to the mountain gate along the front mountain.Guayue Peak: After climbing to the top of the mountain on the sightseeing vehicle and cable car, you can see the Ding Guang Buddha Stupa, a stone pagoda that is the symbol of the mountain top.Start descending the mountain. If you are fit, you can choose to climb the second highest peak of Panshan, Zili Feng, at the fork in the road. If you want to save your energy or are short on time, just go all the way downhill.Summit ÿ Wansong Temple: Pass through attractions such as the Yunzao Temple, the Southern Heavenly Gate and the General Rock, which are all located at the very top of Panshan, and descend to the large Wansong Temple (formerly known as Li Jing’an, where the famous general Li Jing of the early Tang Dynasty once lived).This section is the route taken by the Yunsong Cable Car. If you walk, there are many dirt roads, which are not easy to walk on and have few attractions. However, you can see the magnificent natural scenery, rolling mountains, the blue sky dotted with white clouds, and a panoramic view of the strange pines in the upper plate and the strange rocks in the middle plate.Wansong Temple ÿ Mountain Gate: This is the road that the Ropeway passes through. The road is relatively easy to walk on, with a concentration of attractions, many cultural attractions, and a view of the beautiful scenery of the lower plate.Walking downhill, you will pass by the forest of pagodas composed of 99 tombs of high monks from different dynasties in various shapes; Tiancheng Temple, where the stand-in monk for Qianlong became a monk; there is a building called Wo Yun Lou at the east gate of the temple, and at the foot of the mountain opposite the building is the former site of a small theatre, where Qianlong used to watch plays.Further on, you can see Shuxia, one of the representative attractions of Xiapan Shui. A waterfall hanging like strands of silk falls into the pool, giving a feeling of coolness.Continuing on, you will come across a stone that looks like a gold ingot ÿ the “ingot stone” ÿ which is said to bring good luck if you rub it.When you see the stone with the two characters “Rusheng” (meaning “unparalleled”) written by Ronglu, the Minister of Imperial Studies and Governor of Zhili in the late Qing Dynasty, it means you are not far from the mountain gate.Every year in March and April, the temple fair is held in Panshan, where you can see a reenactment of the Qianlong Emperor’s visit to the mountain, recreating the grand occasion of the Emperor’s tour in the past.