Mt. Songshan

» Dengfeng, He Nan

Mt. Songshan Overview & Map Weather Transportation Information

Mt. Songshan is located in DengFeng City, Henan Province and it covers an area of 464 Km2.From west to east, the Mt. Songshan stretch across the Ampere of slope mountain,Ma An mountain ,Five Fo mountain, Dan yang mountain,Shaoshi mountain,Taishi mountain and all the Five fingers ridge peaks. These hills rise straight up standing erect, capture a field vacating heaven, peaks rising one higher than another and grand and magnificent.

What to see

• Shaolin Temple, the most famous Buddhist temple in China and the largest of the Songshan range, is located on Shaoshi Mountain. Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Gongfu (martial arts) have long taken on a legendry color and are famous both in and outside China.

• Zhongyue Temple: The Zhongyue Temple is nicknamed the Little Palace. The temple is one of the oldest of its kind in China, originally built in the Qin Dynasty over 2,200 years ago, and moved to its present site in the Tang (618-907). Along the center line of the temple lie about 400 constructions of various kinds including archways, pavilions, terraces, gates, halls, and towers, as well as many (over 300) tall, gnarled and weather-beaten cypresses, mostly in the large courtyard. It covers an area of 370,000 square meters.

• Songyang Academy: The Songyang Academy, one of the most famous ancient academies, is also located here. Celebrities of ancient times like Sima Guang, Cheng Yi and Fan Zhongyan all gave lectures here. The building of the academy is old and elegant, but mostly broken. At the west side, there are two high and old cypresses named Great General and Second General, they are the oldest cypresses with over 4,000 years of history.

• Tower of Songyue Temple: The Tower of Songyue Temple is the earliest Buddhist tower existing in China. It was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (520). It has 15 storeys and a height of over 40 meters. With superb craft, it is the oldest polygonal tower in China.

Climate

Songshan Tourist Area enjoys a classical mountain climate. Because of the high elevation and its geographic features, the climate is beneficial to people. It is one of the parts of Beijing with a lower temperature. The average annual temperature here is 7, 4 degrees lower than Beijing and 2.9 degrees lower than Chengde.

Dining

The restaurants on Songshan have much varieties and full of local specialty. The only disadvantage of those restaurants is that the price is usually high. Monkey Head Mushroom is the most famous dish on the mountain (do not panic, it is not really monkey head, just the shape of the mushroom is like a monkey's head)

Apart from some regular Chinese food, Shaolin vegetarian food is also a specialty on Mt. Songshan. You will see what a Shaolin monk usually eats for meals.

Transportation

The park is about two hours from Zhengzhou. It's an easy day trip. Bus leave opposite the train station every 20-30 minutes all morning. Be warned: many of the bus tickets are actually tours, that may spend most of the day at auxilary sites or eating lunch instead of the Shaolin complex. These tours do not include entrance fees. Try to make sure you're going on a direct bus, or hire a van, if you want to see it on your own. From bus station take bus no 1 to the end and hop on bus 8. Costs 3 RMB instead of 30 with tourist bus.

Sleep

For money-savers

Songshan Binguan, Next to the Tagou school, near Shaolin Monastery, Tel: +86 371 2749050.

Mid range

Fengyuan Dajiudian, Zhongyue Dajie 18, Dengfeng, Tel: +86 371 62865080 (fax: +86 371 62867090).

Shaolin Guoli Dajiudian, 16 Shaolin Lu, Dengfeng, Tel: +86 371 62866188 (fax: +86 371 62856608).

Entertainment

Shopping

Besides those common souvenirs, what's special on Mt.Songshan is that Shaolin Temple is located here. If you are interested in Kongfu, some Kongfu shirt will be some very impressive souvenirs.

Shows

• Kongfu show: This is why you came to Shao Lin and this area, to see Kung Fu. The show is 20 RMB and half an hour. They start with some regularity. It seemed rather professional. The voice over was in Chinese so I missed some of the cultural importance, but I could understand it was being address. This wasn't martial arts in a vacuum. The religious aspects were touched on.

Attractions around » Dengfeng, He Nan

Historical Site

• Shaolin Temple
• Pagoda of Songyue Temple

Mt. Songshan Highlights

Five Great Mountains attraction highlights

• Mt. Songshan
• Mt. Taishan
• Mt. Huashan
• Mt. Hengshan
• Mt. Hengshan

city highlights

• Xi'an
• Dengfeng
• Datong
• Taishan
• Hengyang

Mt. Songshan FAQ & Travelers's Tips

1. When to go
2. Make a reservation during peak season
3. Raincoat, not umbrella
4. Bring warm clothes
5. Travel here in winter
6. Do not climb the mountain under these situations
7. Keep healthy
8. When taking a tourist bus

1. When to go

   Mt.Songshan is located in Henan province which has a humid warm-temperature cliame. Dry and windy in winter and spring, it is hot and rainy in summer and bakes in strong sunlight during the autumn months. Rainfall averages about 600-1000 millimeters increasing from north to south, as does the annual temperature which increases from about 12.8C in the north to 15.5C in the south. So Summer and Autumn are the best seasons to go.
   




2. Make a reservation during peak season

   July, August, September and October are the four peak seasons on Mt.Songshan, so reservation is a must.




3. Raincoat, not umbrella

   It is wise to bring a rainproof jacket with you as the strong wind on the mountain renders an umbrella all but useless and even dangerous.
   




4. Bring warm clothes

   Bring with you warm clothes so as not to catch a chill as the temperature variation is significant.

   Anti-skid shoes are provided as well as heavy coats in most hotels.
   

5. Travel here in winter

   Winter is the most economical time for visiting Mt. Huangshan as the prices for hotels and the entry fee are lowered by 15% to 40% compared to those of the peak season. However, Spring Festival is an exception, during which the price is the same as normal seasons.
   
   




6. Do not climb the mountain under these situations

   • During thunderstorm
   • If you have heart of lung disease
     
   • When you don't have comfortable shoes.(You might feel alright at the beginning, but as u climb the shoes will be the only thing that's killing you.)

   
   

7. Keep healthy

   • If you catch a cold before you climb the mountain, please don't be tough and go climb anyway, because various temperature will make it worse and you won't fully appreciate your trip.
   • Do not stay up too late the night before you climb the mountain.
   • Drink enough fluids to avoid dehydration




8. When taking a tourist bus

   Be warned: many of the bus tickets are actually tours, that may spend most of the day at auxilary sites or eating lunch instead of the Shaolin complex. These tours do not include entrance fees. Try to make sure you're going on a direct bus, or hire a van, if you want to see it on your own. From bus station take bus no 1 to the end and hop on bus 8. Costs 3 RMB instead of 30 with tourist bus.