Longchi Mountain, situated 35 kilometers south of Yixing City within Mingling Township, is a forest nature reserve in Jiangsu Province. It spans over 1,800 acres and boasts a forest coverage rate of 95%. This area is renowned for its diverse and endangered plant species, earning it the moniker ‘Natural Kingdom of Plants’.
The mountain is celebrated for its ‘rarity, strangeness, antiquity, and peculiarity’. Rarity pertains to the unique tree species and plants found here. Strangeness is attributed to the mountaintop pool that is said to house a dragon. Antiquity refers to Chengguang Temple, one of the eight major temples in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Established at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it is revered as ‘the ancestral court of Linji and the Zen courtyard of Yu Men’. Peculiarity is embodied by the Baiyun Rock cliff, which rises a thousand feet into the sky. The morning mists around the cliff are ethereal and ever-changing, taking on various forms such as a jade belt, floating cotton, brushing against green rocks, or disappearing into the mountain layers. Among these transformations is the Xiaoyun Stone, which is said to predict the weather and is part of the ten scenes of Jingxi known as ‘Longchi Morning Clouds’.
Longchi Temple, a renowned scenic spot on the mountain, was originally constructed in the second year of the Xian Chun period of the Song Dynasty (1266) and was named Yumen Zen Temple. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was bestowed with the name ‘Chenguang Temple’.Chenguang Temple was an important place for the propagation of Linji Zen in the Jiangnan area during the Ming Dynasty. The 29th generation of Linji orthodoxy, Master Huanyou, and his four senior disciples, Miyun Yuanwu, Tianyin Yuanxiu, and Baopu Yuanlian, all made significant contributions to inheriting and promoting Linji Zen.
Longchi: Located at the mountaintop. From a high vantage point, one can see the vast Taihu Lake with distant sails. The sunrise here is as beautiful as that on Mount Tai. Other scenic spots include Longchi Morning Cloud Stone, Ancient Planks Road, Yumen Ancestral Tower, Pingxu Pavilion, Nirvana Cave, Tiger Pavilion, Sutra Worship Platform, Fenbin Pavilion, Washing Heart Pond, and One Step to Heaven, among others. The entire text is open all year round from 08:00 to 16:00. Service facilities include a parking lot: [Yixing Longchi Mountain Bicycle Park Parking Lot] with a reference price of ¥5 per time; address: inside Yixing Longchi Mountain Bicycle Park; capacity: 100. Park transportation: address: Longchi Mountain Bicycle Park ticket office hall.
