Introduction to Attractions Around Luochuan Loess National Geopark

Baota Mountain (also known as Jialing Mountain) is a renowned scenic spot integrating natural scenery and cultural relics, as well as ancient historical sites and revolutionary memorial sites. It stands in the southeast of Yan’an urban area. The pagoda atop the mountain was built in the Tang Dynasty, standing 44 meters high with nine tiers. Climbing to the top offers a full panoramic view of the entire city.

Beside the pagoda hangs an iron bell cast in the Ming Dynasty, which the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China once used to announce the time and sound emergency alarms when it was stationed in Yan’an. In addition, the mountain features a 260-meter-long group of cliff stone carvings and a forest of steles. The carved rock surfaces are neat and intact, constituting rare stone carving artworks. Today, the mountain has been developed into Baota Mountain Park, covered with lush trees and boasting a pleasant environment. As the landmark of Yan’an, Baota Mountain is an indispensable stop for all visitors to the city.

Covering an area of 36 hectares, Baota Mountain boasts enchanting natural landscapes dotted with various rare arbors and shrubs. Dense foliage keeps the air fresh, and its average summer temperature is 3 to 4 degrees Celsius lower than that in the downtown area, making it an ideal summer retreat.

Its cultural relics and humanistic landscapes are equally distinctive. As early as the prosperous Tang Dynasty, a pagoda was erected on the mountain. During the Northern Song Dynasty, famed generals Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan stationed troops and built military stockades here to guard the frontier against invaders, leaving numerous cultural relics behind. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the mountain was lined with temples and enjoyed immense popularity. In modern times, it rose to global fame as the symbol of Yan’an, the red capital of the New Democratic Revolution.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially over the two decades of reform and opening-up, as Yan’an evolved into a base for revolutionary tradition education and a sacred tourist destination, Baota Mountain has become a core tourist route for domestic and overseas visitors, receiving hundreds of millions of tourists in total. Many veteran revolutionaries including Premier Zhou Enlai, as well as Party and state leaders such as Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao and Li Lanqing, have ascended Baota Mountain to witness the tremendous changes of this revolutionary sacred land.

Apart from the Yan’an Pagoda, a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, Baota Mountain hosts a wealth of relics: Northern Song cliff stone carvings, a giant Ming iron bell, a Qing stone stele inscribed with Record of the Reconstruction of Jialing Academy, Lord Fan’s Well, beacon towers, ancient city walls, a watchtower for monitoring invaders, the former site of the Japanese Workers’ and Peasants’ Cadre School, and stone steles engraved with poems and calligraphy by celebrities from ancient and modern times