Tiantai Mountain

Tiantai Buddhism, one of the major schools of Chinese Buddhism, takes its name from this mountain, where the monk Zhiyi taught in the sixth century and where Guoqing Temple was founded in 598 in accordance with his instructions. The temple, rebuilt in the Qing, remains an important monastery and was the source from which Tiantai teaching passed to Japan as Tendai, so Japanese pilgrims come in numbers. Elsewhere on the mountain, the Stone Bridge is a natural rock arch spanning a gorge with a waterfall pouring beneath it, described in Chinese travel writing for centuries, and Huading peak at over eleven hundred metres is the high point.

What you actually see

• Guoqing Temple - the monastery founded in 598, source of Tiantai teaching.
• The Stone Bridge - a natural rock arch over a gorge and waterfall.
• Huading peak - the summit area with azaleas in late spring.
• The pilgrim traffic - Japanese and Korean Buddhists visiting the school's source.

When to go

April to June and September to November; azaleas on Huading flower in May. Summer is hot and humid, winter cold with occasional snow. The sites are spread across the mountain and each charges separately.

Honest expectations

Sites are far apart and public transport between them is limited. Walking on the Stone Bridge itself is prohibited. Entry fees at multiple points add up. English interpretation is minimal.

Nearby

Shenxianju lies west; Taizhou and the coast are southeast.