Baodu Village Tianmen Cave is a cave with an open top, and cool wind blows from the entrance of the cave.
Baodu Village’s old name is Baodu Mountain, also known as Paishan, located in Hebei It is 16 kilometers west of Shijiazhuang City and belongs to Luquan City. The peculiarity of Baodu Village is that it is located at the junction of mountains and plains without a transition to hills, making a mountain protrude, while the top of the mountain is flat and vast. The pure soil layer of more than 600 acres in radius is more than 60 meters deep. The soil is fertile and the vegetation is luxuriant. It is the largest mountaintop garden in the country and a national AAAA tourist area.
There is a 2,000-meter section of the Great Wall surrounding the mountain on the top of Baodu Village. Although the shape is the same as the Great Wall, it is actually the "wall" of Baodu Village
The big flower in the mountains Pot
"All the charm of Baodu Village is on the top of the mountain." This is the biggest reason why we can't wait to choose the cable car instead of hiking. After boarding a 31-person car at the foot of the mountain, the soothing cable car transported us all the way up. When we are above the overlapping low mountains, we can also see the stairs leading to Baodu Village undulating and winding in the mountains, pointing straight to the highest peak.
Seven or eight minutes later, our cable car arrived at the top of Baodu Village. After climbing a short flight of steps, a huge Ming and Qing-style gatehouse appeared in the sky, with the inscription "The Wonderful Village in the World". This is the "Nantian Gate" of Baodu Village. The white marble walls, the top of the door with yellow glazed tiles, and the four red door pillars stand tall, giving it a sense of sacred majesty. Turning our heads, we saw cliffs behind us, with a panoramic view of the entire Luquan City. Even further away, we could even see Shijiazhuang, half an hour's drive away.
There is also a section of the Great Wall surrounding the mountain of more than 2,000 meters on the top of the mountain. Although the shape is the same as the Great Wall, it is actually the "wall" of Baodu Village. The green bricks of the village wall are all made from local materials.
Baodu Village is like a large flowerpot standing in the mountains, and this section of the village wall is the edge of the flowerpot, built on a cliff. Standing on the wall and looking to the right, you will see low mountains thickly covered with trees and plants at your feet. Not far away are several mountains exposed after the mountain bombing. In the distance is the vast North China Plain.
A "feng shui treasure land" where Buddhism and Taoism coexist.
Another major feature of Baodu Village is that it is a place where Buddhism and Taoism coexist. On the top of the mountain in Baodu Village, there is not only the Five Hundred Arhat Hall, the largest underground stone carving group on the top of the mountain in China, but also the Jinque Palace, one of the 72 Taoist blessed places.
The entrance space of the Five Hundred Arhat Hall is not large. There is a big-bellied Maitreya Buddha sitting in the middle, with two generals standing on both sides, and the stairs leading to the underground next to the two generals are the mystery. After entering the underground, ten murals on both sides of the wall show the entire process of Sakyamuni becoming a Buddha. After passing through the palace dedicated to the three Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra, you enter the Five Hundred Arhat Hall that suddenly opens up.
It is said that when Baodu Village was built, rocks and soil were quarried from the top of the mountain, and the land was hollowed out. Later, the Luohan Hall was built. Each Arhat is life-size and has different expressions. It is made of bluestone from Luquan and carved by craftsmen from Quyang. Each one weighs one ton.
In many Taoist classics, Baodu Village is recorded as the "Taoist Blessed Land" and "Beiyue Zuoming". It is said that the famous Taoist Zhang Sanfeng of the Ming Dynasty also visited here and wrote the title "Baodu Blessed Land" "Four words, unfortunately it no longer exists. However, disciples of the "Sanfeng Sect" have been passed down from generation to generation in Jinque Palace, and the Shijiazhuang Taoist Association also has its offices here. When you come to Jinque Palace, an enthusiastic Taoist leader will lead you to visit the entire courtyard built according to the Taoist layout and explain Taoist knowledge.
An ancient peach tree in the courtyard of Sanqing Palace is said to have been planted by Zhang Sanfeng himself. It is said that it withered when the country was in trouble and prospered when the country was prosperous. Looking at this peach tree now, the old and the new coexist, the old piles are still there, and the new branches have flourished. It is very magical. During holidays, there will also be auspicious dojos and other blessing activities here. Visitors can also seek Taoist health and fitness methods here and learn a set of Sanfeng Tai Chi to strengthen their bodies.
Couples tie ropes on the couple’s tree to seek marriage during the Chinese Valentine’s Day
Songs of love on the top of the mountain
In Baodu Village, there have always been celebrations As for the Chinese Valentine's Day tradition, many attractions here are also related to love.
Every time before and after the Chinese Valentine's Day, young men and women will come to the home of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on the top of the mountain to listen to a story about "the cow as matchmaker". Then they came to the "couple tree", the couple tied a red rope to worship each other, and hung the red rope on the tree to pray for eternity. Finally, he hung his own love lock on the big lock of Lianxin Pavilion to let Baodu Village witness this love.
On the day we visited Baodu Village, dozens of gray-haired elderly friends came here from Beijing. Although they were already in their twilight years, the old people were in high spirits, and they were like young people at the home of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. People pray for blessings at these love attractions, and perform Peking opera and sing about love on the top of the mountain.
The home of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on the top of the mountain. On the eve of the Chinese Valentine's Day, this place has also become a popular attraction
Tracing its origins
Carrying a calf up the mountain becomes the "Baodu Village"
Baodu Village is actually a mountain with an altitude of only 580 meters, because the top of the mountain is a fertile and flat land, and the people below the mountain have to use this land for farming. But in a plain with a protruding mountain, how to send the plowing cattle up the mountain became a big problem. The clever villagers came up with a way to carry the calf up the mountain, raise the calf on the top of the mountain, and then use it to plow the fields. This is the origin of "holding a calf". There is also another theory that during the Gerong Rebellion in the Later Wei Dynasty, some villagers hid in this mountain and died holding a calf, so it was called Baodu Mountain.
The transformation from "mountain" to "village" occurred at the end of Jin Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty. Wuxian from Jingxing gathered people here and built a stronghold to station troops to fight against the Mongolian army, so the name "zhai" came into being. title.
Guide
Self-driving: Drive south on the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway to Shijiazhuang North, turn right at the Shijiazhuang-Taiwan Expressway intersection and go west, get off at the Luquan Exit, go west along National Highway 307, and go straight to Baodu Village. Or take the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway through Zhuozhou, turn right on the Langzhuo Expressway, turn left on the Beijing-Kunming Expressway and go south, get off at the Luquan City exit, and go west directly to Baodu Village.
By train: Go to Shijiazhuang first and take the tourist bus No. 5 at Shijiazhuang Xinbai Plaza (fare 2 yuan, bus every 10 minutes) to get there.
Price: Baodu Village ticket is 50 yuan/person, the cable car up the mountain is 30 yuan/person for one way, and 60 yuan/person for round trip.
Accommodation: There are many star-rated hotels in Luquan City such as Luquan Hotel, Yinshan Garden Hotel, and Juncheng Hotel. There is Baoduzhai Hotel on the top of Baoduzhai Mountain, and there are many more on the mountain. In farm snack bars, accommodation prices range from tens to hundreds of yuan.
Specialties: Toon with red leaves, walnuts, red dates, millet, etc.
Information provided by Blue Holiday Travel Network!