Zhaogao Guan Scenic Area

Nestled in the Tiantai Mountains, 20 kilometers south of Dai County, Zhaogao Guan was built in memory of Zhao Gao, prime minister of the Dai State during the Spring and Autumn Period. First constructed during the Taiyan reign of the Northern Wei Dynasty (435–440 AD), it boasts a history of nearly 1,600 years.

According to legend, in 475 BC, Zhao Xiangzi of the Jin State lured and killed the King of Dai State on Gouzhu Mountain to unify northern territories. Zhao Gao, the Dai State’s prime minister, led the royal family of Dai to live in seclusion in the Tiantai Mountains. Later generations built a Taoist temple in the stone cave where Zhao Gao resided during the Taiyan reign of the Northern Wei Dynasty to honor him for his lifelong refusal to serve officialdom and wholehearted devotion to Taoism, hence the name Zhaogao Guan.

Zhaogao Guan is primarily composed of uniquely shaped cave dwellings. All buildings cling to cliffs and are constructed around natural grottoes. Man-made structures adorn precipitous peaks and steep rock faces, crafted with extraordinary ingenuity and superb workmanship, truly an immortal fairyland. As ancient records describe, Zhaogao Guan “rests beside a serene valley and leans against fantastic crags, framed by clear waters and green mountains. It is without rival among scenic spots in Dai Commandery, the finest earthly Penglai wonderland.”

Famously known as “Eighteen Caves of Tiantai” and “The No.1 Taoist Temple in Shanxi”, Zhaogao Guan now falls within a national forest park, designated a Major Scenic Area of Shanxi Province and a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located at Liujiagedong Village of Xingao Township, it ranks among the three hundred ancient temples of the Wutai Mountain architectural complex. Facing west with its back to the east, the temple consists of an upper courtyard and a lower courtyard. The upper courtyard forms the main architectural cluster, featuring three main halls and six auxiliary halls on the north and south sides. Behind the main hall stand another three auxiliary halls each to the east, west, north and south. The lower courtyard centers on a five-bay opera stage, flanked by six side rooms on both north and south, with mountain gates opened on either side of the stage. A memorial archway stands between the two courtyards, with carved stone foundations, measuring 9 meters in height and 7 meters in width. Bell and Drum Towers are built beside it, connected by a flight of 24 stone steps.

Situated at Zhongjiekouzi Village of Xingao Township, it houses a three-bay main hall with three depth spans. To its east stands a three-bay Dragon King Temple, and two ancient opera stages face the main hall across the courtyard. Three stone steles dating to the Ming and Qing dynasties survive here, alongside a large bronze bell cast in the 12th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1533 AD), 1.5 meters tall and 0.8 meters in diameter. The temple is backed by rolling mountains to the south and borders the gurgling Zhongjie River to the east, presenting stunning picturesque scenery.

Located in Baiyuli of Xingao Township, it was erected to worship Erlang God. Only the ruins and the “Erlang God’s Mountain-Carrying Stones” remain. The two massive boulders are said to have been left behind when Erlang God paused here to rest while carrying mountains on his shoulder poles.

Lying along the tourist highway to Zhaogao Guan, the reservoir dam stretches 180 meters long and rises 35 meters high, with a total storage capacity of 4 million cubic meters and a controlled watershed area of 107.8 square kilometers. Sandwiched between two mountain ridges, its water shimmers emerald green like a soft carpet, reminiscent of the plum rain pond depicted by Zhu Ziqing—its vivid green so soothing and intoxicating to the soul.

Adjacent to the mountain gate of Zhaogao Guan, the gate adopts a hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles, decorated with intricate carved beams and painted rafters. Stone lions flank the entrance, beneath a horizontal plaque inscribed “The No.1 Taoist Temple in Shanxi”. The pool was dug by Zhao Gao during his seclusion for the nine princesses of the Dai King to bathe and groom themselves. Its still, jade-like green water mirrors surrounding mountains and scenery.

To the east of the Nine Fairies’ Washing Pool, the cave enshrines statues of Maitreya Buddha and the Four Heavenly Kings. Hundreds of winding stone steps lead here, marking the first sacred grotto on the pilgrimage route. The Maitreya statue sits upon a lotus throne, bare-chested with an easy, unrestrained bearing, embodying the couplet: “With an ever-smiling face, he beholds all mortal toil under heaven; With a vast belly, he bears all grievances the world cannot endure.”

Set in the tree-lined path before the mountain gate, also called Dismount Stone. This jagged, enormous boulder juts out from the mountain foot. Legend tells of an elderly Taoist seeker who arrived gasping for breath at the stone. When he casually wedged a twig into a crack of the rock, his bodily aches vanished instantly. Since then, the stone has been named the Waist-Supporting Stone.

South of Zhaogao Guan, facing the Waist-Supporting Stone. Past the stone, a 300-meter stone stairway climbs to a high platform, marking the divide between the northern and southern cave clusters of the scenic zone. To the north lies the front courtyard of Chaoyuan Cave, where the stele gallery clings naturally to the mountain slope, housing 30 stone steles. Framed by steep cliffs above and lush forests below, visitors may stroll along the corridor, reading ancient inscriptions to trace centuries of history, as if leafing through history books to appreciate the profound culture of this thousand-year-old temple.

West of the Stele Gallery Corridor, the structure features double brick bases and a five-story wooden tower embedded within a natural massive rock fissure. Its roof ridge nearly brushes the cliff face, boasting a uniquely elegant silhouette fully integrated into the mountain mass. The five slanted tiers form a pagoda shape, housing statues of Maitreya Buddha, Jade Emperor, Supreme Lord Laozi, Amitabha and other Buddhas tier by tier. Visitors enter through a cave gate at the tower base, climbing upward grasping iron chains and rings. Upon emerging from the top opening, one gazes out over vast misty mountains, instantly feeling transported to a Penglai fairyland.

Around 200 meters northeast of Chaoyuan Cave, formerly named Xuannü Cave. Statues of the nine princesses of the Dai King stand inside the cave, while a statue of Zhao Gao is housed in the pavilion outside. The gap between the cave ceiling and the ground measures merely two and a half fingers wide, giving rise to the local saying: “At Zhaogao Guan, heaven is only two and a half fingers away.” The pavilion nestles into a rock hollow, soaring skyward with red walls and colored windows reaching toward the clouds, a breathtaking sight to behold. Eight of the nine princess statues bear identical delicate, charming features like twin sisters. Only the ninth turns her head back with a faint melancholy expression. Legend says she, the youngest princess, grew weary of loneliness after taking refuge in the cliffside grotto and yearned for her former royal luxury, wishing to return to the mortal world. Fearing her longing would stir the other princesses to flee down the mountain and bring disaster, Zhao Gao sat guard at the cave entrance day and night. Each princess holds a musical instrument; overnight visitors once claimed to hear soft, ethereal singing drifting from the cave every night, as if lamenting their long years of lonely confinement.

Northeast of the Nine Fairies Cave, a towering triple-layered pavilion is embedded into the cliffs, with the rear of the buildings leaning against the mountain