Route: Yuxu Palace → Xuanyue Gate → Needle-Grinding Well → Prince Slope → Carefree Valley → Nanyan Palace → Zixiao Palace → Three Palaces of Qiongtai → Dragon Head Incense Burner

For this route, we recommend staying near Wudang Mountain. The accommodation is close to the scenic area with easy transportation.

Its full name is Xuantian Yuxu Palace. In Taoism, Yuxu is regarded as the abode of the Jade Emperor. It ranks among the largest palaces of the Wudang architectural complex. Nestled at the southern foot of Laoying Mountain, it lies about four kilometres west of Xuanyue Gate, with the Xiangyu-Chongqing Railway running horizontally in front of the palace.

According to legend, this was the first dwelling place of the Crown Prince of Jingyue Kingdom — later Emperor Zhenwu — when he came to Wudang Mountain for spiritual cultivation at the age of fifteen. Once he gave up halfway on his way home due to weak willpower. The Goddess Purple Aura enlightened him with the story of "grinding an iron pestle into a needle". He then returned to the mountain to continue his practice, hence the other name Fuzhen Temple (Temple of Returning to Truth).

It is commonly known as Macaque Valley. A wide variety of wild animals roam freely in the woods, creating fantastic scenes such as golden monkeys leaping across streams and macaques offering peaches. It is the most representative spot among the Eight Dynamic Scenes of Wudang Mountain. Today the valley is covered with shady trees filled with birdsong, and troops of macaques live here.

Ticket Price: 15 RMB Major sights include Dragon-Tiger Hall, Ten Directions Hall, Zixiao Main Hall, Wonderful Sound Cedar, Parents’ Hall and Prince Rock. The surrounding hills naturally form a throne shaped like two dragons playing with a pearl. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty therefore named this place "Blessed Land of Purple Firmament".

Three Taoist temples stand on Qiongtai Terrace, roughly 8 kilometres southeast of Tianzhu Peak, namely Upper Palace, Middle Palace and Lower Palace. All buildings follow the terrain and adopt a symmetrical layout along the central axis.

Three Palaces of Qiongtai → Taihe Palace → Golden Hall → Three Heavenly Gates → Chaotian Palace → Langmei Ancestral Shrine → Nanyan Palace → Dragon Head Incense Burner → Zixiao Palace → Prince Slope

For this route, we recommend staying near Wudang Mountain. The accommodation is close to the scenic area with easy transportation.

Three Taoist temples stand on Qiongtai Terrace, roughly 8 kilometres southeast of Tianzhu Peak, namely Upper Palace, Middle Palace and Lower Palace. All buildings follow the terrain and adopt a symmetrical layout along the central axis.

Commonly known as the Golden Summit, it sits on the top of Tianzhu Peak, the highest mountain of Wudang Mountain. Praised as "one pillar propping up the sky", it is the supreme scenic spot of Wudang Mountain. Only when pilgrims, tourists and literati climb to the summit and step into Taihe Palace can they truly say they have visited Wudang Mountain.

Ticket Price: 20 RMB Perched on the peak of Tianzhu Peak, the main summit of Wudang Mountain, the entire structure is cast in bronze and gilded with red gold, except for its granite foundation, hence the name Golden Hall.

From Chaotian Palace up to the Golden Summit lie three famous passes: the First, Second and Third Heavenly Gates. The three gates feature red walls, green glazed tiles, upturned eaves and elaborately carved bases. Set amid green mountains and floating clouds above precipices, they look magnificent and spectacular.

According to legend, this palace marks the boundary between the mortal world and the celestial heaven.

Located on the path leading to the Golden Summit, it is the largest and best-preserved shrine among the sixteen ancestral halls on Wudang Mountain.

Nanyan Palace boasts the most flexible layout among the Nine Palaces — rigorous yet full of variations. Tourists climb upward, with the illusion that the Heavenly Gate hangs high in the blue firmament.

Beside the sheer cliff outside Wanshou Palace of Nanyan Palace stretches a carved stone beam. It juts out 2.9 metres into the air with a width of only 0.3 metres, carved with a coiled dragon. Legend says it was Emperor Zhenwu’s mount for his inspections across the land. An incense burner is carved at the dragon’s head, known as the Dragon Head Incense Burner.

Ticket Price: 15 RMB Major sights include Dragon-Tiger Hall, Ten Directions Hall, Zixiao Main Hall, Wonderful Sound Cedar, Parents’ Hall and Prince Rock. The surrounding hills naturally form a throne shaped like two dragons playing with a pearl. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty therefore named this place "Blessed Land of Purple Firmament".

According to legend, this was the first dwelling place of the Crown Prince of Jingyue Kingdom — later Emperor Zhenwu — when he came to Wudang Mountain for spiritual cultivation at the age of fifteen. Once he gave up halfway on his way home due to weak willpower. The Goddess Purple Aura enlightened him with the story of "grinding an iron pestle into a needle". He then returned to the mountain to continue his practice, hence the other name Fuzhen Temple (Temple of Returning to Truth).