Taiyuan | Taoist secrets hidden in the mountains and forests 1-Longshan Grottoes

Jinci, Tianlong Mountain and Longshan in the southwestern suburbs of Taiyuan form a complete tourist triangle. When you come here, in addition to seeing the famous Jinci Temple and Tianlong Mountain, don't miss this Taoist grotto, which is even rarer than the Buddhist grottoes - Longshan Grottoes. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Shanxi became the center of Taoist grottoes. The famous Quanzhen sect dug many niches and caves on the top of Longshan Mountain in Taiyuan, leaving behind the largest group of Taoist grottoes in northern China. There are a total of 9 caves in Longshan Grottoes, one of which has been seriously damaged, and only 8 caves remain. Cave 1: Void Emperor’s Niche Cave 2: Sanqing Niche Cave 3: Wolong niche Cave 4: Niche of the Three-Day Master Cave 5: Xuanzhen Niche Cave 6: Piyun niche Cave 7: Seven Treasures Niche Cave 8 and 9: Bian Dao niche Except seeing the grotto. There is also a Tongzi Temple in Longshan Scenic Area. Kailongshan Tongzi Temple was built in the seventh year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty. It was destroyed by war in the first year of Jin Tianfu and rebuilt in the first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. Legend has it that two boys were reclusive in this mountain and saw the extraordinary power of the rocks, so they carved a 57-meter-tall Buddha statue here. This is where the name of the temple comes from. The Buddha statues carved in the temple are the Three Saints of the West. The main statue of Amitabha is 55 meters high and is the second largest Buddha in Xishan, Taiyuan. There is a lamp-burning stone tower in front of the temple, which is more than 4 meters high and has a hexagonal plane. The tower is hollow and has a built-in lighthouse. The pagoda was built during the Northern Qi Dynasty. Although it has gone through more than 1,400 years of wind and rain, it still remains the same. It is the oldest lamp-burning stone pagoda known in my country so far. Standing here you can overlook the entire Kuching Yangcheng. After thousands of years of vicissitudes, it is still as charming as ever. When you come here, I hope you can follow the footsteps of history and appreciate the thousand-year elegance. Scenic spot information Address: Longshan Scenic Area, North of Xizhen Village, Jinci Town, Jinyuan District, Taiyuan City