Toad and Drum Rock Going upstream along Jiuchong Stream, you will find two rocks facing each other across the water: one on the left bank looks like a toad opening its big mouth, and the round rock on the right bank resembles a drum. Farmland lies along the stream between them. According to local legend, on the nights of the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, the toad rock makes gurgling croaks, and the drum rock responds with deep thumping beats.

Rhinoceros Bathing Cave Beneath the toad rock stands a small hill shaped like a recumbent rhinoceros with its head pointing northwest. In front of the rhinoceros lies an elongated pond whose water stays murky all year round. Villagers say it is always muddy because the rhinoceros often comes here to bathe.

Bride Rock Southwest of the dam rises a graceful peak that looks like a beautiful young maiden, fresh and elegant from afar. People call it the Bride Rock. The legend goes that a lovely girl was deeply in love with her sweetheart, but a wealthy landlord forced her into an arranged marriage. She fled to this spot on her wedding day. Immortal Ouyang turned her into stone so that her chastity would last forever. Beside her stands a thick cliff shaped like a simple peasant — her lover, who tracked her down and was also turned into stone, so the lovers could stay together for all eternity.

Thrush Jumping out of the Cage East of the Bride Rock, right beside the dam, there is a cliff shaped like a birdcage covered with shrubs. Woodcutters who came here to gather firewood often saw numerous thrushes chirping and chasing each other among the bushes, just like birds trapped inside a cage. Hence the name.

Through Cave South of the head of Jiulong Lake Dam sits a naturally formed stone cave over ten meters long and covering more than one hundred square meters. It cuts straight through the mountain from north to south and can hold dozens of visitors. The cave remains pleasantly cool even in hot summer.

Dragon Mountain Ready to Rise Directly south of the dam stretches a mountain range that looks exactly like a giant dragon, with its tail near the dam and its head facing southeast. A narrow path runs along the dragon’s back. The winding ridge extends more than one thousand meters, presenting a magnificent view. A boulder with an open mouth serves as the dragon’s head. Local woodcutters once hung their still-warm lunch baskets on the dragon’s jaws. Even in the bitter cold of midwinter, the food stayed warm for hours. Locals attribute this miracle to the dragon’s vital energy and regard the place as a treasured feng shui site.

Guanyin Sitting on a Lotus Throne West of the central island in the lake stands a huge cliff ringed by evenly distributed small mounds. The whole formation blooms like a lotus flower with fully stretched stamens and layered petals. It closely resembles Goddess Guanyin sitting peacefully on the lotus, so locals named it Guanyin Sitting on a Lotus Throne.

Monk’s Grotto South of Jiulong Lake is a stone cave roughly 6 meters long and 8 meters wide. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, it has held the bone remains of monks from Cibei Temple. In its heyday, Cibei Temple housed a large community of monks and remained one of the major temples in Liancheng right until the late Qing Dynasty.

Eight Immortals Cave On the outskirts of Dikeng Village is a stone cave covering nearly 30 square meters, surrounded by 30 mu of farmland cultivated by local villagers. During the Ming Dynasty, villagers erected statues of the Eight Immortals including Lü Dongbin and Iron-Crutch Li for worship, which gave the cave its name. Farmers and hunters often spent the night here. In summer, mosquitoes swarm fiercely outside, yet inside the cave cool breezes blow without a single mosquito, making it a wonderfully magical resting place.

Golden Mountain Rock On the southern side of the lake stands a two-tiered rock formation, narrow on the upper level and wide on the lower one. Wild goats, wild boars and other mountain animals often take shelter here. Hunters from Jiele and Lüwugang frequently came to this cliff and once found gold while hunting. The mountain dwellers considered it an extremely precious rock, thus the name Golden Mountain Rock.