A place well worth a visit is Dengfeng, a comparatively small city in the heart of China.

Dengfeng is most famous for the widely renowned Shaolin Temple – the birth place of both Kong Fu and Zen Buddhism. Surrounded by impressive mountain ranges, Dengfeng is not only a place for those interested in culture, it also offers great opportunities for outdoor activities, especially hiking and mountain climbing. Probably the more well-known mountain in the area is Songshan (shan = mountain), which is accessible via the Shaolin Temple grounds. However, another mountain worth climbing is Taishi Mountain, with an altitude of about 1440 m one of the highest peaks in the area. Not far from the city center, it’s easy to access and takes you right into a beautiful landscape of bizarre rock formations and untouched nature. The only downside to hiking up Taishi Mountain: you have to be willing and able to climb lots of stairs. And – like many other scenic spots in China – accessing the mountain isn’t free, unless you can find one of the trails leading up the side of the mountain. During your hike up the mountain you will pass several temples of varying sizes nestled against the mountain side, and of course a larger temple complex at the peak. It’s possible to climb all the way up to the peak and back down again within one day, but for the untrained hiker, you will feel every muscle in your legs afterwards.

The best times for visiting are the spring or the fall, the fall offering a particularly beautiful view of the surrounding countryside as the trees are adorned with colorful leaves. Anyways, visiting Dengfeng and climbing up Taishi Mountain a couple years ago was a great experience that I hope I can repeat again one day.

Photos from our last trip to Taishi Mountain